Microsoft to Provide CRM Apps to iPhone and iPad

Microsoft has a long history of providing platform specific solutions based on its Windows operating system.  In fact, many applications in the past were built specifically to create strong market value for its cash cow, the Windows OS.  So when Microsoft announced earlier this year that it is providing access to one of its major enterprise application platforms, Microsoft Dynamics CRM, the industry stood up and paid attention.



Microsoft has a long history of competition against the other forerunner in the personal computing revolution, Steve Jobs.  Both of these companies spent a good part of the nineteen eighties stealing ideas from each other and spent the late nineties in a heated competition for consumer market share.  The commercials that humorously pitted two guys against each other proclaiming “I’m a PC” and “I’m a Mac” stand as artifacts to this long standing market share feud.

More recently, Microsoft has identified Google as a serious competitor as the web itself has started to change the way people think about operating systems and even personal computing itself.  And Microsoft is not alone in targeting Google as a serious competitor to traditional personal computing vendors.  Apple has viewed the Android as a serious threat to its own iOS environment that runs Apple’s mobile devices such as iPhones and iPads. 

While Apple and Google both have a strong foothold in the mobile computing market, Microsoft is significantly lagging behind in this area.  Traditionally, Microsoft has kept accessibility to its enterprise applications close to its chest,  only developing accessibility components for its own Windows based platforms.  With Microsoft’s new approach to providing access to a major back office component through all of the major platforms – Android, iOS and Windows – Microsoft may have changed its heavy handed approach to its own operating system heavy marketing strategy.

So what could this mean to Microsoft and its customers going forward?  It is possible to that they are signaling an update in their marketing strategy that pushes application level functionality, such as CRM, to the forefront.  This would possibly minimize their single minded approach toward Windows operating system heavy marketing of the past, and instead focusing on a strong offering of business services for the enterprise.  Another possibility is that Microsoft is acknowledging the fact that it is not a viable competitor in the mobile space right now with its Windows Mobile platform devices lagging significantly behind Android devices, iPhones, and iPads.  Making apps available on these competing platforms may not be a choice for Microsoft, but a necessity if they want to continue maintaining their market relevance in the enterprise app space.

What do the new Windows Dynamics ERP mobile apps include?  The biggest change is the fact that the interface is moving closer to a social media friendly look and feel.  Users of Salesforce Chatter will recognize the “like” features originally popularized by Facebook now available in Dynamics CRM mobile.  Users will also be able to post statuses to their activity feeds and have better filtering functionality.

Microsoft is keeping some functionality exclusive to their on-premises client on Windows, however.  The full user interface now includes native access to Microsoft Excel Workbooks.  With Excel Workbooks, users can access several pre-devinded PowerPivot models and Power View Report Templates.  This is an excellent enhancement to their current analysis tools suite available in Dynamics CRM.  With these PowerPivot tables, users can view reports for product sales and customer account demographics.  The new version of Dynamics CRM is also designed to work hand in hand with the new business intelligence features of SQL Server through Power View.

Author Byline
The article is written by Jason Phillips; he is an exemplary writer with great knowledge on nav on azure and Microsoft dynamics.