The Best Option For Integrating and Migrating Data for Microsoft Dynamics CRM

For data migration and integration with Microsoft Dynamics CRM, the tool of choice is most likely going to be Scribe Software’s Insight product.  For those of you who are familiar with the tool, you know it is very powerful because its CRM Adapter does everything for you in terms of keeping data integrity in the CRM database.

In order to use Scribe Insight’s Console to integrate data between Microsoft Dynamics CRM and other systems, most commonly Microsoft Dynamics GP, there is a significant amount of time needed to set up the integration environment.  Known as the Scribe Plugin Publisher, which monitors the CRM database for the entities you define and then creates an XML record for records which are created, modified or deleted.  Detailed knowledge of MSMQ (Microsoft Message Queues) and the MSCRM Publisher (a component of Scribe Console) is required for this type of integration.  These tasks are not easy for the less experienced individuals related to Scribe Console.

However, in the latest version of Scribe Insight, v6.5, there is a new and simpler option to setup integration between CRM and other systems. It is called the Scribe Workflow Publisher and it uses the internal, graphical interface of the CRM Workflow engine to trigger the integration points.  The main advantages that the Workflow Publisher has over the Plugin Publisher are ease of ease of use, the ability to trigger based on an attribute change and the ability to work with CRM Online.

For me, the option to trigger an integration event based on an attribute change in CRM is a huge plus.  The normal Plugin Publisher triggers an integration every time a record in CRM is added, modified or deleted, regardless of which field is modified.  But with the new Worflow Publisher, everything is based on the CRM Workflow.  So if your Dynamics CRM workflow is set to execute after certain attributes in an entity meet any number of criteria, then the integration takes place.  For example, you can setup a workflow to fire only when an Account’s phone number has changed or when a Contact’s attribute has changed from a Prospect to a Customer or any combination along those lines to fire a workflow and integrate the change to the other system.  As you can imagine the possibilities are numerous.

Enjoy and happy integrating!

By: Dipesh Jobanputra, RSM, New Jersey Gold Certified Partner for Microsoft Dynamics