FT.com / Technology - What’s new: Microsoft unveils customer softwareWhat’s new: Microsoft unveils customer software
By Geoff Nairn
Published: March 28 2007 10:22 | Last updated: March 28 2007 10:22
Microsoft has at last demonstrated Dynamics CRM Live, its software-as-a-service offering that helps businesses with their customer relationship management (CRM). It shares the same program code as Microsoft Dynamics CRM, the existing “on-premises” CRM product, and allows employees to access standard CRM capabilities using Microsoft Office and Outlook.
Dynamics CRM Live will be released in the third quarter, while the next release of the on-premises version follows in the fourth quarter.
■Tired of hefty laptops? FlipStart, a super-compact PC invented by Paul Allen, co-founder of Microsoft, weighs just 1.5lbs and is smaller than a paperback book. The keyboard, normally the Achilles’ heel of small devices, allows users to type up to 26 per cent faster than on competing products, claims FlipStart.
■Grisoft, the Czech anti-virus company, has released two products for small businesses, extending its range from the consumer market. The new products are for small businesses that rely on servers to provide file access, e-mail, and other IT services.
■Red Hat has unveiled Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5, the next release of its Linux operating system aimed at big business. Although still dominant, Red Hat is feeling the heat from competitors such as Novell’s Suse Linux. The most important new feature in Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 is its support for virtualisation, which allows a single server to run multiple operating systems. Suse Linux also supports virtualisation.
■IBM has introduced new content analytics software, IBM OmniFind Analytics Edition, designed to extract information and identify patterns in masses of data. It can work with structured and unstructured information. It is currently available in the US and Japan.
■Hewlett-Packard claims its desktop PCs are the first to meet the more stringent energy-saving requirements of the new Energy Star 4 specification, developed by the US Environmental Protection Agency. The regulations, designed to cut power use by more than 50 per cent, go into effect in the US in July, but HP says it has stolen a lead on the competition with the HP Compaq dc5700, dc5750 and dc7700 models.
■Lenovo, the Chinese manufacturer, has agreed with Microsoft to pre-load Windows Live services on all Lenovo PCs sold. It represents Microsoft’s latest attempt to counter Google’s move into PCs by encouraging Lenovo customers to use the Windows Live toolbar and Live.com portal instead of Google’s versions.
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2007
Labels: Dynamics CRM, SaaS
