Microsoft has just released its 2016 Spring Wave Release for Dynamics CRM. According to CRM Partner KPMG, it “takes Microsoft’s vision of having one single platform to manage all touchpoints of business relationships one step further.”

Spring Wave revealed

The update itself is a full product upgrade which covers the entire suite of customer service functionality – “from your traditional washing machine repair person to agent assisted service in a centralised call centre and even self-service on a web portal”. While the service upgrade has been labelled Spring Wave, implying a single product, Microsoft’s new update contains three distinct updates:

• Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online 2016 Update 1 and Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2016 Service Pack 1
• Microsoft Dynamics Marketing 2016 Update 1
• Microsoft Social Engagement 2016 Update 1.5

The three upgrades are a response to Microsoft’s core vision of offering transformative services, driven by intelligence and community engagement.

New acquisitions for new objectives

To achieve this, Microsoft has incorporated two new recent acquisitions to their CRM service: FieldOne and Adxstudio. Their mission has been to integrate the two technologies seamlessly, to offer customers market leading capabilities for field service and portal solutions for community engagement. Microsoft introduced the Spring Wave update by saying that “We are also extending our service capabilities with the introduction of project service, and we continue to invest in enhancing our intelligence capabilities.” With the addition of Adxstudio, Microsoft claims that “web portal functionality is now integrated into Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online as an add-on offering.” They added “Users can build modern web responsive portals from scratch or use the pre-configured solutions including Customer Service Portal, Community Portal, Partner Portal and an Employee Self Service Portal.”

Community at the centre

Dynamics CRM is already well on its way to completing its objective of enabling full community engagement. Now, Dynamics CRM Social includes additional capabilities like:

• social engagement in discussion boards
• Instagram and other blogs, including Tumblr and WordPress in all languages
• Geolocation support will also be added for forums and discussion boards, Instagram and Facebook
• Sharing posts from within Social Engagement has also been enhanced to allow for posts including photos to Facebook and Twitter

What would you like to see?

While KPMG appear somewhat pleased by the Spring Wave update, there is clearly more to do. Microsoft is acquiring new technologies for Dynamics CRM at a rapid pace, with the Spring Wave update, it’s clear they are working hard to achieve their goal of providing an “anywhere, anytime” service for its users. But what would you like to see next? If you were in charge of the Autumn Wave update, what features would you want to see? Leave a comment below. If you want a recruiter who’ll always put you first, please get in touch with one of our expert UK and US consultants on +44(0)1483 233000 or +1 646 878 6426.