Microsoft CRM 3.0 Arrives Early

Posted by Mike Snyder on November 2, 2005  |  Comments (1)

Yesterday a lot of rumors floated around that Microsoft CRM 3.0 "went RTM" one month ahead of schedule. What does "went RTM" mean? That means that the code and the testing are 100% complete and now we just have to wait for the software to be released to our hands.

Despite the rumors, there was no public announcement or statement of any kind from Microsoft...until today.

From DestinationCRM:

Brad Wilson, general manager of Microsoft CRM, admits that Q1 was a broad timeframe for customers who had been waiting for 3.0, but early December "really locks it down," he says. "What this means is...we're going to beat our publicly stated release date." The company was ahead of its internal schedules, but it wanted to be conservative in its public guidance, according to Wilson.

In this same article, Greg Gianforte, CEO of RightNow technologies supplies this HILARIOUS quote about Microsoft CRM 3.0 releasing ahead of schedule:

Greg Gianforte, CEO and founder of RightNow Technologies, contends that the early unveiling is an indication that Microsoft is seeing "the CRM market quickly slipping out of their grasp. They've had very limited success in CRM to date, and we don't see that changing with this version."

I literally laughed out lout when I read this. Clearly, Greg is trying to use some very weak scare tactics to try and stop Microsoft's momentum.