Microsoft CRM is new player on the CRM software market˳ The whole conception behind CRM seems to be different˳ In case of traditional CRM software (Siebel, Oracle) – the application was designed with platform independence in mind˳ Microsoft CRM is dedicated to Microsoft technology and so deploys all the Microsoft tools: Windows Active Directory, Microsoft Exchange 2003/2000, SQL Server, Crystal Reports Enterprise, Biztalk server, Microsoft Outlook, Internet Explorer, Microsoft Great Plains as backend, etc˳
If you are software developer, database administrator or web designer who is asked: how do we customize Microsoft CRM – we are giving you directions in this article˳
- Microsoft CRM SDK – this is software development kit with C# and partly VB˳net code samples – it is supported by Microsoft Business Solutions technical support˳ It is based on web service calls, if you are C# ˳NET developer – you are excellently positioned to do this type of customizations˳ This is the preferred modification scenario and this should be easily upgradeable customization˳ VB˳Net examples will be available soon˳
- Legacy SQL Data integration˳ This is also easy and safe˳ If you have SQL database, sitting on the same or linked SQL Server – you can create ASPX ˳Net application and simply integrate it into CRM˳ You can place it on the navigation bar or menu in isv˳config – please refer to MS CRM SDK
- Legacy ASP integration – this is somewhat more sophisticated˳ You have to deploy HTTP handler to be a middle party between CRM which is ˳Net based and ASP which is legacy IIS˳ The trick is – you have to have INI file with security settings to penetrate into MS CRM with proper credentials, calling web service˳
- Microsoft Exchange Programming˳ Microsoft CRM has Exchange connector – which moves CRM incoming email to MS if it has GUID in its subject˳ You can alter this logic (for instance – move email to CRM if it doesn’t have GUID but it is from the sender who is contact or account in MS CRM)˳ Refer to MS Exchange SDK onsyncsave event handling˳ Then simply apply some MS CRM SDK programming – you need some COM+ objects creation and VB programming experience˳
- Direct SQL touch – in #4 above I described you the scenario with MS Exchange handlers – this would be ideal world if MS CRM SDK does the job˳ But – in real world this is not always true – you have to do direct flags correction in CRM database (like making Activity closed, moving email attachments/octet streams, etc)˳ This is not supported by MBS technical support – but you can rescue to this technique if you have to get job done˳
- MS CRM Customization tool – this is rather end-user tool and we don’t describe it here – read the manual˳ We’ve described above the options to use when this tool doesn’t do the job
- Crystal Reports – feel free to create Crystal report – tables and views structure is self explanatory˳ Try to avoid the temptation to create your own SQL view or stored procedure in MS CRM database, instead – create custom database and place your view and stored proc in it˳
Happy modifying! help@albaspectrum˳com
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