Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer announced the worldwide availability of Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online today at an event in Redmond.  This is the cloud-based version of Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011, which will go head to head with other cloud-based CRM products from companies like Salesforce.com and Oracle. 

"Sales professionals are at the heart of almost every successful business," said Ballmer. "Microsoft Dynamics CRM redefines productivity by offering an industry-leading product that is fully embracing the cloud. The things that make Microsoft Dynamics CRM an industry leader include giving sales professionals a familiar user experience, enabling greater collaboration, streamlining of processes and access to real-time data so they can improve their customers’ experiences and effectively compete in the market."

"The service is available today as a cloud offering," he said. "This is the first time we’ve made a release in the cloud before we have done so in the server version, and I think that really reflects the push by Microsoft into the cloud."

"I think our customers are really going to embrace this new release," he added. "It brings with it the ease of use that sales, marketing and service professionals expect; the ease of deployment for departmental managers; low cost and agility for IT; and most importantly, the kind of functionality, capability and value that’s really going to drive revenue and drive customer satisfaction."