23 November 2009

Microsoft is to launch a series of online services that can be attached to its Dynamics enterprise resource planning (ERP) solutions.

This includes a new Sites Service built on the Windows Azure platform, a new Commerce Service and an expansion of its Payment Service.

Customers can now combine online services with on-premise or on-demand ERP to quickly increase business capabilities.

“Our customers increasingly appreciate the option of moving certain applications and services into the cloud while maintaining an on-premise option for their ERP solution,” said Crispin Read, general manager of Microsoft Dynamics ERP. “Providing this choice and flexibility is a competitive advantage for us and our partners around the world.”

This option protects their current investment while getting them ready for the future, something that other vendors do not provide today.

Herb Prooy, SaaSplaza The Sites Service allows customers to seamlessly create and manage Web sites within the Microsoft Dynamics ERP application. Customers can easily create landing pages for marketing campaigns, sites for product registration information and customer feedback and human resources sites for job recruiting. Site Services capabilities will include embedded intelligence and optimisation models, which provide analytics to help customers make the most of their marketing efforts.

The Commerce service extends multi-channel commerce scenarios by providing a link between ERP products and e-commerce opportunities such as business-to-consumer e-commerce marketplaces, dedicated e-commerce storefronts or built-in shopping cart functionality. This enables customers to list products and accept orders from several different places, all from one easy-to-use interface.

Payment enables customers to process payment transactions from the Microsoft Dynamics ERP interface across multiple channels, including e-commerce, point of sale and call centre transactions. Microsoft has recently signed agreements with CyberSource Corp. and Pensio to provide these services to ERP customers in the US and Europe, with more agreements to follow.

“The ability to provide Microsoft Dynamics ERP cloud solutions to Microsoft partners worldwide is central to our business strategy,” said Herb Prooy, CEO of SaaSplaza, a Microsoft hosting partner. “Our partners appreciate the ability to move certain of the customers’ applications into the cloud while maintaining an on-premise option or any mix of these. This option protects their current investment while getting them ready for the future, something that other vendors do not provide today. It’s been a real competitive advantage for us at SaaSplaza, our partners and their customers as well.”

The new Microsoft Dynamics ERP Sites and Commerce Services are expected to be available in the first half of 2010, with the additional payment service providers available in the first quarter of 2010. More information is available on the Dynamics Web site.

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