On Tuesday Microsoft Corp. announced its hosted customer relationship management, or CRM, product that will compete directly with Salesforce.com Inc.'s existing on-demand CRM product. Microsoft's Live CRM is scheduled to be generally available later this year, but knowing Microsoft's track record, that may be a optimistic. However, Salesforce.com might want to use its time to rethink its pricing, as Cowen and Co. LLC analyst Peter Goldmacher advises. Microsoft will charge $44 per month for its professional version and $65 for its Enterprise version, compared with $65 for Saleforce.com's pro version and $125 for its higher-level package. Whatever happens in the coming months, you can bet Mark Benioff, chief executive at Salesforce.com, won't be quiet about it. —Stacey Higginbotham
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