Microsoft Releases Preview of Dynamics CRM ‘5’
Microsoft has begun the third community technology preview (CTP 3) for the next release of its Dynamics CRM software for customer relationship management (CRM).
Codenamed “CRM 5,” the latest CTP is directed primarily toward software developers, hosting partners and value-added resellers, according to a post to Microsoft's (NASDAQ: MSFT) Dynamics CRM Team Blog on Thursday.
Some 400 developers and other participants are already working with CTP 3 in order to get an early start on developing and testing applications they plan to deploy when the new version is released during the second half of 2010, the blog post said. More participants are planned to be added in coming months.
“With this next version, Microsoft is continuing to drive new levels of user productivity and collaboration, giving customers deep core CRM capabilities, low total cost of ownership, and fast and easy deployment options for their CRM applications,” Brad Wilson, general manager of Microsoft Dynamics CRM said in a statement.
Although Microsoft officials say that CRM 5 is merely a codename, the current version is named Dynamics CRM 4, so it's not unlikely that the new release will have similar nomenclature.
When it's released, CRM 5 will add new features for solutions management, increased security for code on the server and rapid development capabilities, according to a post to the CRM Team Blog last fall.
Additionally, CRM 5 will support more than 40 languages. It will be available hosted on Microsoft's servers, on the customers' premises, or hosted by a Microsoft partner.
Microsoft released CTP 1 last April, followed by CTP 2 in November.
In July, Microsoft claimed that the current version, CRM 4, had passed the one millionth user mark.
Stuart J. Johnston is a contributing writer at InternetNews.com, the news service of Internet.com, the network for technology professionals.
