And now, for the heavyweight battle that we’ve all been waiting for. . .

In this corner, may I introduce the formidable Salesforce.com, a company that sells Customer Relationship Management (CRM) delivered through the software-as-a-service model. It boasts impressive partnerships with Google, IBM, and Cisco. Salesforce.com, based in San Francisco, focuses on financial services and the public and high tech sectors. It approaches this clash of the titans with confidence because of the growing market opportunity for its deployment model.

And in this corner, may I introduce the impressive Microsoft Dynamics CRM, created by a
software behemoth, proud of its multiple deployment options tailored for any need. Boasting a
flexibility to grow with its consumers, Microsoft Dynamics CRM claims superiority because of
its ubiquitous presence and success. Ready to meet its rival, Microsoft Dynamics CRM is fueled
by its wizard-based reporting designed for intuitive user end reports and analysis.

May the best product win. . .

Round 1: Choice and Flexibility
With a multitenant CRM solution, Microsoft Dynamics CRM offers any number of deployment
options, depending on its consumers’ needs. On-demand, on-premise, and self-hosted models
are only a few ways Microsoft Dynamic CRM can be deployed. And, when its consumers’
businesses change, so too can their CRM software because all deployment options are built on
the same modern architecture and data model. Salesforce.com offers only one method of
deployment.

Round 2: Cost
Salesforce.com claims to cost significantly less, but Microsoft Dynamics CRM insists that its
competition isn’t comparing like services. A-la-carte pricing in addition to potential price hikes
at contract renewal can significantly affect the total cost of Salesforce.com. And, when assessing
comparable online products between the two opponents, Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online is
available for less than 50% of the Salesforce.com fee.

Round 3: Ownership of Data
Salesforce.com, as a software-as-a-service provider, does not own the data collected by
consumers. Instead, its data centers are outsourced to Equinix, a third party company. Microsoft
Dynamics CRM, with its multitenant architecture, houses private databases for each tenant.
Customers have full control over the security and physical location of their data.

Round 4: Ease of Use
Microsoft Dynamics CRM is designed for easy user adoption because of its similarity and
compatibility with Microsoft Office and Outlook. Simply put, it is designed to minimize the
need for training, reduce application switching, and produce high productivity.

Round 5: Scope and Support
Salesforce.com offers support for 15 languages, while Microsoft Dynamics CRM offers support
for 25. Microsoft Dynamics CRM’s ecosystem includes 750,000 solutions partners, 2,200 user
groups, and 400 community Web sites globally. Unless consumer pays extra, typical support
included in Salesforce.com’s subscription fee allows for a 2 business day response time.

Round 6: The Future and Investments
Microsoft invests approximately $5 billion dollars a year in research and development. In 2007,
Salesforce.com invested $12 million dollars in research and development.

My apologies to the fans of healthy and heated competition; it appears that our challenge of the
champions was not the match we anticipated. In a lopsided victory, Microsoft Dynamics CRM
is crowned champion of choice and flexibility, transparent user experience, data ownership,
scope and support, as well as investment in the future. Congratulations to the victor!