Microsoft has an
iOS 5 version of their popular Dynamics CRM platform in the works for the second quarter of this year. Designed to centralize business tasks such as tracking leads, appointments, orders and products, Dynamics will be available to mobile users for a monthly subscription cost of $30 per seat.
In addition to the updates giving us a native iOS app, Microsoft is also planning deployment on Android, BlackBerry and their own Windows Phone platform. To increase the mobility and power of this CRM suite, the software development giant is also promising “a web client that works “across all modern Internet browsers on various platforms, including browsers such as Internet Explorer, Firefox, Chrome, and Safari running on PC, Apple Macintosh or iPad.”
Dennis Michalis, general manager for Microsoft Dynamics CRM, explained the company’s decision to go multi-platform by saying that, “in today’s hyperconnected world, customers need to be able to access their business-critical data on the device of their choice.”
Groups like RIM could take note on this move from Microsoft. In a land where the “Us vs. Them” fights can be ruthless, this cross-platform commitment shows a wisdom that there is room enough in the market for more than one device and that they may as well cash in on users regardless of their hardware loyalty.
This isn’t the first time Microsoft has branched out beyond their Windows platform, with recent additions to their line-up like Azure and Microsoft Office 365 topping their cloud computing services offering.
There is still no official word on a release date for the much-anticipated Windows 8 platform. It is hard to say whether these other smaller releases are enough to keep Microsoft relevant while we wait for the big one.
As a side-note, the Microsoft Release Guide contains a typo that says the mobile platform is coming in 21012 which is just begging for a joke about how long it takes Microsoft to release their software.
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