Microsoft Dynamics CRM and SharePoint 2013 Integration: Save on document versions with Shredded Storage

Integrating Microsoft Dynamics CRM and SharePoint enables organizations to use the document management capabilities of SharePoint from within Dynamics CRM. Users can store and manage documents in the context of a CRM record, and the best part about this integration  is it allows SharePoint users to leverage their existing framework to share, manage, and collaborate efficiently.  In this type of scenario, the documents are stored on a server that is running SharePoint, and it is imperative to understand and optimize server space and cost by managing document versions efficiently. And with SharePoint 2013, there are some critical improvements to the framework that make integration to Dynamics CRM and other solutions significantly more efficient.

So here's a context to set the scene. Suppose you are planning to manage a newsletter campaign using Microsoft Dynamics CRM capabilities, where several participants will contribute, modify, review and approve a draft using SharePoint document management capabilities thanks to their integration. Let's say the file size of the document is 5mb and is supposed to move through various stages of approvals and edits as we discussed earlier. Suppose another employee wishes to edit  the newsletter with something as minute as changing the metadata value of the file. As a result a new version of the file is created with these edits, again with a file size of 5mb. It is important to note that every time a version is created it, it has the potential to consume another 5mb or so (the same as the original version size), so now we have consumed 10mb storage space with just a minor edit. Similarly if there are 10 rounds of revisions, edits and modifications from various participants, there will be about 50MB of files that will be stored in the content database. Thus we see that creating ...