Naturally, the question is whether this has any meaning for the future of Dynamics CRM. It's always risky reading into such agreements. Not long before the announcement, Microsoft reached a new long-term deal with SAP involving certification of SAP applications for Azure, interoperability between SAP data and Office that include connectivity between BusinessObjects and Microsoft's Power BI offering, and support for Windows and Windows Phone 8.1. In fact, the areas of agreement in both relationships seem to cover the same territory. It would be more fun to read into it that Microsoft might turn away from Dynamics CRM but I am more inclined to see Microsoft more concerned about expanding its platform than about paring products. It's always possible Microsoft would use the Salesforce agreement to prepare the way to package Dynamics CRM and the four ERP packages for sale, which I think would be a good deal. But right now, this just doesn't have that feel.
MICROSOFT'S SALESFORCE DEAL Featured
There's a lot of speculation about Microsoft's recent agreement to connect Salesforce.com's CRM application to Microsoft Office and Windows. The result is to be Salesforce for Windows and Windows Phone 8.1 with a preview planned for the fall and general availability next year. The other offspring of this deal is to be Salesforce for Office 365. There are also plans for a new Salesforce App for Outlook. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella described the deal as helping "customers thrive in a mobile and cloud-first world."
