Microsoft releases CRM 4.0 to manufacturing just under the wire

Microsoft officials have been saying for a few months that the company would release to manufacturing its "Titan" Dynamics CRM 4.0 product before the end of calendar 2007. On December 14, Microsoft made good on the promise.

According to the Microsoft East Region CRM blog, it will take Microsoft a couple of weeks for the final bits to hit the download sites. The "U.S. launch parties" for customers for the product are starting in March, according to Microsoft CRM Specialist Ben Vollmer's post.

Microsoft is making the CRM 4.0 bits available in several ways: As a Microsoft-hosted "CRM Live" service; as a partner-hosted service; and in an on-premise form for customers who want to host/run the product themselves. Microsoft committed to getting the partner-hosted and on-premise options available in the fourth quarter of this year.

But both SKUs of Dynamics CRM Live --  the Redmond company's competitor to Salesfore.com's hosted CRM offering -- are not going to be generally available until the first half of 2008. The Professional SKU of Dynamics CRM Live is slated to be available in "beta" form (although I'm not sure if it's generally available or available only to a select set of testers) this quarter. But the Enterprise CRM Live SKU isn't going to be available at all until some time in the first six months of 2008.

(Thanks to Bink.nu for spotting the original CRM 4.0 RTM post.)