Bitrix24 vs. Microsoft Dynamics 365

Customers from the Canadian city of Toronto, Ontario, asked us to compare the two platforms, since they were choosing between the implementation of Bitrix24 and Microsoft Dynamics 365. I'll tell you more, they chose Bitrix24. But Avivi experts have objectivly studied the potential of both programs. In this comparison, we had to operate with complex concepts and talk about fundamental differences, as both Microsoft Dynamics 365 and Bitrix24 have a huge amount of both obvious and hidden functionalities. Therefore, to further familiarize yourself with the material, you should be sure that you have a good knowledge of Bitrix24 in general and CRM-system in particular.

For most people in the world the Microsoft corporation is associated primarily with the Windows operating system, the MS Office suite of products and the name of the company's founder, the billionaire Bill Gates. Less frequently and mostly in narrower circles, other specialized software products of this vendor are mentioned. Recently, the topic of the involvement of both the company and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation in a global conspiracy has also been hyped. And although it refers to conspiracy theories, quite normal for big business desire to control more profitable spheres of humanity is still observed in Microsoft. That is why among the company's developments is not only beloved by many MS Word and "adored" by us MS Excel, but also serious platforms for science, manufacturing, healthcare and business.

The history of Microsoft Dynamics began in 2001, when the IT giant bought the small company iCommunicate with 10 people of staff, but with promising ideas in the direction of developing a system for customer relationship management (CRM). In the future, the finalized software was released under different names and editions, until the product was called Microsoft Dynamics. And after the entire functionality was moved to the cloud, where the components were integrated with the rest of the MS Office 365 products, three more digits were added to the already modern name.

If we talk about Bitrix24 as a comprehensive self-sufficient product, Microsoft Dynamics is more of a platform measure - the basis for the development of IT structure of the company according to your requirements. Like many other North American products, Microsoft Dynamics is a modular structure: to solve various tasks the owner, like a supermarket customer who puts products from the shelves into a cart, adds all the necessary modules and applications to the right condition to their system. Note that none of this is free, except for some really free applications from partners or the vendor itself. Thus, when you implement Bitrix24, you immediately know the cost of the necessary tariff plan and get the full set of tools. To buy Microsoft Dynamics, you need to consult a calculator and calculate the cost of the total set of tools. Many partners provide this calculator online.

Both software products are provided as SAAS (cloud service) and On-premise (server edition). Bitrix24 has been doing this since its release in 2012. Microsoft Dynamics, as you may recall, was originally only a self-hosted product, and over time has migrated to the corporation's servers.

The issue of data storage is worth a separate mention. There is no need to talk about on-premise; it is the sole responsibility of the owner of the local version. The cloud is another matter, and the situation is quite different here. Data security in Bitrix24 is always up to the mark and servers are protected from all types of attacks. The same is true for Microsoft, but worldwide media reports on leaks, hacking attempts (both prevented and successful) and other disreputable things that happen to information keep popping up. But even thinking logically, whose servers would be more attractive to super-hackers: Bitrix24 or a multinational IT-giant? You can't blindly rely on Microsoft's high-tech, because every day someone comes up with a better mouse and someone comes up with a better mousetrap.

Microsoft Dynamics 365 works great for average users as a web app that's easy to use with any browser. Unfortunately, there are no desktop versions like Bitrix24 for Windows, Mac and Linux. However, the opposite is true in the world of mobile applications.

By searching for "Bitrix24" in the App Store or Google Play Market, you will find only one official application to work with the system. This is a multifunctional program for a gadget that almost completely replaces the browser or desktop application. In the future, the authors of Bitrix24 will bring it to perfection and provide users with everything they need to be able to fully work in the system without a computer.

On "Microsoft Dynamics 365" request, you will find a variety of applications and this is predictable: due to the modularity and different purposes in the system, there are different tools for which you need different applications. Obviously, in the process, users will be able to choose just the right one, but at first glance, the eyes are simply diverted.

Bitrix24 users perfectly understand the role and purpose of partners at all stages of work with the product. The situation is similar with Microsoft Dynamics 365, where all necessary adjustments and improvements are carried out by certified consulting companies and development teams. The Americans, however, have a slightly different approach, which is tangible in the work.

As I said, Microsoft Dynamics is a module-based system. The basic idea is to minimize the need for customization or additional development. This is very good for the Western market: there are already a lot of developments that can be used. However, for Russia and the CIS countries, many of the necessary tools simply do not exist. The owner of Microsoft Dynamics faces a dilemma: adjust the business model to Western standards or order the developers to create the necessary components.

It is a widespread practice of total customization of everything that can be customized or fine-tuned in Bitrix24. Our company has made all kinds of customization and developed all levels of applications for the cloud, so we know very well what customers' needs may be. It's also worth noting that there are a lot more partners at Bitrix24 and they are much closer. Of course, in Toronto and Montrуal you will have no problem finding a partner for Microsoft Dynamics 365. But in Cornwall or Blainvill... Although remote work is the norm in IT matters, the search for cooperation may be long. Creating your own team of developers is not economically profitable.

There is also something to be said about technical support. Let's be honest, this is one of the most painful topics for any IT product. And especially for software, which directly affects your revenue and company performance. There are a lot of positive and negative comments on the support service of Bitrix24 and Microsoft Dynamics. But according to some claims, the American technical support is geographically located in India, and this is not classified as a joke.  In one of the reviews, a popular blogger complained about the difficulty in communicating with the support team for this very reason.

Many Bitrix24 users say that there is a lot of functionalities in the product. If you think so too - you just haven't seen Microsoft Dynamics 365 yet. If you gather all basic and modular features together, you get a really impressive system for business with the ability to control each area of the company in detail.

But, again, that's if you connect everything in at once. Separately, Microsoft Dynamics 365 is fragmented with only highly simplified features of other modules. So with Dynamics 365 Sales, you can really automate and improve the sales department. But to improve customer relationships you cannot do without Dynamicss 365 Customer Service. And if you need to be involved in marketing, you also need Dynamicss 365 Marketing and so on.

A common need for both systems is business intelligence. Everywhere it is presented very superficially and copes with its duties only in small companies. Thus, both Microsoft Dynamics and Bitrix24 need another promising Microsoft development - the Power BI analytics platform. At least until Bitrix24 completes the development of its own analytical unit, which has recently significantly improved.

It is also impossible to ignore the architecture of the CRM-system. In Microsoft Dynamics it is much more complex and ramified than in Bitrix24. If the latter has 6 basic entities (Lead, Contact, Company, Transaction, Invoice, Proposal), then Microsoft Dynamics has more than 35. On the one hand this sounds promising - there is more room for maneuvering in business processes. But on the other hand, it's all hardwired into the system and if not used simply hangs there as a dead weight, affecting productivity. Microsoft Dynamics users complain about the system's slowness, which is due to the huge amounts of data that race around idly.

And finally about the important question interesting for everyone, but so obvious. So it's better to not tell "how much it costs" but "how much more" it costs to use Microsoft Dynamics 365. I should also note that the trial period of 30 days has each of the North American products, as for a free plan - there is none. Therefore, the commercial use of CRM starts with $42 per month per user. If you trivialize the same cost per month with a similar set of tools in the CRM for the tariff "CRM +" Bitrix24, we get $6,5. Further comparison of costs to continue makes no sense.

In preparing this article, testing functionality and processing feedback on Microsoft Dynamics 365, all those who worked on the article came to the conclusion that a lot in this software depends on the brand. It's also obvious, but you have no idea by how much. And that, by the way, works in the Western market, and especially among large customers. There's no denying it - Microsoft Dynamics 365 is a really good, thoughtful and feature-rich product that, when properly bundled, will cover all your business needs. But the Microsoft brand and the name of Bill Gates, who may not have anything to do with the software, dispose the top managers of companies far from the operating part to buy this particular product.