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( votes)What is Document Management in Dynamics 365?
One of the challenges of maintaining business relationships is managing customer-specific documents, that are always important and are sometimes generated in large volumes.
Microsoft has recognized that Dynamics 365 is not the best for directly handling this task and has developed a standard SharePoint integration to address this need. Therefore, Dynamics 365 Document Management corresponds, in fact, to activating the standard SharePoint integration for your Dynamics 365 entities.
Dynamics 365 Document Management = Dynamics 365 SharePoint Integration
This will add a new view to Dynamics 365 that displays the documents linked to each record. With that it is straightforward to find and access the documents you need, when you need them. But that’s not all when it comes to advantages of activating this SharePoint Dynamics integration.
Benefits of Document Management in Dynamics 365
The integration creates a seamless user experience and there are a number of benefits to using SherPoint for Microsoft Dynamics document management, including:
- Centralized document storage and management: All of your customer-specific documents are stored in one central location, making perfect for audits and privacy regulation compliance.
- Improved collaboration and teamwork: Multiple users can collaborate on documents in real-time, and you can easily share documents with customers and partners.
- Increased productivity and efficiency: This document management option allows you to find documents through both Dynamics and SharePoint, which will save time and improve your team’s productivity.
Preparing for Integration
Before diving into the Standard Document Management setup in Dynamics 365, it’s crucial to ensure that:
- You have your own SharePoint installation (self-hosted or cloud) or a Microsoft 365 subscription that includes SharePoint. If you use an older version of SharePoint, it is best to double-check if your version is supported. At the time of writing, SharePoint 2013 SP1 and later are the ones supported.
- You have created a SharePoint site collection for Dynamics 365 document management. You need at least one site collection configured and available for Microsoft Dynamics 365, which will act as the central repository where all documents related to Dynamics 365 records will be stored. Here’s how you can set it up:
- Access your SharePoint admin center.
- Create a new Site Collection specifically designated for Dynamics 365.
Understanding Server-Based SharePoint Integration
The Dynamics 365 and SharePoint integration is a server-based solution. This means it utilizes the server resources of SharePoint to manage and store documents. Unlike earlier approaches that may have relied on manual linkages or less direct integrations, server-based integration ensures a more secure, direct, and efficient connection between these two platforms.
Setting up the SharePoint Site Collection
For the integration to function optimally, setting up a dedicated SharePoint Site Collection for Dynamics 365 is essential. This Site Collection acts as the central repository where all documents related to Dynamics 365 records are stored. Here’s how you can set it up:
- Access your SharePoint admin center.
- Create a new Site Collection specifically designated for Dynamics 365.
Configuring Document Management Settings in Dynamics 365
How do you integrate Dynamics 365 with SharePoint so you can finally have Document Management in Dynamics 365 CE, I here you ask? How do I connect Dynamics 365 to SharePoint? Those are excellent questions, so I gathered the best, detailed instructions.
All you have to do is refer to the following resources:
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Step-by-step Tutorial (with screenshots) |
Video Tutorial |
These resources provide a comprehensive step-by-step guide to ensure you capture all the necessary details.
How Is Dynamics 365 Security Affected by The SharePoint Dynamics 365 Integration
Integrating Dynamics 365 with SharePoint brings a critical consideration to the forefront: ensuring secure document access.
The default settings allow broad SharePoint user access to sensitive Dynamics 365 documents, posing a risk of unauthorized data exposure.
To address this, most IT admins prefer an automated, install-and-forget solution. The most popular is CB Dynamics 365 to SharePoint Permissions Replicator, a Microsoft Preferred Solution that has been on the market since 2015. This tool synchronizes Dynamics privileges with SharePoint permissions, thereby safeguarding data access and protecting confidential information. A nice side-effect of this is that you don’t have any compliance issues with privacy regulations like GDPR.
SharePoint Content and Structure
For managing and accessing documents even more efficiently, structuring your SharePoint folders is crucial. The best practice is to ensure structure in an automatic way by using a tool like SharePoint Structure Creator. The standard Dynamics 365 SharePoint integration that you did initially organizes folders in a way that corresponds to the structure of your Dynamics 365 entities (Account or Contact).
With SharePoint Structure Creator you can choose a structure that better fits your organizational needs, simplifying navigation and document retrieval processes. If you can think of a better organizational scheme, you’ll be able to implement it easily with the tool. Additionally, the toll prevents you from reaching SharePoint’s unique permission limits as your organization grows.
Conclusion
The integration of Dynamics 365 with SharePoint for document management is more than just a technical setup; it’s a strategic move toward enhancing the overall efficiency and data management capabilities of your organization. By following these steps and utilizing recommended tools and resources, your Dynamics 365 and SharePoint integration will not only be seamless but will also add substantial value to your business processes.
Get in touch with Connecting Software’s experts if you have any questions. You can also call us at +1 (720)-577-3030.
By Ana Neto, Connecting Software.
Connecting Software creates integration and synchronization software. We have been on the market for nearly two decades. We operate globally and we are also a proud “Top Member” and “Top Blogger” at CRMSoftwareBlog.
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