Microsoft CRM vs ACT – Review and Evaluation

Written By: Cliff on December 9, 2012 No Comment

Review of Microsoft vs ACT!

Both Microsoft Dynamics CRM and Sage ACT! Premium are excellent customer management software systems and are leaders within their niches. ACT! has moved in recent years from simply being a Contact Management software towards becoming a true Customer Relations Managment software. Although ACT is much more customizable than in the past, it is not built for workflow and additional main entities.

What Sage ACT! does, it does very well. And that is a focus on quick and easy management of Contacts. At the end of the day, Sage ACT is more of a Contact Managment Software than a full bodied CRM. This is both good and bad news – depending on your style of business.

Sales reps who are on the phone all day long are often very pleased with ACT. Yet sales reps who are looking for more flexible customization, mobile integration or cloud access will be more pleased with CRM platforms such as Microsoft CRM, Sugar CRM or Salesforce.

Video comparison of Microsoft CRM vs Sage ACT

The CRM Comparison Matrix below outlines the key differences between both systems.

CRM Software System	Sage ACT	MS CRM
Contact Management
Manage contacts & accounts	Yes	Yes
Access CRM within MS Outlook		Yes
MS Word integration	Yes	Yes
Track all contact interactions	Yes	Yes
Manage contacts via groups/lists	Yes	Yes
Customizable fields & screens	Yes	Yes
Attach documents	Yes	Yes
Integrates with Microsoft Outlook	Yes	Yes
Mobile device access	Basic	Yes
Includes web access	Sage ACT! Premium	Yes
Multi-language support	Basic	Yes
Track non contact entities		Yes
Sales & Opportunities
Tracking sales opportunities	Yes	Yes
Sales dashboards & reports	Yes	Yes
Sales pipeline management	Yes	Yes
Quote generation	Basic	Yes
Product catalogue	Basic	Yes
Opportunity queuing		Yes
Multiple currency		Yes
Analysis for up/cross-selling		Yes
Activity/Productivity
Calendaring management	Yes	Yes
Managing to-do’s & activities	Yes	Yes
Internal knowledgebase		Yes
Workflow for business rules		Yes
Automation of workflows		Yes
Resource/service management		Yes
Customer Service
Schedule follow-up activities	Yes	Yes
Case support case management		Yes
Service Level Agreement escalation		Yes
Web self-service customer portals		Yes
Enabling customer case queuing		Yes
e-Marketing
Sending email blasts	Yes	Yes
Telemarketing campaigns	Basic	Yes
Marketing campaign management		Yes
Marketing campaign ROI analysis		Yes
Automated lead routing to sales		Yes
Reports & Dashboards
Built in reporting Engine-Lists	Yes	Yes
Built in reporting Engine-Lists		Yes
Performance dashboards	Basic	Yes
Includes Crystal Reports		Yes
Microsoft SQL Reporting		Yes
MS SharePoint Integration		Yes
Personalization/Integration
Customizable fields & screens	Yes	Yes
Data Import from Excel	Yes	Yes
Accounting software integration	Yes	Yes
Advanced programming/scripting	Basic	Yes
Data from back-office systems	Basic	Yes
System Administration
Scheduled database maintenance	Yes	Yes
Advanced user access options	Sage ACT! Premium	Yes
Hosted option available	Sage ACT! Premium	Yes

Free TCO Comparison for Microsoft CRM vs ACT!

With this excel tool, you will be able to compare the Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) of more than 10 of the top CRM systems.

The comparison calculator includes the following CRM software systems: Microsoft Dynamics CRM, Salesforce.com, SugarCRM, Saleslogix, Sage CRM, Sage ACT, and more…

You will be able to plug in your numbers and compare the results between various CRM systems. This tool was created by CRM professionals – and is now available to our readers.

With this tool, you will be able to identify the key TCO line items that are relevant for any CRM implementation. We have also included data for comparing CRM software systems such as Microsoft CRM, Salesforce.com, SugarCRM, Sage CRM, Sage SalesLogix and more. You will be able to view the 3 Year and 5 Year Total Cost of Ownership for both SaaS (Online/On-Demand) and Licensed (On-premise) pricing models.

==>Click HERE to Access the CRM comparison tool<==

TCO line items for ACT! vs Microsoft CRM include:

Staffing
Mobile
Licensing
User price
Network
Rollout/Implementation
Support
Hardware (incl. Server and Users)
and more…

Free Feature Comparison - MS CRM vs ACT

With this spreadsheet tool, you will be able to compare the features and details of the top CRM systems.

You will be able to compare and evaluate the following CRM business software systems: Microsoft Dynamics CRM, Infusion, Goldmine, Saleslogix, and more…

CRM evaluation topics include: Matrix of Features, Price/Licensing, Available Entities/Modules, Network/Hardware Platforms, and more…

You will be able to view the pros and cons of these CRM solutions side by side – and compare the strengths and weaknesses of these various CRM systems. This tool was created by CRM experts – and is now available to our readers.

Using this Excel spreadsheet tool, you will be empowered to recognize the chief differences between almost 10 of the top CRM systems, including Sage SalesLogix, Microsoft Dynamics CRM, Pivotal, GoldMine, Sage ACT! and more.

==>Click HERE to Access the CRM spreadsheet comparison tool<==

CRM Comparison Topics for Microsoft vs ACT include:

CRM Features
Feature Details (Sync, Call Center, Quoting, E-commerce, Lead Management, Security, Workflow, and much more).
Entities and Modules (e.g. SFA, Marketing, Service, etc)
Network and Hardware (Microsoft, Linux, etc…)
Costs and Pricing (Licensing, etc..)
Industry/SIC/NAICS information

ON DEMAND WEBINAR: Microsoft CRM vs Salesforce

This comparison between Salesforce.com and Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 will assist you in your CRM evaluation. To view the on-demand webinar, click the image below.

About the author

Author: Cliff Ford. CRM Solution Comparison has provided CRM cloud software reviews and evaluations for several years. Our staff of CRM certified partners implements, tests and uses the various systems discussed within this blog. We have created a number of excellent CRM comparison and evaluation tools that we provide our readers. Google