Safety-Kleen Increases Productivity and Reduces Costs by Switching From Salesforce.com to Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011

REDMOND, Wash., Nov. 29, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Microsoft Corp. (Nasdaq: MSFT) today announced that Safety-Kleen Systems Inc., a leading North American environmental solutions company, has switched from Salesforce.com to Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011. Safety-Kleen needed a CRM solution that was easy to use and support, could seamlessly connect with its existing line of business applications, and was cost-effective. By switching to Microsoft Dynamics CRM, Safety-Kleen was able to meet all its requirements and broaden access to its CRM system beyond sales to include its service team, going from less than 800 seats to 1,500 users, while still reducing operating costs by more than $500,000 per year.

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"Our company mission is to help businesses stay in balance with the environment and to do what we need to ensure our people have the most up-to-date information when they need it," said Carla Rolinc, vice president of IT, Safety-Kleen. "With Microsoft Dynamics CRM, we are now able to do that. Our people no longer have to work around a fragmented data repository as they can now maintain all customer data in one solution, and because we are able to afford licenses for our service team too, we really are getting a complete 360-degree view of our customers."

With Microsoft Dynamics CRM, Safety-Kleen was also able to get more value out of its existing Microsoft technology investments. The native Microsoft Outlook interface delivered the "Microsoft Dynamics RoleTailored" experience that salespeople were already familiar with. Interoperability with Microsoft Office and the company's existing back-end systems provided a straightforward way for Safety-Kleen to add daily reports directly into the solution's customizable dashboards, which are tailored to the specific roles of each user. Interoperability with Microsoft Lync 2010 improved the company's ability to communicate and collaborate in real time internally and externally directly from within Microsoft Dynamics CRM.

"Our sales team loved the ease of use that Microsoft Dynamics CRM offered," Rolinc said. "Not only does Microsoft Dynamics CRM give employees the information they need to do their jobs, but because they no longer have to enter information into their system twice, there are no more fuzzy numbers ― our pipeline data is now accurate."

The choice of having a CRM solution that could work on-premises and in the cloud was also a key consideration for Safety-Kleen. Microsoft Dynamics CRM utilizes one single-code base, whether deployed on-premises or in the cloud. Because customers have both options, Safety-Kleen could decide to connect its on-premises CRM system with its back-end systems, while reserving the right to move to the cloud when it suits business needs.

Safety-Kleen partnered with PowerObjects, a Microsoft Dynamics CRM Partner with Gold certification in CRM, to evaluate and deploy Microsoft Dynamics CRM. "PowerObjects understood our business and provided immense value in helping us meet our specific business needs within our tight timeline," Rolinc said. "The partnership with PowerObjects made our deployment seamless and successful."

More information about customers switching from Salesforce.com to Microsoft Dynamics CRM can be found at http://www.DontGetForced.com. Those who want to follow and engage with the Microsoft Dynamics CRM community can do so at @MSDynamicsCRM, using #MSDYNCRM and #CRM2011.

About Microsoft Dynamics

Microsoft Dynamics CRM and ERP solutions empower your people to be more productive and your systems to last longer and scale as your business grows, while enabling you to derive the insights necessary to respond quickly in an ever-changing world of business.

About Microsoft

Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq "MSFT") is the worldwide leader in software, services and solutions that help people and businesses realize their full potential.

SOURCE Microsoft Corp.