If you are looking for a CRM / SharePoint integration and your CRM is Dynamics 365 Customer Engagement, we have good news for you.
Microsoft offers a native SharePoint integration in Dynamics 365, which many companies opt for due to its straightforward implementation process and numerous associated benefits.
First of all, you get a productivity benefit because SharePoint is an excellent document management and team collaboration tool. Moreover, SharePoint offers much more storage space than Dynamics 365. No more worrying about your D365 instance running out of storage and no more increasing costs because you need to expand your storage limits!Please note that if you have model-driven apps in D365 and SharePoint Online, you must ensure the site is on the same Office 365 tenant and your Dynamics 365.Are you ready to have a go at the step-by-step procedure to integrate D365 with SharePoint? Let’s get started!
Video version of this tutorial at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ABpHzvcEc-A
Originally posted in Feb 2020, last updated in Mar 2024
Dynamics 365 integration with SharePoint step-by-step
1 – Go to Settings (a cogwheel icon on the top right), then Advanced Settings. If you can’t find this, please check if you are logged in as a user with Admin rights.
2 – Open Settings and choose System – Document Management
3 – Choose the option Configure Server-Based SharePoint Integration
4 – On the wizard that will open, indicate if your SharePoint is Online or On-Premises. The SharePoint integration can connect to both. It can even connect to multiple SharePoint sites, but they all have to be either Online or On-Premises.
5 – Assuming you chose Online in the previous step, now you need to enter the URL of the SharePoint site you want to use.
You can simply copy the URL of the SharePoint site’s main page, and the wizard will validate it when you click Next.
6 – Assuming the validation succeeds, the final step to enable your Server-Based SharePoint Integration is clicking the Finish button.
You can now go back to your Document Management screen and select which entities you want to enable for SharePoint folders.
Click on Document Management Settings.
In the pop-up window, you check the entities under which you anticipate storing documents and click Next.
You can then define the folder structure. Here are your options:
Not check the Based on entity checkbox – Folders will not be automatically created
Check the Based on entity checkbox and choose Account – the structure will have Account as the primary folder and sub-folders based on the actual account names will be created under it
Check the Based on entity checkbox and choose Contact – the structure will start with the contact primary folder, and sub-folders based on the actual contact names will be created under it
Make your selection and click Next. We might have to wait a little at this point. You will see the Status evolve as the document libraries are created. Once you’ve done that, you can click Finish.
The integration is now live!
On the Dynamics 365 side you will now see a document option under the entities you enabled. In the screenshot below, you can see the document that we created for an Account. Notice that its storage is on SharePoint.
Still, from the D365 side, you can access it normally. It is as simple as clicking a link.
On the SharePoint side, you can see the Account folder, then a folder for this specific account, and then the documents for that account are all stored inside.
Not to Forget after You Enable the Dynamics 365 Integration with SharePoint
At this point, you might think you have finished, but there are still two aspects you need to consider:
1 – Permissions
If you leave things as they are, everyone will be able to see all documents on the SharePoint side. This integration ignores what privileges you have set on the Dynamics side, which can be dangerous. Fortunately, you can fix it using a third-party app, CB Dynamics 365 to SharePoint Permissions Replicator. This app replicates all Dynamics privileges automatically to SharePoint. As it is always running in the background, the permissions are always correct, even if privileges change, if you add or remove team members from groups, etc.
2 – Folder structure
If you don’t fancy the structure you got for the folders – one folder per account or contact – you can also use an add-on to fix it. The add-on will work if you have the third-party permissions app mentioned above. The add-on is called SharePoint Structure Creator, and it has another big plus: it enables you to avoid reaching the unique permissions limit set by Microsoft.
FAQ
Are there any potential security risks or concerns when integrating these two platforms?Integrating Dynamics 365 with SharePoint does bring potential security risks, namely in terms of access control. Both platforms have their security measures, but when integrated, their permissions are not aligned. Automating permissions replication from Dynamics to SharePoint is essential to ensure proper access controls and prevent unauthorized access to sensitive data. We recommend CB Dynamics 365 to SharePoint Permissions Replicator for this.
Can the integration be customized to fit specific business needs, and if so, how?The integration between Dynamics 365 and SharePoint can indeed be customized to fit specific business needs. The customization within the integration wizard is limited: you can decide whether to base your SharePoint folders on Accounts or Contacts. For further customization of the folders, you can use a tool like SharePoint Structure Creator. This will cover all possible folder customization you want because if the option you want is not listed, you can create your own with a simple script.
Does the integration cause conflicts between Dynamics 365 and SharePoint?As this integration is one-way (from Dynamics 365 to SharePoint), there is no way of a conflict arising between Dynamics 365 and SharePoint.
Can I automate the upload process for attachments?Automating the upload process for attachments can be achieved by developing custom solutions within Dynamics 365 or using third-party solutions like CB Dynamics 365 Seamless Attachment Extractor. This ensures that documents are stored consistently and are available in SharePoint (or other chosen storage location) without manual intervention.
Takeaway
You can tremendously boost your business productivity by enabling the Dynamics SharePoint integration. Users will no longer need to go around looking for the files they need. Instead, everything will be linked, and your entire team will have effortless access.
The integration is easy to enable, and using adequate third-party tools from Connecting Software, you can fix the permissions and structure problems the out-of-the-box integration of Dynamics and SharePoint by Microsoft has.
Get in touch with Connecting Software’s experts if you want to see how all this can work together. They will be more than happy to provide you with a free demo or answer any questions you might have. 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 two decades. We operate globally and are also a proud “Top Member” and “Top Blogger” at CRMSoftwareBlog.
