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( votes)Your Dynamics 365 is already doing many things for you. But software developers are here for you to make it work even better. Check our suggestions on how you can improve the performance of your CRM, increase security and cut maintentance costs.
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Integrate Dynamics 365 with SharePoint
Documents in the CRM – contracts, invoices, payment orders, etc. – are usually stored as attachments against Notes. But a much better way of keeping them organized is transferring them to SharePoint.
This organization gives several advantages. SharePoint is a great team and document collaboration platform. You receive online editing tools in SharePoint and document versions are taken care of. As it often happens in any kind of organization, salespeople save documents in multiple folders: on OneDrive, Google Drives, on their personal desktops. Documents get lost. Also, chances are, document versions get confused and colleagues have to do double work. Storing sales-related documents in SharePoint relieves all this pain. In addition, SharePoint provides much more storage space than Dynamics 365 Notes, so you will hardly ever run out of space.
The good news is that Microsoft provides a native SharePoint integration in Dynamics 365. And it is straightforward. In this post, we show how to set the integration and move your documents from Dynamics 365 to SharePoint.
Protect sensitive information between Dynamics 365 and SharePoint
Quite a lot of companies use the option of integrating Dynamics 365 with SharePoint. However, not all of them know that security roles in Dynamics 365 don’t automatically apply in SharePoint in such an integration. Why is it important?
Many of us store sensitive documents in the CRM: contracts with values, information about prospects, stamps, etc. With privileges, you define who has access and editing rights for these documents in Dynamics 365. But when the documents are stored in SharePoint folders, they get available to any SharePoint user in your organization, and not only to those who have privileges. Obviously, this carries risks to the information integrity, the trust to your organization, and potentially violates the GDPR.
The lack of synchronization between Dynamics 365 privileges and SharePoint permissions happens because the two Microsoft products have significantly different security models. But this is not helpful for organizations, right? What you can do in this case is customize the integration by writing code, or use an out-of-the-box product CB Dynamics 365 to SharePoint Permissions Replicator.
Remove attachments from Dynamics 365 to an alternative storage
“One of our clients is having a problem with increasing database size very quickly. The huge database size is also becoming a performance issue. Besides, the client is looking for decreasing the storage costs. The current database size is 530GB. We have checked the free add-on from Microsoft but we are reluctant about bringing it in our org full scale. Besides, looking for more functionality like extracting old and new documents”. This request from a D365 admin reflects a typical constraint of the cloud CRM: free storage that is the default subscription capacity runs out sooner or later, especially so if you track emails in Dynamics.
Dynamics 365, just like every other cloud CRM system, has been primarily designed to manage customer relations and not store documents. When too much space is occupied, the CRM performance suffers significantly.
Monitoring D365 health is essential. By doing that, you ensure the system’s optimal performance and enough space for growth.
You can leverage alternative storages like SharePoint, Azure Blob or Azure File Storage to move heavy attachments from your CRM and optimize its performance.
Connect from any on-prem database to D365 Online
With many organizations transitioning to cloud services, it won’t be a surprise if you use Dynamics 365 online. SaaS is a great thing in many ways except for connecting with on-prem databases or applications or migrating to the cloud if you use an on-prem CRM at the moment.
The problem is that, generally, exposing back-end databases of SaaS services to the outside world is considered bad practice and can bring security risks. Therefore, Microsoft does not provide access to the back-end database of D365 online. Instead, to perform data interaction with D365 online, Microsoft offers the official API services, as we explain in this article. Thankfully, there are solutions now that help you to set up the integration easily – like, for example, D365 Database Sync Solution.
Seal Documents in CRM with Blockchain
Now that more document exchange is done online due to the COVID-19 lockdowns and natural processes like digitalization and decentralization, the question arises: how to keep the integrity of your data.
Many organizations look for a solution to prove the integrity and authenticity of documents and processes, ensuring trust in their business, in a fast and cost-effective way – unlike traditional methods that are slow and manual, demanding a lot of resources and interrupting the workflow.
And blockchain comes to help – with a practical application that can be used on a daily basis and in a familiar environment like your CRM. Smart Stamp Document Sealing with blockchain technology is an up-to-date solution to the issues of data compliance, storage and auditability. With one click, you seal a document, and with another click, you can verify if the document is the same as it was at the time of sealing or someone has tampered with it.
Summing up
Security, performance, cost-saving are important factors to consider when working with a CRM system. Dynamics 365, being one of the leading CRM systems on the market and an advanced tool for managing your sales and customers, can be upgraded using Microsoft tools and add-ons from software integrators. Good luck in your quest! We are always here to give a helping hand in your strive for a more productive and compliant workplace.
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Written by Anastasia Mazur from Connecting Software, a producer of synchronization and integration software for business needs. For more stories, visit our blog.
