Microsoft Updates Dynamics 365

Microsoft today announced updates to its Dynamics 365 offering with, among other things, an integration to LinkedIn Sales Navigator and new products for human resources and retail.

Through the integration with LinkedIn Sales Navigator, which will be available July 1, Microsoft and LinkedIn sales teams will begin selling the Microsoft Relationship Sales Solution, a new offer that combines Microsoft's Dynamics 365 for Sales and LinkedIn's Sales Navigator Team Edition, starting at $135 per seat per month. Salespeople will be able to reach LinkedIn's user base of more than 465 million professionals for customer leads.

Scott Guthrie, executive vice president of the Cloud and Enterprise Group at Microsoft, said in a statement that "Sales Navigator with Dynamics 365 will dramatically increase the effectiveness of salespeople by tapping into their professional networks and relationships, giving them the ability to improve their pipeline."

This, he said, can be done by leveraging signals across email, CRM, and LinkedIn to get contextual recommendations for the next-best action within Dynamics 365 for Sales, facilitating introductions directly through company networks, and sending InMail, messages and customized connection requests; engaging buyers with tailored content throughout the account lifecycle; getting account and lead updates, including news mentions and job changes; and building strong relationships with existing contacts through access to LinkedIn profile details, including photos, current roles, and work histories.

Doug Camplejohn, head of product for LinkedIn Sales Solutions, said the integration "delivers a great experience."

According to Camplejohn, the integration will further allow users to display Sales Navigator person and company information on every Dynamics lead, contact, account, and opportunity page. Additionally, daily updates between systems will allow accounts and contacts in Dynamics 365 to be automatically saved to Sales Navigator. Sales reps will be able to see in Sales Navigator which people and companies are already saved in Dynamics, and vice-versa. And, with a single click, users can write select Sales Navigator activities (InMails, messages, notes, and call logs) to Dynamics 365.

Another addition to the Dynamics 365 suite is Dynamics 365 for Retail, enabling users to optimize their operations, connect and empower their employees, and delight customers with exceptional shopping experiences.

Dynamics 365 for Retail provides retailers with an integrated end-to-end view of their operations with centralized management and clear visibility across stores, employees, customers, inventory, and financials. It delivers mobile-optimized, point-of-sale Dynamics 365 for Retail, a new intelligent cloud service we are announcing today, provides retailers with an Integrated end-to-end view of their operations with centralized management and clear visibility across stores, employees, customers, inventory and financials. It offers mobile-optimized, point-of-sale experiences, omnichannel capabilities that allow shoppers to engage with retailers on their terms and to buy, fulfill, and return anywhere, and data-driven retail experiences that enable customer engagement at every touch point.

The new Dynamics 365 for Talent, designed for HR organizations to integrate with LinkedIn’s Recruiter and Learning solutions, helps companies manage the employee life cycle from sourcing and recruiting to integration and retention.

Additional updates across Dynamics 365 include Dynamics 365 Business Edition apps for small and midsized businesses, available in preview July 1, and industry-specific solutions available in Microsoft AppSource.

Additionally, Dynamics 365 will be available in the United Kingdom in May and Germany in June.

"Last July we introduced Dynamics 365, powered by Microsoft Azure, turning what was rigid and disconnected into a set of intelligent cloud services that allow any business to start small with just what it needs, scale on demand as its needs grow, and add additional solutions as its needs change," Guthrie wrote in a blog post. "With Dynamics 365 we deliver modern, intelligent experiences and services that connect all the data across your enterprise to help you make better, faster decisions and achieve optimal outcomes."

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