Microsoft in the Leaders category 2024 IDC MarketScape

IDC marketshape considers Microsoft a "leader" in the worldwide SaaS and cloud-enabled small business ERP applications category. Below you can read how IDC came to this conclusion.

After Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central emerged as the best ERP software for SMEs in Forbes research last year, IDC now names Microsoft as the "leader" in the small business ERP applications category.

Most important benefits Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central

IDC cites the following benefits as the main reasons for choosing Microsoft ERP software:

Familiarity/ease of use
Business Central works with the Microsoft 365 applications many small businesses already use every day, such as Outlook, Word, Excel, and Teams, allowing them to collaborate and communicate in the flow of work without duplicate data entry or switching between applications. For example, businesses can process deals from opportunity, to quote, to invoice, to cash within Outlook. This ease of use and familiarity is a major competitive advantage when serving small business employees with limited IT expertise.

Embedded AI and ML capabilities
Microsoft Copilot in Business Central provides AI assistance using natural language technology and to automate repetitive tasks. For example, Copilot enables product managers to create AI-generated marketing text suggestions. Automation is attractive to small businesses with smaller teams and fewer resources, especially amid today’s labor shortages. According to the National Federation of Independent Businesses, a U.S. organization representing interests of U.S. SMB owners, 43% (seasonally adjusted) of all small business owners reported job openings they could not fill in 3Q23.

Agility in moving from on premises to cloud
Customers of Business Central can opt to deploy in the cloud or on premises, with a single code base. Business Central customers that initially opt for on-premises deployment can later elect to move to the cloud while preserving all history, extensions, integrations, and other elements without needing an additional license.
Challenges:

Criteria

DC uses the following criteria to be included in their research:
To be included in the study, the supplier must have a modern cloud offering, such as SaaS or similar. Furthermore, companies are included based on market presence and the number of SME customers (with at least 30-50% of their turnover from companies with 10-99 employees).

Arnold Mauritz
Marketing