Microsoft is planning to add a marketplace site in its upcoming releases of CRM 2011 where partners can sell complementary applications. CRM 2011 will be available in beta form in September, starting with the Online edition. Known as the Dynamics Marketplace, it will go live in September and then become widely available by the end of 2010.

Microsoft will expand geographic availability of CRM Online to 40 markets by the end of 2010, including Australia, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Chile, Cyprus, Peru and Trinidad and Tobago. The new CRM product will have improved integrations with Outlook, Office and SharePoint. Salesforce.com is the largest sales automation software vendor globally, with an estimated $885 million in related applications revenue in 2009. Oracle and SAP are also strong players in the market.

salesforce.com, inc. is a leading US-based company offering customer relationship management services. Services offered by the company include Salesforce CRM applications, Force.com cloud computing platform, and AppExchange directory. Services offered by salesforce allow customers and developers to build and run business applications. The company's offerings are easy to use and can be integrated with other software applications. Further, salesforce also offers professional services including consulting and implementation services and training. salesforce has a strong presence across the Americas, Europe, and Asia Pacific regions.

Microsoft Corporation is one of the leading providers of software and storage products and services. The company is engaged in developing, manufacturing, licensing, and supporting software products worldwide. It conducts its business through five reportable business segments, namely, Clients segment, Server and Tools segment, Microsoft business division segment, Entertainment and devices segment, and Online services segment.

Author: Paul Chapman, Analyst