Microsoft Executive Takes Competitive Shots At Rival Salesforce.com
"Salesforce.com spends a lot of time bashing Microsoft," writes Brad Wilson, general manager of Microsoft Dynamics CRM, in a blog. "Their CEO, Marc Benioff, can't stop talking about us, whether in customer events or on their financial analyst calls. Their sales force tries desperately to spread FUD (fear, uncertainty, and doubt) about Microsoft, giving slick 'hit pieces' to prospects with a slanted perspective and dubious claims. All of this raises the question: Why is Salesforce.com so worried about Microsoft?"
Microsoft and Salesforce are locked in an increasingly bitter competition in the CRM software arena. Microsoft began offering the on-demand version of its Dynamics CRM applications in 2008 and earlier this year went global with the CRM service.
Wilson's blog says it took Microsoft just six years to get its first one million CRM users (it's not clear if that includes users of the on-premise version of the application, which preceded the on-demand version), while it took Saleforce more than nine years to reach that threshold.
Wilson touts what he sees as the advantages of Microsoft’s product, such as giving customers the ability to choose whether to run the software on-premise, in the cloud or allow a partner to host it -- all based on the same multi-tenant code base. And Wilson said Dynamics CRM works with a wide range of Microsoft products including SharePoint, Office and Outlook.
And Wilson plays the price card. "Salesforce.com is expensive, with long-term contracts to lock you in and lots of extra charges as well," he wrote. "At Microsoft, we think about this business differently. We give you flexible contract terms, a broad technology solution for the public and private cloud, and a great experience for your end users … all at a much more affordable price."
Benioff is well-known for belittling Salesforce’s competitors. At the company’s Dreamforce conference last year Benioff devoted a significant portion of his keynote speech to trash-talking Microsoft, at one point referring to the software giant as "the evil empire."
Salesforce spokespersons did not immediately comment on Wilson's posting. Benioff is scheduled to speak Thursday at Salesforce's Cloudforce event in Boston where he may respond to Wilson's blog.