Microsoft launches free BI tools for CRM 19 February, 2007 By Patricia Pickett

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Christian Pedersen, senior director of Microsoft Dynamics CRM, described the shared-source Analytics Foundation offering as "new BI tools and a new way of using existing Microsoft BI tools in a way that provides analysis and management of everything customer-facing." Some would categorize it as "BI for the masses," since it is more relevant and accessible for different types of CRM users, he said.

Analytics Foundation takes many of the existing Microsoft data management and analytic technologies that customers already have, such as SQL Server 2005 and SharePoint, as well as technologies under the Office umbrella, including Business Scorecard Manager and Excel, and "really puts them in the context of CRM and individual CRM users," Pedersen said. Microsoft PerformancePoint Server 2007, scheduled for availability later this year, will also work closely with Analytics Foundation, the firm said.

The new tools cover three main BI areas. The first, real-time business performance management, provides a graphical view of the health of the business and gives users the ability to drill into details such as customer profitability or customer service volume forecasts.

The second area is ad-hoc analysis and business reporting, an extension of what is already available through SQL Server Reporting Services, Pedersen said. Customers can use online analytical processing cubes to analyze CRM data without help from the IT department.

The third area -- and "probably the most exciting, biggest addition," according to Pedersen -- is predictive analytics using data mining algorithms within Microsoft SQL Server Analysis Services. The tool is able to detect patterns within customer information streams and to generate recommendations and decisions for driving better business process performance. Predictive analytics can, for example, recommend cross-sell and up-sell opportunities to contact centre agents or sales professionals, or automatically prioritize leads based on a historical analysis of the types of leads that are most likely to convert to opportunities. "It's about how we are taking the data mining capabilities of SQL server and using it in the CRM context so the individual sales person can basically do a better job," Pedersen said.

Analytics Foundation "brings the concept of BI down to earth" and makes it more consumable for small and medium businesses, which may have found that tools like predictive analytics were previously out of their reach, not only in terms of acquisition costs but also because of the complexity involved in setting them up and using them. Users don't have to learn new tools and are able to use their existing tools to "get information that is more valuable and actionable for their business," Pedersen said.

Not only does Analytics Foundation put all core Microsoft BI technologies within the context of CRM, but it also places the BI tools directly into the CRM experience. "(Users) don't have to change back and forth between different tools, because the information is presented directly to them in the context where they are working." Since Dynamics CRM works directly in Outlook, customers can even have their BI information served directly inside of Outlook. "It really just makes it very seamless and straightforward," Pedersen said.

Microsoft's channel partners will be able to build on their customer relationships by pointing them to Analytics Foundation as an additional BI tool. The offering could also potentially serve as a starting point for customer engagements. "The tool itself is free...but customers need assistance in defining sets of rules," noted Pedersen. For example, in predictive analytics, they "need a fair amount of expertise in defining what a good lead is" in the context of the individual customer's business, since a good lead for one company could be a bad lead for another, depending on the focus of the business. "Partners will be able to work with customers in areas that are the highest value-add, showing them how to improve their business," he said.

Microsoft Dynamics CRM Analytics Foundation is available for free as a shared-source download for customers and partners via CodePlex, the vendor's open-source project-hosting Web site, and the Microsoft CRM Sandbox, a GotDotNet project that enables users to share knowledge with other administrators, users, developers and those who customize Microsoft CRM.