Q1: Can SmartConnect work with CRM Online?

I get asked this question regularly as to whether SmartConect can work with CRM Online.  The easy answer is YES – SmartConnect works with all deployment types of CRM.

SmartConnect uses the CRM web services for connecting to, reading from and creating data inside of CRM. This means that there is  no difference for the end user or the user creating maps inside of SmartConnect if they are connecting to CRM Online.  This is exactly the same for a non Microsoft hosted CRM instance.  Simply in SmartConnect setup you define the location of the CRM URL to which you need to connect and you are golden.

This means that it does not matter whether your CRM is on premise, hosted by Microsoft or hosted by another provider – SmartConnect can read it and write to it like it was in the next room.

Q2: Where can we pull data from to push to CRM online?

This is nearly always the next question I am asked – and the answer is anywhere! CRM Online is not treated differently to any other CRM instance and you can use any data source to push data into CRM.

This means that you can pull data form any of the following locations and write records into CRM:

1. Microsoft Dynamics GP
2. Excel
3. Text
4. XML
5. Network Folders
6. Any ODBC connection
7. Any OLEDB connection
8. Microsoft CRM
9. InfoPath
10. SmartList
11. Extender

And in return you can read any data out of CRM and write to to any of these as destinations.

Q3: So if my customer does not use Dynamics GP can I still use SmartConnect?

That’s correct. While SC started out as a Microsoft Dynamics GP based product, for over a year now it has operated as a stand alone application. This means that the entire Microsoft CRM community has access to use SmartConnect for all their integration needs.  It is not just GP customers that get all the power of SmartConnect but now all CRM customers can integrate and automate until they grow weary.

So whether your need is to . . .

1. Master File integration to CRM
2. Regular updates to CRM data from any source
3. Synchronising CRM with Dynamics GP or with one or many other back end solutions
4. Automation of business critical processes inside CRM

. . . then SmartConnect is your easy answer.

So if you are new to SmartConnect and would like to see a demonstration of it in action together with CRM or CRM online send me a message martin.olsen@eonesolutions.com and we can line up a time to show you why SmartConnect is the default integration tool for GP and is fast becming the default tool for use with CRM.