Microsoft outlines plans for Dynamics suite

Microsoft has kicked off its Convergence 2010 conference by detailing the roadmap for its Dynamics software and announcing enhancements to its customer relationship management (CRM) application.

Stephen Elop, business division president at Microsoft and Kirill Tatarinov, corporate vice president of Microsoft Business Solutions used the opening keynote to announce details of the May service update for Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online.

They said the new product will offer improved integration with the in-house Dynamics GP version, as well as new language support, portal accelerators and cloud-based developer tools.

The next version of Dynamics GP was demonstrated at the conference, and the company outlined a number of promotional deals for customers and potential customers. Dynamics GP 2010 will be released on 1 May.

"The true competitive differentiator for Microsoft is the value customers derive through a consistent and world-class user experience and well-designed interoperability across our solutions," Elop said.

"Our upcoming Microsoft Dynamics ERP and CRM releases light up this philosophy by delivering solutions that work well together and take advantage of existing IT investments."

This year will also see the rollout of the Online version of the CRM tool to international customers. Firms in the UK and 31 other global markets will be able to sign up in the second half of this year.