With the introduction of CRM 3.0, the Dynamics nomenclature will designate a product line that includes two business suites, ERP and CRM, according to Kevin Faulkner, senior director of product marketing at Microsoft.

Version 3.0 adds a marketing module to the existing sales force automation and service components of the suite, making it more acceptable for larger clients. The suite has also been more tightly integrated with Microsoft Outlook and Office offerings.

For example, documents and contacts in the Office and Outlook applications can automatically flow into the CRM suite if marked for inclusion.

Industry analyst Liz Herbert of Forrester Research said Microsoft's claim that integration with Outlook will shorten learning curves and make navigation flows easier is consistent with customer references contacted by Forrester.

Also appealing to enterprise-level customers is the revamped workflow engine in Version 3.0, which uses metadata so that it is more customizable with other Microsoft and non-Microsoft platforms.