Unusual Microsoft marketing

So we have had a few people who let us know about this – at the recent Northern Virginia Technology Council's Annual Banquet late last month at the McLean Hilton in Tysons Corner, Va. Outside the hotel as people were leaving, we can only assume that Microsoft representatives were handing out papers headlined: "You have a choice."

The sheet from Microsoft Business Solutions went on to say (and I have keyed it is just as it is on the sheet, even though we typically would change the style, but I'll let it stand as is):

"Government Contractors, don't be led to believe that there is only one choice for your company's DCAA reporting requirements in the Mid Market Space.

"A leading competitor has told customers like you that their ERP products are designed for government contractors and are certified by the Defense Contract Audit Agency (DCAA).

"Microsoft has researched this claim and found that there is, in fact, no such thing as 'DCAA certification,' according to the DCAA.

"When it comes to Project Management and Accounting (PM&A) solutions, you have a choice."

There is more, but that is the interesting part of the sheet.

I haven't done any checking on this and the Microsoft folks I spoke to had not heard of it. (They did mention, however, that the name of Microsoft Business Solutions is now Microsoft Dynamics.)

So I don't know who the "leading competitor" is, but it is an interesting marketing strategy by Microsoft… and it is more aggressive then is typical for the company.