CRMPlus⁺

THE CHALLENGES

Project 1: The challenges with the first migration project and subsequent back-up operation center on the numerous custom entities involved while retaining the ModifiedBy and ModifiedOn information which is not commonly available in other integration and migration tools. In addition, there has been challenges in migrating closed records as the Dynamics platform does not allow updating closed records.

Project 2: The project to integrate Dynamics 365 CDS/CRM with Business Central involves extracting data from a single Dynamics 365 CDS/CRM Online system to three Business Central instances (Customers, Suppliers and Holding Company). It requires returning invoice and purchase data from two Business Central instances back to Dynamics 365 CDS/CRM to provide users with near real-time integration on outstanding sales amounts versus budgeted sales for projects. In a previous data integration implementation between CDS/CRM and NAV, another major Dynamics integration vendor system had been used. However, the project solution proved too complicated and expensive to maintain and took a significant amount of time to set up initially. The client requires a more straightforward solution that allows data integration without sacrificing performance while allowing developers to adjust and make changes to their ETL work with ease.

Project 3: Working with an industry-specific application (Cocon) meant that research into how data can be added, updated and retrieved from the geo-information system is required. This challenge was compounded by the fact that the application has inadequate and unreliable documentation that can be used.

Project 4:  Because HubSpot does not create the records immediately, the HubSpot IDs of newly created records could not be added directly into CRM.  Therefore the integration has a slight delay when retrieving the HubSpot IDs from newly created records and  in turn, updating CRM.  Additionally in CRM, a hyperlink to the HubSpot record is created.  

Project 1: As mentioned previously, the client had already used a major Dynamics integration vendor with limited success to integrate data between CDS/CRM and NAV. For this project, CRMPlus⁺ suggested KingswaySoft thanks to the flexibility, ease-of-use, and cost-effectiveness of its SSIS Integration Toolkits. With the Ultimate Edition, the client has access to every SSIS integration component produced by KingswaySoft, all through one single license. Utilizing the SSIS Integration Toolkit for Microsoft Dynamics 365 (for CDS/CRM and NAV/BC), the client successfully implemented the Microsoft Dynamics CDS/CRM integration in just a few weeks. In contrast, their previous attempt took months to set up and was challenging to maintain. Unique features within KingswaySoft's SSIS Integration Toolkits have translated into cost-effective and time-saving solutions for the client.

Project 2: With the SSIS Integration Toolkit for Microsoft Dynamics 365 and component in KingswaySoft’s SSIS Productivity Pack, CRMPlus⁺ split the data from one source to three destinations by first filtering the owning business unit and then filtering the relationshiptype (customer or supplier). Using KingswaySoft’s Diff Detector, used to facilitate incremental writing, CRMPlus⁺ checked whether the records processed are new or changed and deployed a similar procedure for the purchase and sales contracts. Success on this project required close collaboration between NAV/BC and CRM consultants.

Project 3: Working with a system that utilizes XML as the data store or service endpoint has created some significant challenges since there isn't an easy way to consume or write complex XML messages within an ETL process. Using KingswaySoft’s XML Extract component, the response from Cocon is received and converted into required rows and columns. Using the Pivot transformation and KingswaySoft’s CRM/CDS Destination component, the data is written to Dynamics CDS/CRM. KingswaySoft's XML Processing components provide developers with unique capabilities to load or extract data from applications or database systems regardless if they are custom-built or specialized. Thanks to the flexibility of KingswaySoft’s XML components, developers are empowered to create integration packages that easily work with virtually any other application or database system.

Project 4: Using KingswaySoft’s Premium Derived Column and Timer Task, CRMPlus+ team can easily convert DataTypes (DT_WSTR to DT_GUID), add pre-defined variables & wait a mere 10 seconds to retrieve HubSpot IDs from newly created records & to update CRM.  Both CRM data & HubSpot data are joined on the CRM AccountID attribute - both have been added in the Creation process in KingswaySoft’s HubSpot solution with a few clicks, streamlining the client’s process in a very efficient manner.