Microsoft Dynamics 365 vs Others (SAP, Salesforce...)

When evaluating an ERP, here are a few key parameters that matter most-

1. Business process mapping and requirement analysis
2. Budget
3. ERP Vendor Comparison
1. Total cost of ownership
2. Return on Investment (ROI)
3. Out-of-the-box Features & Functions
4. Duration of Implementation
5. Types of Deployment
6. Operational Disruption
7. Competency of the partner, partner network and resources
8. Evaluation of not just the application but the Ecosystem
4. Technical evaluation including role of ERP in the company’s overall digital strategy

Now, let's have a look on the analysis.

1. Microsoft Dynamics 365 offers the lowest Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) among all tier-1 ERP vendors. It's payback period is 18 months lower than that of SAP
2. Microsoft Dynamics 365 offers the highest ROI of approximately $17 per one dollar spent within the first three years. This return is exponentially higher considering the ROI for competing ERP and CRM products is $7.23 and $8.71, respectively.
3. Microsoft Dynamics is best suited for progressive mid-market companies aiming to make it big to support growth to an exponential degree.
4. Microsoft Dynamics 365 users reported an average 12-month implementation time compared to its peer SAP with close to 15 months’ time for medium to high complexity implementations.
5. For smaller companies and low complexity implementations, the time to implement is less than 12 months.
6. Microsoft Dynamics 365 users took maximum of 2 - 3 months to achieve stable state as against around 6 months in case of the SAP.
7. Microsoft Dynamics 365 users reported using 17% more features of Microsoft as compared to SAP.
8. Microsoft Dynamics 365 users are 10% more likely to achieve the stated benefits as compared to SAP.
9. Microsoft Dynamics 365 is reported to have high level of customization as compared to its competitors.
10. Microsoft Dynamics 365 is reported to have more ease of integration with 3rd party systems as compared to its competitors.
11. In terms of industries targeted, Microsoft Dynamics 365 targets almost every type of industry including Chemical, Pharmaceutical, Consumer Goods, Distribution, Retail (Including POS), Financial, Government and many more.
12. Analytics:
1. Microsoft Dynamics 365 provides interactive reports exports, embedded list views and interactive visual reporting using Power BI while Salesforce allows exporting of static report excels. For analytics & reporting capabilities in Salesforce, you have to acquire Analytics Cloud at additional cost.
13. Integration:
1. Microsoft Dynamics 365 is an integrated platform that brings Sales, Marketing and other apps together. It also provides seamless integration with Teams, Outlook, LinkedIn and many more. While in Salesforce requires add-on connectors at additional cost.
2. Not only seamless integration, but most of the businesses are also now a days quite familiar with productivity apps like Microsoft Teams, LinkedIn, Outlook etc.
14. Deployment:
1.  Dynamics 365 runs natively on Azure and benefits from the availability of Microsoft’s cloud data centers globally that run on a 99.9% level of availability. Salesforce on the other hand doesn’t allow for this level of availability.
15. Security:
1. With Dynamics 365 you can easily set permissions for role-based, record-based, and field-level security, which allows for seamless control of data access across your organization. With standard data encryption, administrators can manage database encryption keys with Azure Key Vault.
16. User Experience:
1. While Salesforce does have a simpler interface, Dynamics 365 unified interface resembles the UI of other Microsoft products, so if you are familiar with other Microsoft products like Microsoft 365 – it will be easier to adjust to the D365 interface. Dynamics 365 can also be accessed on mobile, on all Android, iOS and Windows devices.
17. Pricing:
1. Another contributing factor to Dynamics 365 superiority as a CRM platform is its competitive pricing and flexible licensing model – which makes it easily accessible for SMBs. Not only is the Enterprise Edition of Salesforce higher in price, but there are additional costs to acquiring add-ons for analytics, field service, data storage and support. Dynamics 365 offers a lower cost per user and includes sales gamification, field service, Power BI and more! 

Above findings were reported by various agencies like Velosio, Forrester Research, Panorama Consulting.

Related Articles:

1. ERP Comparison : Why Choose Microsoft Dynamics 365 Over SAP
   
2. What sets Dynamics 365 apart from it's Competitors?
   

Disclaimer: This post is for personal use only.