Microsoft is giving its partners a sneak peek at Dynamics CRM 3.0 with a beta release, officials said Friday.
The Redmond, Wash., software giant is making the software available so partners can test and build their own applications against the product. The company plans a release to manufacturing (RTM) date later this quarter in time for a public launch early in the first quarter of 2006
The Dynamics product line is a re-branding effort under way for software in the Microsoft Business Solutions (MBS) line. Formerly Project Green, the Dynamics line incorporates the software Microsoft acquired from Great Plains and Navision.
Bill Gates, Microsoft chairman and chief software architect, outlined the Dynamics effort in September, accompanied by the re-branding of the software under the new moniker.
In the future, the company will morph all the products into one encompassing integrated business management suite, though Dynamics CRM will continue to be sold both as a standalone product and as a part of the integrated suite.
This week also saw the debut of the Microsoft Dynamics logo signature, first to its partners and later to the general public, a spokesperson said. The company said he new logo “implies growth, energy, and integration, as well as appearing strong, stable and connected.”
According to Microsoft officials, MBS revenues were up 16 percent from the previous year, at $181 million. They also attribute the demand for CRM and enterprise resource planning software driving up its overall software revenue growth of 18 percent for the quarter.
