There's more than one way to make Microsoft software 'serviceable'

Microsoft's Software+Services (S+S) strategy comes in many guises. At its Convergence 2008 conference in Orlando this week for its business-applications customers and partners, Microsoft highlighted yet another one of its S+S forms: Third-party service extensions to its on-premise software. Microsoft's business applications include four different ERP suites, plus its Dynamics CRM offering. Microsoft has made noises about delivering versions of its Axapta, Great Plains, Solomon and Navision ERP products that will be multi-tenant and Microsoft-hosted (with no firm due dates so far). And Dynamics CRM 4.0, the latest version of Microsoft's CRM product, can be deployed by customers in on-premise, partner-hosted and/or Microsoft-hosted configurations. (Microsoft reconfirmed this week that its Dynamics CRM Live 4.0 release will be "broadly accessible" in...