“Dynamics for all”

Pragati Simlote






NEW DELHI: In a bid to lower down the entry barrier in deploying enterprise
resource planning (ERP) solutions and increasing ERP proliferation, Microsoft

has announced business ready licensing model, which streamlines pricing for

Microsoft Dynamics solutions.






The Dynamics portfolio in India comprises a suite of ERP and customer
relationship management (CRM) offerings including Microsoft Dynamics AX,

Microsoft Dynamics GP, Microsoft Dynamics NAV and Microsoft Dynamics SL.






With the new licensing model, Microsoft has moved from a pricing model based on
hundreds of modules and granules to a new model based primarily on the number of

concurrent users who actually use the software.






Elaborating on the model, Microsoft Dynamics business group lead Sushant Dwivedy
said, “This new model has three simple offerings: Microsoft Dynamics Business

Essentials, Microsoft Dynamics Advanced Management and Microsoft Dynamics

Advanced Management Enterprise. They are based primarily on common functionality

and represent a price reduction for a typical entry-level configuration. We have

moved from a pricing model based on hundred of modules and granules to a new

model based primarily on the number of concurrent users who actually use the

software. We have taken a marginal increase in the user price but we brought the

functionality price to zero.”






Simplified licensing model for partners and customers and at the same time has
made it more attractive for organization to deploy ERP more profusely. Apart

from benefiting large enterprise, the revamped pricing for Dynamics is also

expected to benefit mid-sized companies who are expanding fast to multiple

locations.






Business Ready Licensing Plan is available for Microsoft Dynamics GP, Microsoft
Dynamics AX, Microsoft Dynamics NAV and Microsoft Dynamics SL and will be

available to purchase worldwide August 1, 2006. The price for Microsoft Dynamics

Business Essentials will start at Rs 68,750. For the existing customers of

Dynamics, there would be a transition fee that would be applicable for them in

order to move across to the new licensing.






Microsoft Dynamics currently has an installed base of over 450 customers in
India. Dwivedy said, “More than half of these have been added in the last 12

months and these customers cut across industry segments. When we look at the

licensing model, it has to fulfill and meet the requirement of each these

segments. Large enterprises have deployed some ERP, but a big issue that still

remains is the level of deployment and whether they have fully automated across

the organization. Companies have gone ahead and deployed ERP at the hub. But

when you get down to the subsidiary level or at the plant level, the automation

has not really been there. Through the new licensing model, this is one big

chunk that we want to go ahead and address.”






Currently, Microsoft Dynamics has over 65 partners and the company is training
up its partners on rapid implementation methodology (RIM). Dwivedy said, “While

we are making pricing more attractive for all customer groups, at the same time

if partners are able to bring down the implementation time, it becomes a huge

benefit to the customer. So RIM would also help partners deploy solutions faster

for the customers and adding more value. RIM can cut down the time to 1/3 of the

deployment time it used to take earlier.”






According to Dwivedy, the channel partners are also very excited with this new
licensing model. Director of one of its partners Headstart Consulting Punit

Kapoor said, “Implementing the user-based pricing is the right step by

Microsoft. This is well suited for geographically dispersed holding companies in

India, where it is sometimes impossible to work with a single database due to a

lack of stable communication links. Now businesses have an opportunity to take

advantage of Microsoft Dynamics in remote offices, lowering the total cost of

ownership and supporting a superior ROI.”






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