One of the many advantages of Microsoft Dynamics CRM is what Microsoft calls the Power of Choice. Microsoft is one of the few, if not the only, software publisher that truly supports the Power of Choice model with their core software stack.

STREAMSOL (xRM.com, hostedmscrm.com) is the only Microsoft partner that has truly embraced Microsoft's messaging and offers up services around this messaging. The Power of Choice gives you (the consumer) the power to choose the best way to consume software from Microsoft. It is a great thing that ensures that you will always have a software model that meets your business needs.

Businesses are so dynamic these days that what is best for your company today, might not be what is best for your company next month. Traditionally software has been something that needed to be licensed with a onetime purchase from a software publisher. Recently hosting has become very popular. Hosting, also commonly referred to as working in the cloud or software as a service, allows companies to simply pay for the right to use a specific piece of software for specified period of time (traditionally a month or a year) on a per user basis. Even though hosting has gained tremendous popularity in the past two years, it is not the right fit for everyone or every business.

There are pros and cons to both models. At STREAMSOL (xRM.com, hostedmscrm.com) we help our customers leverage the power of choice to mitigate the risk and pain associated with software selection and deployment, and increase the success of their information technology strategy. The important thing is that Microsoft and STREAMSOL (xRM.com, hostedmscrm.com) provide you with all the models and also with the luxury of easily moving from one model to another.

So, how do you figure out what is the best model for your business? What model should you start in? When should you maybe switch to a different model? To begin, let’s define each model.