R
reha
is there anybody who can explain the major difference between Outlook with
Business Contact Manager and Dynamics CRM?
Business Contact Manager and Dynamics CRM?
L
Leonid S. Knyshov // SBS Expert
You asked a very interesting question.
I am answering it here, crossposting to microsoft.public.outlook.bcm (where
all we talk about is BCM) and will post a copy on my website as well. That's
why the reply is unusually detailed.
The primary differentiator that really matters to most customers, in my
opinion, is availability of support and Sharepoint integration features, but
you will pay for this dearly.
BCM is supported by a relatively few people including myself whereas MS
Dynamics CRM is a well-supported mature product.
I love the BCM product, but CRM integrates with the rest of Dynamics family
of products and Sharepoint extremely well.
BCM's customization opportunities are limited due to its relatively small
support ecosystem unless you happen to be a software developer. It's much
easier to hire a Dynamics CRM customization expert. We are required to be
trained and certified in order to sell Dynamics CRM and Microsoft invests
very heavily in its partners like me who offer such complex solutions.
On the big plus side, BCM is a lot less expensive than Microsoft Dynamics
CRM. Before we talk about the strengths of the product, have you ever priced
CRM 4.0?
A 5-user CRM deployment under open value license would cost you $3093.
You'll also need SBS 2008 Premium to run it (otherwise SQL costs eat you
alive) which is another $2916. You may argue against software assurance, but
everyone wants to upgrade eventually and then they find out it costs more
than it would have been with SA. Quite frankly, there is no choice in this
instance.
So there you have a $6000 solution. By the way, it is not possible to buy
CRM without Software Assurance as a volume license product. It is also not
possible to buy this product at retail, unlike BCM that can be purchased as
part of retail Office 2007 and 2010 packages.
While Microsoft has a marginally attractive $44/mo/user offer, the Workgroup
edition includes 5 CALs in which case it's $220/mo for 5 users based on
$44/user/mo. I would actually make a lot more money selling you the online
version of CRM than I would if I were to sell you the on-premises solution.
It's significantly less expensive to install the product locally if you
already have the infrastructure. And this is just the Workgroup edition.
Professional (required for more than 5 users) and Enterprise are priced at
$1236/user. The CRM Professional server costs $2475 and comes with one CAL so
we'd need to add 4 more CALs to match the 5 built-in CALs in CRM Workgroup
server edition.
Thus, the actual true value of the Workgroup server package before any other
costs is $7419 and not $3093.
Customers with CRM 4.0 and 3yr software assurance will receive CRM 5.0 and
related CALs as part of their SA benefits and at no additional charge.
A competent SQL professional can make the BCM product do pretty interesting
things as an SDK is available to extend it. Web-based components, 10+ users
etc.
This does put things into perspective a bit, right?
It is possible to upgrade from BCM to the full-blown CRM. It's not an
intuitive solution, however. I am tempted to actually write a good conversion
tool for this and sell a complete conversion service.
As long as you spend less than $5000 over three years on customization,
you'll come out ahead using BCM vs. CRM.
While BCM 2007 is already a great product, in my opinion, BCM 2010 is
promising to be an even more mature product.
http://blogs.msdn.com/bcm/archive/2009/08/26/bcm-2010-customization-101-form-customization.aspx
but you will still have to rely on fairly limited support channels.
I've been committed to supporting the BCM product since BCM 2003 and CRM
since CRM 1.2 as 1.0 was not ready, to put it mildly.
If the features BCM offers you are sufficient for your organization, you may
find it to be a good alternative to MS CRM. Otherwise, it's the cost of
development + support vs. buying a supported solution with features available
out of the box. BCM runs on SQL server, so your data can be manipulated in
infinite ways if you hire a reports writing professional.
Bottom line is this: If you have more time than money, BCM is great. If you
have more money than time, Dynamics CRM is superior but comes at a price.
--
Leonid S. Knyshov
Crashproof Solutions
510-282-1008
Twitter: @wiseleo
http://crashproofsolutions.com
Microsoft Small Business Specialist
Please vote "helpful" if I helped you
I am answering it here, crossposting to microsoft.public.outlook.bcm (where
all we talk about is BCM) and will post a copy on my website as well. That's
why the reply is unusually detailed.
The primary differentiator that really matters to most customers, in my
opinion, is availability of support and Sharepoint integration features, but
you will pay for this dearly.
BCM is supported by a relatively few people including myself whereas MS
Dynamics CRM is a well-supported mature product.
I love the BCM product, but CRM integrates with the rest of Dynamics family
of products and Sharepoint extremely well.
BCM's customization opportunities are limited due to its relatively small
support ecosystem unless you happen to be a software developer. It's much
easier to hire a Dynamics CRM customization expert. We are required to be
trained and certified in order to sell Dynamics CRM and Microsoft invests
very heavily in its partners like me who offer such complex solutions.
On the big plus side, BCM is a lot less expensive than Microsoft Dynamics
CRM. Before we talk about the strengths of the product, have you ever priced
CRM 4.0?
A 5-user CRM deployment under open value license would cost you $3093.
You'll also need SBS 2008 Premium to run it (otherwise SQL costs eat you
alive) which is another $2916. You may argue against software assurance, but
everyone wants to upgrade eventually and then they find out it costs more
than it would have been with SA. Quite frankly, there is no choice in this
instance.
So there you have a $6000 solution. By the way, it is not possible to buy
CRM without Software Assurance as a volume license product. It is also not
possible to buy this product at retail, unlike BCM that can be purchased as
part of retail Office 2007 and 2010 packages.
While Microsoft has a marginally attractive $44/mo/user offer, the Workgroup
edition includes 5 CALs in which case it's $220/mo for 5 users based on
$44/user/mo. I would actually make a lot more money selling you the online
version of CRM than I would if I were to sell you the on-premises solution.
It's significantly less expensive to install the product locally if you
already have the infrastructure. And this is just the Workgroup edition.
Professional (required for more than 5 users) and Enterprise are priced at
$1236/user. The CRM Professional server costs $2475 and comes with one CAL so
we'd need to add 4 more CALs to match the 5 built-in CALs in CRM Workgroup
server edition.
Thus, the actual true value of the Workgroup server package before any other
costs is $7419 and not $3093.
Customers with CRM 4.0 and 3yr software assurance will receive CRM 5.0 and
related CALs as part of their SA benefits and at no additional charge.
A competent SQL professional can make the BCM product do pretty interesting
things as an SDK is available to extend it. Web-based components, 10+ users
etc.
This does put things into perspective a bit, right?
It is possible to upgrade from BCM to the full-blown CRM. It's not an
intuitive solution, however. I am tempted to actually write a good conversion
tool for this and sell a complete conversion service.
As long as you spend less than $5000 over three years on customization,
you'll come out ahead using BCM vs. CRM.
While BCM 2007 is already a great product, in my opinion, BCM 2010 is
promising to be an even more mature product.
http://blogs.msdn.com/bcm/archive/2009/08/26/bcm-2010-customization-101-form-customization.aspx
but you will still have to rely on fairly limited support channels.
I've been committed to supporting the BCM product since BCM 2003 and CRM
since CRM 1.2 as 1.0 was not ready, to put it mildly.
If the features BCM offers you are sufficient for your organization, you may
find it to be a good alternative to MS CRM. Otherwise, it's the cost of
development + support vs. buying a supported solution with features available
out of the box. BCM runs on SQL server, so your data can be manipulated in
infinite ways if you hire a reports writing professional.
Bottom line is this: If you have more time than money, BCM is great. If you
have more money than time, Dynamics CRM is superior but comes at a price.
--
Leonid S. Knyshov
Crashproof Solutions
510-282-1008
Twitter: @wiseleo
http://crashproofsolutions.com
Microsoft Small Business Specialist
Please vote "helpful" if I helped you
R
reha
leonid,
thank you very much for the detailed explanation indeed.
it greatly helped me to understand it much better.
regards
thank you very much for the detailed explanation indeed.
it greatly helped me to understand it much better.
regards
A
askeeta
Leonid S. Knyshov // SBS Expert said:You asked a very interesting question.
I am answering it here, crossposting to microsoft.public.outlook.bcm (where
all we talk about is BCM) and will post a copy on my website as well. That's
why the reply is unusually detailed.
The primary differentiator that really matters to most customers, in my
opinion, is availability of support and Sharepoint integration features, but
you will pay for this dearly.
BCM is supported by a relatively few people including myself whereas MS
Dynamics CRM is a well-supported mature product.
I love the BCM product, but CRM integrates with the rest of Dynamics family
of products and Sharepoint extremely well.
BCM's customization opportunities are limited due to its relatively small
support ecosystem unless you happen to be a software developer. It's much
easier to hire a Dynamics CRM customization expert. We are required to be
trained and certified in order to sell Dynamics CRM and Microsoft invests
very heavily in its partners like me who offer such complex solutions.
On the big plus side, BCM is a lot less expensive than Microsoft Dynamics
CRM. Before we talk about the strengths of the product, have you ever priced
CRM 4.0?
A 5-user CRM deployment under open value license would cost you $3093.
You'll also need SBS 2008 Premium to run it (otherwise SQL costs eat you
alive) which is another $2916. You may argue against software assurance, but
everyone wants to upgrade eventually and then they find out it costs more
than it would have been with SA. Quite frankly, there is no choice in this
instance.
So there you have a $6000 solution. By the way, it is not possible to buy
CRM without Software Assurance as a volume license product. It is also not
possible to buy this product at retail, unlike BCM that can be purchased as
part of retail Office 2007 and 2010 packages.
While Microsoft has a marginally attractive $44/mo/user offer, the Workgroup
edition includes 5 CALs in which case it's $220/mo for 5 users based on
$44/user/mo. I would actually make a lot more money selling you the online
version of CRM than I would if I were to sell you the on-premises solution.
It's significantly less expensive to install the product locally if you
already have the infrastructure. And this is just the Workgroup edition.
Professional (required for more than 5 users) and Enterprise are priced at
$1236/user. The CRM Professional server costs $2475 and comes with one CAL so
we'd need to add 4 more CALs to match the 5 built-in CALs in CRM Workgroup
server edition.
Thus, the actual true value of the Workgroup server package before any other
costs is $7419 and not $3093.
Customers with CRM 4.0 and 3yr software assurance will receive CRM 5.0 and
related CALs as part of their SA benefits and at no additional charge.
A competent SQL professional can make the BCM product do pretty interesting
things as an SDK is available to extend it. Web-based components, 10+ users
etc.
This does put things into perspective a bit, right?
It is possible to upgrade from BCM to the full-blown CRM. It's not an
intuitive solution, however. I am tempted to actually write a good conversion
tool for this and sell a complete conversion service.
As long as you spend less than $5000 over three years on customization,
you'll come out ahead using BCM vs. CRM.
While BCM 2007 is already a great product, in my opinion, BCM 2010 is
promising to be an even more mature product.
http://blogs.msdn.com/bcm/archive/2009/08/26/bcm-2010-customization-101-form-customization.aspx
but you will still have to rely on fairly limited support channels.
I've been committed to supporting the BCM product since BCM 2003 and CRM
since CRM 1.2 as 1.0 was not ready, to put it mildly.
If the features BCM offers you are sufficient for your organization, you may
find it to be a good alternative to MS CRM. Otherwise, it's the cost of
development + support vs. buying a supported solution with features available
out of the box. BCM runs on SQL server, so your data can be manipulated in
infinite ways if you hire a reports writing professional.
Bottom line is this: If you have more time than money, BCM is great. If you
have more money than time, Dynamics CRM is superior but comes at a price.
--
Leonid S. Knyshov
Crashproof Solutions
510-282-1008
Twitter: @wiseleo
http://crashproofsolutions.com
Microsoft Small Business Specialist
Please vote "helpful" if I helped you
A
askeeta
Hi Leonid
Thank you for the evaluation!
Can you either direct me to information,or provide,on how to share a BCM
database with 4 persons with all to be able to edit and access records, we
have an enviroment that has a server,are not using exchange,but have server
access via VPN
Thank you for the evaluation!
Can you either direct me to information,or provide,on how to share a BCM
database with 4 persons with all to be able to edit and access records, we
have an enviroment that has a server,are not using exchange,but have server
access via VPN
J
Jim
Great answer to an outstanding question. Thanks to both.
S
Stacie Phillips
Hello Leonid,
I found your reply very helpful - thank you!
I am looking for a new crm solution, having used ACT! for may years. We are
a small business with 5 users, a server w/SBS 2003, exchange. All users have
laptops w/XP and we need a strong solution that enables them to work remotely
with the crm data and synch back to the server. I have spent much time
customizing ACT! V8 (especially adding custom tracking info to the
opportunities records), and while the program mostly does what it needs to
for us, we are running into problems, and the lack of support for older
versions, combined with the slow speed, etc. has me shopping. Cost is a
concern, and we have a few open licenses that include the BCM, but the
networking and customization limitations have me concerned. I can come up
with $6k from the budget for CRM if I have to, but am concerned how much the
overall investment, after converting the data, customization, etc. will creep
up. I would be grateful for any insight you are willing to share . Thanks!
I found your reply very helpful - thank you!
I am looking for a new crm solution, having used ACT! for may years. We are
a small business with 5 users, a server w/SBS 2003, exchange. All users have
laptops w/XP and we need a strong solution that enables them to work remotely
with the crm data and synch back to the server. I have spent much time
customizing ACT! V8 (especially adding custom tracking info to the
opportunities records), and while the program mostly does what it needs to
for us, we are running into problems, and the lack of support for older
versions, combined with the slow speed, etc. has me shopping. Cost is a
concern, and we have a few open licenses that include the BCM, but the
networking and customization limitations have me concerned. I can come up
with $6k from the budget for CRM if I have to, but am concerned how much the
overall investment, after converting the data, customization, etc. will creep
up. I would be grateful for any insight you are willing to share . Thanks!