Microsoft Announces Windows 2003 Small Business Server-CRM 1.2 Bundle

by Timothy Prickett Morgan

Customer relationship management software and Windows 2003 are not just for midrange and enterprise shops, but small companies might think that these modern programs are a little too complex or expensive for their shops. That is why Microsoft has put together a special promotional bundle of this software together to help its reseller channel, and now the company is expanding it to span the globe for a worldwide marketing push into small companies.

Microsoft announced that the bundling of its CRM 1.2 suite is the kicker to the in-house-developed CRM 1.0 application, which the company launched in North America this time last year. That product was only sold in North America up until this week, and the kicker release is just now being rolled out to Europe, Asia/Pacific, and throughout the Americas. As part of its sales efforts targeted at small businesses (which put the "S" in the SMB market), Microsoft started bundling CRM 1.2 with Windows 2003 Small Business Server, the entry version of the Windows platform that includes e-mail, fax, database, firewall, and shared Internet access software. Windows 2003 SBS is aimed at the entry part of the market, where IT skills and money are limited and where NetWare, SCO Unix, and now Linux have been popular alternatives for years. Customer do not have to buy SBS to use the CRM software, of course, but Microsoft wants small companies to completely modernize their platforms and not be tempted by other CRM solutions.

The SBS-CRM bundle will be available through September 2004, according to Microsoft press release, but only through June 30, according to its sales materials. The pricing for the CRM suite is complex, but you have to understand it if you want to reckon whether the bundle is a good deal. As part of the bundle, customers have to buy the Windows 2003 SBS Premier Edition, which normally costs $1,499 with five client access licenses activated. On the CRM side, the sales module or customer service module (there are only two modules) alone cost $1,049 each, but buying both costs a bit less, at $1,999 for the two of them. A per-user charge for a standard user is $499, while a professional user is $849 a pop. A user activated for both the sales and customer service modules costs $749 for a standard user and $1,349 for a professional user. Standard users have access to the core CRM suite and its e-mails, faxes, and documents, while professional users can actually gain access to the workflow behind the documents in the CRM application, such as case routing, lead management, and so forth. With this promotion, customers who buy Windows 2003 SBS Premier Edition can get the first five standard users of the CRM's sales module for $99 per user (down from $449 per user) and that sales module for $499. The CRM software would normally cost $3,294 for five users, but with the promotion, it only costs $994, yielding a 70 percent discount. However, customers who might otherwise install the CRM software on Windows 2000 have to shell out the $1,499 for Windows 2003 SBS, so it works out to more like a 25 percent discount if you already have Windows 2000 and were hesitating on an operating system upgrade.

Microsoft is, in effect, giving big CRM discounts to pump up Windows 2003 sales, or big Windows 2003 discounts to pump up CRM sales, depending on how you want to look at it.