8 Reasons to Choose Dynamics 365 CE Over HubSpot or Oracle

Invest in Microsoft Dynamics 365 CE as your CRM solution for long-term technology, integrated capabilities & a robust feature set.

As a Microsoft Gold certified partner, we’re often asked by prospective clients why they should consider Microsoft Dynamics 365 CE (short for Customer Engagement, and formerly CRM) over other leading competitors. It’s a valid question, in that there are hundreds of CRM vendors out there. It’s often tough to know where to start, and what features to look for. In this post we will focus on the benefits of Microsoft Dynamics CE over HubSpot and Oracle CRM. Here are eight good reasons to choose CE.

Don’t Settle for a Standard CRM Solution

1. Popular platform lowers cost of ownership

Microsoft Dynamics 365 CE is built on the Microsoft platform which connects dozens of Microsoft applications — and dozens more third-party applications such as Dropbox and Google Calendar. In addition, it leverages industry standard programming languages, including C#, JavaScript, SQL Server, and Net.

HubSpot Programming

In contrast, HubSpot’s CMS uses the proprietary HubSpot Markup Language, referred to as HubL (pronounced “Hubble”). HubL is HubSpot’s extension of Jinjava, a templating engine based on Jinja. HubL uses a fair amount of markup that is unique to HubSpot and does not support all features of Jinja.

Oracle Programming

Oracle CRM uses a combination of Perl, PHP, Node.JS, C, Java, .NET, etc. Oracle also has a stored procedural language called PL/SQL.

The advantage of choosing the Microsoft solution lies in the fact that support and customizations within Microsoft Dynamics 365 CE are likely to be less costly simply because there are more consultants trained on the popular tools the solution leverages.

2. Native integration promotes efficiencies

One would be hard-pressed to find a company that’s not using at least a couple of Microsoft solutions. And companies that add Microsoft Dynamics 365 CE can improve productivity and user adoption by integrating Office, Excel, Teams, Outlook, and even a native LinkedIn integration with CE.

Native integration allows each team in your organization to continue working in the applications that are familiar to them while benefitting from the free flow of information between solutions. For example, emails sent through Outlook are captured in Microsoft Dynamics 365 CE. Sales Orders created in Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central are visible in Microsoft Dynamics 365 CE. Users can export data from Microsoft Dynamics 365 CE to Excel, make changes and easily transfer the data back into Microsoft Dynamics 365 CE.

Dynamics 365 for Sales and LinkedIn Sales Navigator roll together to create Microsoft Relationship Sales, which uses LinkedIn data to identify leads and help build relationships through personalized engagement. HubSpot and Oracle CRM do not have this native integration.

3. Make Microsoft Dynamics 365 CE your own

We think the real value in Microsoft Dynamics 365 CE lies in its ability to morph to meet the needs of the customer, rather than requiring a customer to alter their business processes to fit the software.

Microsoft Dynamics 365 CE is built as an xRM platform, meaning it can easily be customized to meet specific business needs. And because xRM is an open platform, it’s not just for Microsoft developers. Many customizations, such as adding and removing fields, require no code changes, putting the power squarely in the hands of confident users. For more complex customizations, the Microsoft Power Platform allows low code, no code customization options for workflows, integrated applications, power virtual agents, and more.

Due to its comparative lack of features and non-customizable platform, users may find that they need more functionality than HubSpot natively offers. Additional features can be added through third-party integrations, but HubSpot does not currently provide broad support for other software bolt-ons without paying extra for API.

4. Smart thinking

Plenty of CRM applications have begun promoting their Artificial Intelligence (AI) capabilities lately, but Microsoft was a pioneer in this area. Microsoft Dynamics 365 CE has incorporated AI capabilities for years. Here are just a few of the ways the application powers smart thinking:

AI for Customer Service: AI-driven technology empowers informed decision making about improving resolution rates, reducing wait times, and decreasing customer service costs. Companies can use case resolution insights, backlog trends, and historical comparisons to evaluate agent performance and business impact, and address inefficiencies in their system.

AI for Sales: Predictive lead scoring and predictive opportunity scoring helps salespeople prioritize the right relationships, achieve higher lead qualification rates, and reduce the time it takes to qualify leads or close opportunities.

AI for Customer Insights: Unify data from multiple sources (think spreadsheets, Business Central, etc.) to gain a 365-degree view of customer activity.

AI for Market Insights: Helps organizations understand and interpret what customers say, do, and feel about their brand and products by synthesizing activity and data from proprietary search and browse signals and public social signals.

To catch up with other business software vendors already utilizing machine learning in their products HubSpot acquired AI software company Kemvi, in 2017, but may still be a bit behind the AI capabilities of CE.

5. Realistic and transparent licensing fees

Ever shop for a new car? You see an affordable base price and think, “Yes – I can do this.” But then you work your way through all the options (can they still really charge for power windows?) and the price jumps by 50 percent. And did you notice that they always put that one feature you really need in the next tier package?

Some CRM vendors play this same game, advertising a low price, but the low-cost option doesn’t include any advanced features. To get the robust functionality you need, you need to pay for a more expensive plan. And to get the necessary reporting and data analysis tools, you’ll have to spring for the highest tier option. We’re also hearing from customers switching from other leading CRM applications to Microsoft Dynamics 365 CE that the vendor bumps up the licensing fees significantly after a year or two of use. In contrast, Microsoft is transparent about fees and functionality for CE. So, you’ll know up front what you’ll pay and what you’ll get.

HubSpot’s Pricing

HubSpot’s pricing structure is not as simple as it might first appear, with a steep increase triggered by the number of contacts, as well as additional charges for certain features such as custom reports, transactional emails, and priority support access.

Though the sliding pricing model makes it scalable in theory, HubSpot’s simple features are unlikely to meet the needs of more substantial or growing businesses, and it does not currently have a module for customer service.

Oracle Sales Cloud Pricing

Oracle does not publicly share pricing for many of their CRM apps, preferring to issue quotes on a per-request basis. The total cost will depend largely on the size of your business, and which modules you’re looking to implement.

Pricing details are available for Oracle Sales Cloud, however, which gives you a rough idea of the cost for Oracle’s more comprehensive cloud apps. Sales Cloud, like many of Oracle’s Cloud solutions, has various licensing levels to choose from, each with additional features as the cost increases:

6. When it’s gotta work — an SLA guarantee

Downtime is costly, and CRM downtime can be especially expensive in that it stands in the way of the exceptional service you wish to provide your clients. Microsoft’s Service Level Agreement (SLA) guarantees a 99.9% uptime rate for Azure where Microsoft Dynamics 365 CE is hosted.

Go ahead and ask the competitors about their uptime guarantees — many (including the big ones) don’t offer one.

Oracle’s interface is not as sleek and user-friendly as Dynamics, and can be tough to navigate, so unless a company is already using Oracle software, the learning curve may be steep. Some users have mentioned that customer support for Oracle CX Cloud could be better, and data import can be tricky, especially if attempting to import large amounts.

7. Reporting capabilities

When we ask our customers what functions they use most — in any type of software — reports and queries are always on the list. In fact, one could make the argument that the main reason we use software is so we can report on the data it collects. Microsoft Dynamics 365 CE takes this reality to heart and delivers robust reporting capabilities unequaled among its competitors.

In addition to the dozens of available standard reports and the infinite number of customized reports you can build, Microsoft Dynamics 365 CE leverages Power BI to take CRM reporting to a whole new level. Gartner and Forrester both recognized Power BI as a leader in the Business Intelligence space, and for good reason. Coupling Microsoft Dynamics 365 CE with Power BI creates the ultimate power couple. Watch out HubSpot and Oracle.

8. Partnership speeds ROI

Some companies decide to implement a CRM application on their own. We know because we’ve re-implemented Microsoft Dynamics 365 CE for many of them. Just because it’s cloud-based and intuitive to use does not mean that you won’t benefit from a professional implementation.

The good news is, there is an enormous, global Microsoft partner network. Wherever you are, whatever industry you’re in, and whatever size your organization is now, and however you expect to grow, there’s a Microsoft partner ready to provide the personalized support, services, and strategic guidance that will speed your CRM return on investment.

Final Thoughts

Microsoft Dynamics 365 CE has a definitive edge over competing CRM applications such as HubSpot and Oracle. If you’re looking to invest in a CRM solution for the long-term, one that’s built on world-class, industry-leading technology and delivers the integration capabilities, robust feature set, fair pricing, and analytics that drive efficiency and performance, look no further than CE.

As a Gold Microsoft partner, Velosio works with companies across industries, helping them implement customer experience solutions that differentiate your organization, create value, and add to the bottom line. Reach out to learn more.

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8 Reasons to Choose Microsoft Dynamics 365 CE Over HubSpot or Oracle