Part 3: Dynamics NAV 2016: CRM Online

The most significant change for 2016 in my opinion is the radically better CRM integration. For years Microsoft have only had the dire Dynamics Connector, which replicated data backwards and forwards between the two system. What they have now are direct links between NAV & CRM using web service calls – which is exactly how it should be Microsoft.

Dynamics-nav-2016-crm-online

I’m still under NDA so I cannot reveal the detail but it will be worth waiting for. Situations where we’ve previously had to use third party applications like Scribe are looking few and far between going forward. It has a flexibility and configurability that we could only dream of up to now.

What I can say is that any integration projects should be put on hold and you should look to upgrade to Dynamics NAV 2016 first. Yes, it’s that significant! From where I sit any customer who uses both Dynamics NAV & CRM, this is the only reason you need to plan an upgrade right here.

One other point is that although Microsoft highlight CRM Online, it uses the standard Dynamics CRM SDK so the integration should work just as well with on premise CRM. Microsoft have not checked on premise as part of their test scenarios but by the time its released, the partner I work for will have as we have on premise to link to as part of one of our TAP programme implementations.

My only reservation at this point is the capability of the CRM web services to accept significant amounts of data. This is probably only going on the initial replication though and is more to do with the CRM performance than the integration.

I’ll re-emphasise, this makes Dynamics CRM part of the Dynamics NAV solution, it brings properly integrated world class CRM to the NAV world. I suspect that 90%+ of Dynamics NAV customers will find CRM on their agenda over the next couple of years. It’s a complete game changer.

There are processes that currently are done in NAV that actually would make allot of sense to do in CRM, credit control being one that immediately comes to mind. The whole complaints/returns function again works much better in CRM but needs to integrate with NAV in order to work properly.

So my other key point is that its going to means that the Dynamics consultants out there need to know both products if they are to correctly architect your systems going forward. Every Dynamics NAV partner will need expertise in CRM to be competent. Otherwise your going to get frustrated with the cracks that will inevitably appear and your systems will not be as good as they can be.

Note

This post is part of a 9-part series. A link to all the posts in this series are below (updated as published);

Author: James Crowter

I’m passionate about how businesses can improve their efficiency by getting process optimal more of the time. For the last twenty five years I’ve worked to help organisations of all sizes and types implement the ERP & CRM software that typically they decide they need when things are going wrong. I’ve seen that work unbelievably well and enabled those organisations to rapidly grow but I’ve also had some hard projects over that time where it’s felt more like warfare at times. Since 1996 (and version 1.01) I’ve been working with a small Danish product called Navision that’s now become Microsoft’s Dynamics NAV and I’ve also been using and consulting around Microsoft CRM since 2005. As managing Director of one of the longest established first Navision and now Microsoft Dynamics partners I’ve been involved in the complete history including numerous product councils and system design reviews. It’s my privilege to know many of the key Microsoft executives and product designers and have insight into both where the products are now and their future direction. So colleagues & clients have asked me to start this blog to share some of the insight that both this knowledge (obviously where not restricted by NDA’s or client confidentiality) and experience can help. Specifically I want to concentrate not on the specifics of how (there are some great blogs already for that) but why. If any user helps their business make better decisions or consultant can give better advice then that will be objective achieved. I founded Technology Management in 1992 and have led from the front ever since. Helping clients use technology to grow their business is my passion through explaining technology in terms that everyone can understand. My interest in computing began at the age of eight, long before my school had the equipment to cope. Throughout school and university I developed software commercially. I hold many IT certifications, such as Microsoft Dynamics NAV (for over 17 years), Microsoft Dynamics CRM (for over 10 years), as well as Microsoft Windows Server, Exchange and SQL. In October 2015, I was awarded the title of Most Valuable Professional (MVP), a title given to a select few individuals (31 currently) across the world specifically for Dynamics NAV. After years of working with a range of distribution and manufacturing software for hundreds of organisations, I focus on understanding the business requirements of an organisation, what it will take to deliver the systems required to maximise their potential. Follow me online via my other social channels: - Twitter: @jamescrowter - LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/jamescrowter Or email me directly at james[.]crowter[@]tecman.co.uk.

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