'Project Green' begets Microsoft Dynamics

"Project Green" was a code phrase I heard a lot of during my career with Scala Business Solutions, a mid-market ERP vendor and Microsoft Gold certified partner acquired by Epicor last year, and where I spent five years as VP of corporate communication.

So it was with some interest that I read the news yesterday from Microsoft announcing Microsoft Dynamics, "the new brand of financial, customer relationship and supply-chain management solutions for small and midsize businesses, large organizations and divisions of global enterprises" (it says).

This is no small move in the realization of Project Green, involving as it does a sweeping change across multiple tiers in the broad ERP/CRM space as Microsoft re-positions its brands:

• Microsoft CRM becomes Microsoft Dynamics CRM
• Microsoft Business Solutions-Great Plains becomes Microsoft Dynamics GP
• Microsoft Business Solutions-Axapta becomes Microsoft Dynamics AX
• Microsoft Business Solutions-Navision becomes Microsoft Dynamics NAV
• Microsoft Business Solutions-Solomon becomes Microsoft Dynamics SL

Microsoft's announcement yesterday is in the form of a Q&A with Tami Reller, corporate VP of the Microsoft Business Solutions Group and, previously, CFO of Great Plains, acquired by Microsoft in 2000.

For some depth views on Microsoft's plans for its Business Solutions offerings, listen to speeches being given today by Bill Gates and Steve Ballmer at the Microsoft Business Summit in Redmond. Both speeches will be webcast starting at 8:45am Pacific time (3:45pm GMT) today.