Microsoft CRM vs Salesforce: Difference and Comparison

Data management is one of the biggest challenges organisations face when organizing the sales department. We have come a long way from paper and pen to software.

Nowadays, it is straightforward to manage your sales lead and contacts. Some software does everything from collecting data to helping you make sense of it,.  

Key Takeaways

1. Microsoft CRM is a customizable customer relationship management software integrated with Microsoft products.
2. Salesforce is a cloud-based CRM platform offering various apps and third-party integrations.
3. Each CRM caters to different business needs, with Microsoft CRM being better suited for companies reliant on Microsoft tools and Salesforce excelling in flexibility and scalability.

Microsoft CRM vs Salesforce 

Delegated permissions allow applications to access user-specific data, scoped to specific resources and operations, and expire after a certain period. Application permissions enable applications to access organization-wide data or perform administrative tasks without requiring user sign-in.

Microsoft CRM is a customer relationship management software which is called Microsoft Dynamics CRM and has a lot of versions. It is a .NET technology that Microsoft developed.

The best feature of the software is that it can also be used offline, with some missing functionality that requires internet.

Microsoft CRM is not limited to sales functionality and customer service, but it also allows you to take advantage of the internet and helps you manage marketing stuff. 

Salesforce is a cloud-based service that can be accessed through the Internet. It can integrate into your Outlook, and all the sales information can be easily accessed on one platform.

Salesforce has a broad category of CRM services that are all cloud-based. Commerce Cloud, Sales Cloud, Community Cloud, etc., are a few CRM-based services among a plethora of other services focused on case, task, and issue management tools.  

Comparison Table

Parameters of Comparison	Microsoft CRM	Salesforce
Offline Operability	It can be operated offline.	It cannot be operated offline as it is a cloud-based service.
Parent company	Microsoft Corporation is the owner of this CRM service software.	It is a . NET-based software.
Cloud-based	It is not entirely cloud-based but forms a part of the cloud service called Dynamics 365.	It is entirely cloud-based.
Software platform	It is not a . NET-based software.	It is not a .NET-based software.
AI feature	Its AI feature is called Microsoft Dynamics 365 AI.	Its AI service is called Einstien.

What is Microsoft CRM?

It is a customer relationship management tool developed by Microsoft that provides multiple solutions.

Solutions such as customer services, sales functionality, marketing, etc., are a few of the management tools provided by Microsoft CRM.

It has evolved since its inception, and multiple versions have been released; Dynamics 365 is the latest stable release. It comes with AI features that come in handy and make tasks more accessible by providing a better solution.

It is a .NET-based platform which proves very helpful as it allows customization,, which Microsoft encourages. It forms an integral part of the family of applications Microsoft provides for businesses.

It is a server to the client application,, just like any Internet Information Services-based application. It can be accessed by any browser, such as Google Chrome, Edge, etc., or directly from the email client Outlook provided by Microsoft.

There are two types of licenses provided by Microsoft,: Server license and Client Access License,, also called CAL. Any deployment is supposed to have both rights.

To make it easier to use Mic,rosoft has come up with other versions of licenses, such as read-only license, which allows the distribution of charge to those who are not supposed to have write permission.

In another version of the license, the client can have complete access. All these customer-friendly options cater to the different needs of different types of clients.

What is Salesforce?

Salesforce is also an SRM service provider,, but its services are cloud-based, and hence require the internet to access the different services.

It is one of the leading companies in the area of CRM. It helps businesses to manage their sales data and customer relationships through various products like Sales Cloud, App Cloud, etc., which are easily customizable.

Experience Cloud, one of the products of Salesforce, allows customers to create properties like external collaboration, customer service, and many more which are online.

Through the years it has acquired many companies in the field such as Sendia in 2005. It was named after the acquisition with the name Salesforce classic.

Another famous acquisition is Kieden which is now called Salesforce for GoogleAdWords.

The company was brought up in 1999 by Mark Benioff together with other fellows Parker Harris, Dave Moellenhoff, and Frank Dominguez and it has come a long way and established itself as a brand.

It mainly provides services for issues, and task management along with case management. Salesforce can be added to Microsoft Outlook to give real-time data management.

It is owned and managed by Salesforce Inc. headquartered in San Fransisco, California, USA. The company follows the concept of Ohana which roughly translates to a family which is visible in the delivery of their services.

Main Differences Between Microsoft CRM and Salesforce

1. Microsoft CRM is a . NET-based platform, whereas Salesforce is a cloud-based service.
2. Microsoft CRM can be accessed and used offline, whereas Salesforce, a cloud-based service, can only be accessed online.
3. Salesforce provides different applications for different purposes, whereas Microsoft CRM provides a suite of applications.
4. The pricing for both the services differs as for Salesforce, the price is in bulk for any service, whereas for Microsoft CRM, you may need to pay extra for an extra number of users.
5. Microsoft CRM is owned by Microsoft Corporation, whereas Salesforce inc owns Salesforce.

References

1. https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=s2W3Jd6tIK8C&oi=fnd&pg=PR3&dq=microsoft+crm&ots=-rz-QmkwKf&sig=F2Ss9n5Xvx-kyWLUZbtQXlA8s2w
2. https://search.proquest.com/openview/eb6166447c26d6f2c7556d97c2077927/1?pq-origsite=gscholar&cbl=41798
3. https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/abstract/document/8117887/
4. https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=lOoNr4eZ0ooC&oi=fnd&pg=PT20&dq=salesforce+crm&ots=U86pSNHs2G&sig=fiylCRKG1TZZWSpV8qWzlEU1LaI

Last Updated : 01 July, 2023