EDS and Microsoft sign global CRM deal

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Microsoft and IT services company EDS have signed a global deal to sell combined CRM solutions based on Microsoft's Dynamics CRM product.

Steve Ballmer, chief executive of the Windows and Office maker announced the deal at Convergence US, Microsoft's annual Dynamics conference in Orlando.

Dynamics CRM 4.0 launched in January, with Microsoft hoping it would bolster its enterprise credentials with its multi-currency, multi-lingual and multi-tenancy features.

In the UK, EDS and Dynamics CRM has already been selected by the Department for Works and Pensions (DWP) to provide a 6,500 seat call handling solution for its Jobcentre Plus system.

It needed a more efficient system to prioritise and manage calls handled by its 5,000 case workers, with the joint solution virtualising all 23 of its contact centre sites which was claimed improved call handling effectiveness.

"EDS has looked at that, looked at its success and decided worldwide and specifically in the UK they want to build a Microsoft CRM practice," said Paul White, head of Microsoft Dynamics in the UK.

"We have signed an agreement with them which will help them build that practice and they've identified particular markets, call centres and outsourcing projects where they'll take our product in and create the solution that will be appropriate for that market."

Microsoft said that its CRM platform will modernise the EDS CRM solution and enable it to meet a new set of industry-specific offerings.

It also said that customers would benefit from the reduced time to market, the lower cost of ownership, greater user adoption and increased business process agility.

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