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Microsoft chief predicts melding of CRM and ERP into one solution

Microsoft head of business solutions, Kirill Tatarinov, calls for customer focus in new era

Experience is the new currency in the burgeoning era of the customer, according to Microsoft head of business solutions, Kirill Tatarinov.

Tatarinov has used a keynote speech at Microsoft Dynamics Convergence 2014 to call on businesses to change their approach and adopt a customer-centric view.

The speech, to a crowd of 10,000 attendees, also gave him an opportunity to preview the capabilities across its Dynamics' portfolio.

He underscored the importance of technology combined with cultural changes in the organisation as critical for businesses to gain insight into their customer’s needs and deliver experiences that help build lasting relationships.

"Technology has changed the social fabric, transforming how we engage, connect, and interact with one another," he said.

"In this era of the customer, experience is the new currency."

Tatarinov also indicated we would soon see an integration of CRM and enterprise resource planning systems into a single solution.

Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 R3 will be available on May 1.

According to a company statement, the update introduces a new a new end-to-end apps and services framework, allowing businesses to develop modern apps for specific scenarios and mobile devices that can easily and securely connect with Microsoft Dynamics AX.

It also adds support for deployment on Windows Azure via infrastructure as a service (IaaS).

This capability delivers high availability of data and disaster recovery, as critical business data is stored in the cloud, and can be retrieved by businesses virtually anytime, anywhere.

Pre-configured environments are also available on Windows Azure, for businesses to speed deployment, and reduce time to value.

Microsoft also reinforced the upcoming capabilities in the latest release of Microsoft Dynamics CRM expected in the second quarter of 2014.

This introduces Microsoft Dynamics Marketing, to help businesses manage their marketing campaigns.

It comes bring with it Microsoft Social Listening, which gives staff insights and new capabilities such as the Unified Service Desk to help businesses engage with customers.