Microsoft Overtakes Salesforce.com

They’ve led for decades. But things are now fading for Salesforce.com. In the recent Forrester Wave report Microsoft is ahead in Salesforce.com’s traditional stronghold: sales software[1]. This is a big coup for Microsoft who have been making gains in this area for a long time. “Microsoft delivers on intelligent seller productivity.” – Forrester 2017 Q2 report

What should worry all Microsoft’s competitors: this latest Forrester Wave is based on Microsoft’s 2016 release. Wait until Forrester assesses Microsoft’s deep integration with LinkedIn – predicted to be a game-changer by many. The seamless flow between Outlook, Dynamics 365 and Sales Navigator (LinkedIn) is going to make it harder for Sales Directors to justify the higher expense of Oracle, SAP or Saleforce.com The Satya Nadella Treatment You might ask yourself what has given Microsoft the edge? While they have invested heavily in machine learning/artificial intelligence, and the now famous acquisition of LinkedIn, Forrester put it down to a “heightened focus on seller productivity”. Sales software has traditionally focused on reporting and analytics. But with deep integration into Outlook, Microsoft has made it possible for sales reps to more productive on the go. Simple things such as not switching between apps has recently been shown to have a massive impact on revenue. Forrester concludes: “Microsoft is a best fit for companies looking to capitalize on the productivity gains of their other Microsoft cloud investments” – which is fairly obvious. But interestingly, they go on to say: “..and those companies that are …looking to disrupt their peers with AI and machine learning” Sales teams across the globe are already disrupting their competitors with Microsoft’s new Dynamics 365 platform, but ironically, this disruptive ability is already being felt by Microsoft’s own competitors. If you want to find out more, why not check out: Office 365 & Dynamics 365 [1] John Bruno, The Forrester Wave: Sales Force Automation Solutions, Q2 2017 (Forrester)

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