Dynamics 365 is a new range of software services provided by Microsoft. This was introduced in July 2016 and is an advanced cloud service range introduced by the company. Dynamics 365 CRM vs. Salesforce, is the new debate in the software market. This article would help you to understand the differences between Dynamics 365 CRM & Salesforce on metrics like pricing, benefits & more.
Dynamics 365 CRM
Dynamics 365 is the modified and renamed version of Dynamics CRM online. The features of Dynamics CRM Online are incorporated within the system of the new software. All the areas governed by the Dynamics 365 are termed modules. The operations of these modules can be mixed and matched. Dynamics 365 is designed to provide the user with an assimilated experience as it has fluid UX at the core. Multiple business applications can now be utilized by organizations to enhance their productivity.
Seven basic modules form the core of the working pattern in Dynamics 365. These are:
- Dynamics 365 Marketing
- Dynamics Sales
- Field Service
- Project Service
- Dynamics Customer Service
- Operations and
- Finance
In general, companies need to perform business functions about these modules. The modern business arena requires organizations to work with increased speed and accuracy. It provides companies with applications related to all the sectors of business. As a result, business functions can be performed more effectively and conveniently where the company can perform all the functions within the cloud platform in a unified manner.
Among other important features of Dynamics 365, the advanced user interface is one of them. This advanced interface significantly assimilates the various applications within the software. In this modified scenario, the user organization can now access any of the modules in the same place with the same experience. The reason behind this that the software has been designed with the user being the core of the system.
Salesforce Overview
Salesforce is the leading customer relationship management software in the current business arena. Much like Dynamics 365, Salesforce is a software application that is based on a cloud platform. The software is said to be designed in a way that deploying business applications becomes simpler. The process of setting up the software is easier in comparison to others and does not require any expert knowledge to set up. In the present competitive market, customers are the very basis of an organization.
As a result, companies need to constantly evolve their customer interaction patterns to improve the experiences they provide. These functions are collectively handled by customer relationship management applications. They are abbreviated as CRM applications.
Salesforce to be the premise provides applications that help companies master the pattern of customer management. The software turns itself into a host for multiple cloud platforms. This aids the mutual interaction of data throughout the cloud platforms. Another advantage of this software is the fact that companies can track live data, discuss major business functions and perform analytics from anywhere. In addition to these, all the above functions will be performed with increased speed and accuracy.
Thus, while Microsoft has gained CRM share of late, it’s worth noting that Salesforce’s three nearest rivals collectively still account for less than 20% of the overall market so Salesforce CRM remains the best CRM software provider in terms of market size.
Advantages & Limitations of Salesforce:
The advantages and disadvantages of Salesforce can be provided in the following manner-
Advantages –
- Salesforce is centered around helping companies in improving their customer experiences. The company manages the customer data of the user organization within the user’s database and has a centered attitude towards customers.
- The App exchange of the company is among the largest B2B stores in the business market.
- The marketing cloud designed by the company is already available to the user organizations. Thus, in Dynamics 365 CRM vs. Salesforce, the latter is easier to deploy.
- Salesforce is quite capable of providing support to organizations in the field of e-commerce.
Disadvantages –
- Salesforce provides services in the sphere of customer relationship management.
- The pricing range is quite steep for certain small and medium-sized businesses.
- According to some user organizations, the functions of the module designed for the management of Field Services is not that satisfactory.
Dynamics 365 CRM Vs Salesforce
Dynamics 365 CRM vs. Salesforce has similar patterns of functions. To understand which software is more beneficial, they need to be analyzed individually. The analysis can be as follows:-
- The pricing standards of Dynamics 365 is quite competitive and the licensing technique is scalable. This makes it more easily available to organizations and thus, more popular.
- The sales module of Dynamics 365 and the LinkedIn Sales Navigator come together into the Microsoft Relationship Sales. The information models from LinkedIn are used by Dynamics 365 to formulate leads.
- All software of Microsoft is designed in such a way that it can be seamlessly assimilated into other applications. For instance, Dynamics 365 can use the business intelligence features in Power BI within its functionality pattern.
- Every year, Microsoft invests millions to keep their security patterns updated and to provide Service Level Agreement. So, in Dynamics 365 CRM vs. Salesforce, the former is better.
- Microsoft guarantees 99.9% uptime in the Dynamics 365 Sales Service Level Agreement (SLA).
- Even though Dynamics 365 has certain marketing capacities, there is no specific marketing module.
- The software is still in the initial years of its performance. This makes certain businesses skeptical about investing in this software.
- Dynamics 365 consists of several customization techniques. But, the user organizations at times find it very difficult to implement these customizations.
The in-depth analysis of Dynamics 365 CRM vs. Salesforce reveals that there are both similarities and differences between the two applications. But, in the present business market Dynamics 365 is way more suited to business functions in comparison to others. The consolidated array of applications under the software ease the workload of the user company. The result is the improvement in the performance of business functions and enhanced brand value.
Microsoft Dynamics 365 CRM vs Salesforce – Pricing
Softwares like Dynamics 365 or Salesforce are designed to make management of customer resources easier for organizations. The pricing patterns can be illustrated as follows:
- Dynamics 365 – The price of Dynamics 365 range from $65 – $135 for every user every month. If an organization needs any additional assistance then Microsoft makes it available for a payment of $5 – $9 for every user each month. This helps the customers to get quicker customer support. Furthermore, even though the initial cost of purchasing a Dynamics subscription is high, later purchases are significantly cheaper with discounts up to 50%.
- Salesforce – The price range of Salesforce plans begin with $25 for each user every month and can rise up to $300 for each user every month. Salesforce subscriptions are divided into the following plans-
- Lightning Essentials – This costs $25 for each user every month.
- Lightning Professional –This subscription costs $75 every user each month.
- Lightning Enterprise – The same features of Lightning essentials are provided along with added features. Some of these can be used on an additional payment of $150 and $300. The $150 plan provides limited customer support. The $300 plan gives unlimited customer support.
Applications of Dynamics 365 CRM –
Dynamics 365 – The tool can be used for the following purposes:
- Creating meaningful insights for customers.
- Providing customer service tools.
- Managing resources, inventories and contracts.
- Maintaining financial records and performing fiscal operations.
- Helping user organization to design campaigns.
- The tool can be used in planning projects performing service analytics
Applications of Salesforce –
- Aiding in the process of integrating multiple services for the requirement of the organization.
- Assimilating multiple social media platforms.
- Analyzing customer information to recognize needs and interests.
- Bringing back previous customers.
- Improving sales records by following up the customer interactions.
- Creating major improvement in the customer base.
Differences between Dynamics 365 CRM and Salesforce:
| Dynamics 365 | Salesforce |
| Dynamics 365 uses universal standards of web namely Java, NET, HTML and others. Also there are multiple options of customizing data. | Salesforce has restricted customizing options and is slower in speed. |
| Dynamics 365 provided smooth integration with other systems. | But Salesforce needs additionally special integrating tools to perform integration. |
| Dynamics 365 is flexible and can be extended to other CRM platforms. It is also cost-effective. | Salesforce is one of the leading CRM softwares but it is very expensive for small organizations. |
| Dynamics 365 can be deployed in three methods- on-premise, cloud and hybrid. | Salesforce can be deployed only on the basis of demand and in the format of multiple tenants. |
| Microsoft Dynamics 365 is enabled with BI capabilities | Salesforce lacks in advanced BI features. |
| The costing range of Dynamics 365 is suitable for the pocket and subscription is available on a monthly basis. | Although Salesforce is available is monthly subscriptions too, it is very expensive for medium or small organizations. |
The features of Dynamics 365 CRM and Salesforce:-
Salesforce:
- Managing Contacts – This feature is dedicated to providing the user with a full view of the customer details.
- Tackling opportunities – The user can keep a track of the leads, the products being dealt with and the financial resources being invested.
- Salesforce engage – This feature makes a personalized contact with the customer on behalf of the user company. This helps in designing campaigns by the marketing department.
- Collaborating on sales – The user company can use these features to employ experts to finish the task of converting leads into deals.
- Managing performance of sales – This feature is designed to keep the sales department of an organization constantly motivated.
- Handling partners – Every organization works with a group of partners in the industry. This feature helps to build close relations with partner companies.
- Salesforce Mobile Application – The mobile application of Salesforce enables the user organization to access the features of the company from any mobile platform.
- Integrating emails – The Salesforce application can be integrated with various email platforms.
- Reports and Dashboards – Salesforce has the feature of creating reports and dashboards from the data analysed by the application in real-time.
- Forecasting Sales – The sales team can create forecasts using the Salesforce application.
Dynamics 365:
- Creating insights from sales patterns – Dynamics 365 is enabled to analyze the patterns of sales and formulate meaningful insights from them.
- Sharing information – The dashboards created from the data can be shared within the organization with increased speed. Also, the software provides alerts related to customer services to the user organization. This helps in improving service patterns.
- Linkedin Navigator – The Linkedin Navigator is used to get an array of additional information. This data can be used to formulate leads for the sales department.
- Integration of Emails – The outlook 365 application is used by the software to assimilate information from the email platforms.
- Customer service dashboards – Certain dashboards in Dynamics 365 are designed to store urgent information related to certain customers. During the time of need, the management can access these dashboards and get access to the required information.
- Smart search patterns – There is this very important feature in Dynamics 365 known as the Smart search feature. This feature is used by the user organization to dig into the pile of information stored in the company’s database. Traditionally, searching for information from the huge database was quite a time consuming procedure.
- Activity log feature – The customer interaction at times involves sensitive information that can later be relevant in performing business operations. In order to keep these data models secure the activity log feature is provided in Dynamics 365. This stores all the information regarding customer interactions within it.
