By integrating Dynamics 365 applications with other Microsoft or third-party apps and enabling it to exchange data with other solutions, companies can establish a centralized, harmonious business software system that is more efficient than just a set of disparate, disconnected apps.
Check this article to delve deeper into the concept of Dynamics 365 integration, emphasizing its advantages, highlighting the possible integration options, and specifying three common integration approaches.
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The benefits of Microsoft Dynamics 365 integration
- Data-driven decision making: With established information flow across various applications, employees can more easily access relevant corporate data and gain a comprehensive view of the business, potentially enhancing decision-making within the company.
- Enhanced productivity: Real-time data synchronization between apps allows a company to automate time-consuming clerical tasks, including routine data entry, helping employees to focus on more high-value activities that contribute to a business’s revenue.
- Streamlined collaboration: The availability of integrated data across all your departments guarantees that employees stay on the same page and collaborate productively.
Common options for Microsoft Dynamics 365 integration
All Dynamics 365 integrations can be classified into two major groups:
Integrations with Microsoft software
Microsoft 365 productivity and collaboration tools: Businesses can connect their Dynamics 365 apps with solutions such as Excel to improve reporting workflows and SharePoint to enhance the management of documents, project tasks, and other content across the Dynamics 365 ecosystem. Additionally, businesses can integrate Dynamics 365 apps with Teams to automatically update Dynamics 365 records with the data gathered from conversations with colleagues and partners. The integration between Dynamics 365 apps and Outlook allows businesses to sync customer contact information and communication history.
Power Platform apps: The integration between Dynamics 365 and Power Apps allows companies to create customized Dynamics 365 solutions using low-code or no-code tools, while the integration with Power BI helps run advanced analysis of data stored in Dynamics 365.
Azure services: Companies can connect Dynamics 365 applications with various Azure services to get access to additional AI and ML capabilities, further enhance their data analytics initiatives, and enable IoT connectivity.
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Integrations with third-party apps
CRM: Another integration involves linking Dynamics 365 with third-party CRM tools like Salesforce, HubSpot, or Pipedrive to sync sales, marketing, and customer service data across various systems and teams.
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ERP: By integrating Dynamics 365 app with a corporate ERP solution, a company can foster the exchange of inventory and financial information between different software systems, which can help achieve advanced supply chain transparency and visibility.
Marketing automation: Companies can additionally connect Dynamics 365 apps with a range of marketing automation tools, from Marketo and Mailchimp to ActiveCampaign and Pardot, to sync information related to leads and prospects and facilitate marketing data analytics.
E-commerce platforms: Businesses can integrate Dynamics 365 with e-commerce platforms like Shopify, Adobe Commerce, and WooCommerce to enhance customer experience and support omnichannel marketing and sales.
Industry-specific software: Last but not least, a company can link its Dynamics 365 solution to apps that address the unique challenges of a specific vertical, with Electronic Health Records (EHR) software and manufacturing execution systems (MES) among the examples.
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How to integrate Microsoft Dynamics 365 with other tools
Generally, there are three ways to connect Dynamics 365 apps with other software:
Pre-built integrations
You can use low-code and no-code solutions provided by Microsoft, namely those included in Microsoft Power Automate platform, to ensure data synchronization between Dynamics 365 and other apps. All you need to do is choose one of the ready-made integration templates and configure it to perform specific actions across Dynamics 365 (contact record creation, record updating, etc.) in accordance with your company’s business workflows.
This approach is not technically demanding, which makes it suitable for smaller companies and those with a limited number of in-house IT specialists. At the same time, you should remember that ready-made integrations can only be used with a limited number of data sources and applications, so this approach cannot be considered universally applicable.
Middleware
If Microsoft’s out-of-the-box connectors aren’t compatible with the solutions you want to integrate, you can use connectors provided by third-party middleware tools, such as MuleSoft or Boomi. These tools also allow companies to synchronize data between Dynamics 365 and other solutions relatively easily, as they do not require extensive programming knowledge.
Despite its relative simplicity, this approach also cannot be considered a silver bullet, as middleware can lack some required integration capabilities. For instance, it may not enable integrations between Dynamics 365 and new or emerging technologies.
Custom connectors
Creating custom connectors from scratch gives you complete freedom regarding which solutions you can integrate Dynamics 365 apps with and how the solutions should exchange data. However, this approach is also the most demanding, as it requires solid coding and testing skills, as companies must test custom connectors thoroughly to avoid software performance and data security issues.
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Final thoughts
If you are implementing Dynamics 365 solutions to manage sales, field service, human resources, or other business aspects, you should consider connecting them to relevant business software to maintain a more cohesive and robust IT ecosystem and improve the performance of your entire company in the long run.
Nonetheless, whether you are going to integrate your Dynamics 365 solution with Microsoft or third-party apps, consider hiring certified Microsoft experts for your project. They can accurately analyze your unique business requirements, help define the proper integration approach, and handle technical integration tasks, such as creating custom connectors and running integration tests.
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