Market forces shaping Microsoft Dynamics CRM partners' cloud ambitions

IBM made news earlier this month when the company announced a definitive agreement to purchase Silverpop, one of the last large independent vendors in the marketing automation space. The deal hasn't closed yet, so the companies remain quiet on future plans. But the move raises some interesting questions more broadly about the future of cloud-based solutions in the CRM space and how Microsoft's ISV and VAR partners will adapt to major moves by software industry giants.

As the giants of enterprise software like Microsoft, IBM, Oracle, Salesforce, and a few others lock down their ownership of more market share - in CRM-related areas like marketing and elsewhere - software buyers will face complex cho...

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