Article

Benefits and challenges of integrating an ERP with Microsoft Dynamics CRM

by Rahul Ahuja
Technical Writer, MetaOption LLC,

As customer relationship management software, Microsoft Dynamics CRM does not offer strong capabilities around accounting, finance, and inventory management. But, since it provides strong integration capabilities, we can connect it with almost any other software. So, to enhance the CRM solution, improve business processes, and reduce data redundancy, many organizations look to integrate Dynamics CRM with their ERP or accounting software.

For this article we will look at integrating Dynamics CRM and Tally ERP. Tally is an Indian software company with two decades of experience developing ERP products. The integration approach discussed here can be instructive for many other solutions as well. In Tally we have the following data integration interfaces:

  1. ODBC Interface - This interface accesses data from any DBMS. This creates a middle layer between the application and Tally. This layer acts as a query translator so that it can communicate between the two applications. The ODBC interface is read-only, meaning we cannot modify the data.
  2. XML Interface - This interface accesses the data from an application using standard request/response messages. Using this interface, Tally can interact using web services to deliver data over HTTP. Tally can act as an HTTP Server capable of receiving an XML Request and responding to an XML Response. The complete Tally data set can be made available to the other requesting application. It is also possible for the application to store data into the Tally database. An API interface provides both read and write access to and from Tally system. 

Before pursuing such a CRM integration, there are several important factors that you need to understand.

Benefits

  1. Tally audits can be more comprehensive and efficient with the CRM data
  2. Audit ...

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Accounting Customer Relationship Mgmt Data Integration Dynamics CRM Tally ERP
About Rahul Ahuja

Rahul Ahuja is a Technical Writer at MetaOption LLC, a ‘Microsoft Gold Certified Partner' based in New Jersey, US, which provides ‘end-to-end' Microsoft Dynamics CRM & NAV Services across the globe. He has been contributing his technical write-ups to numerous IT blogs and forums, for more than 5 years now.

Currently, Rahul is working in MetaOption LLC, which holds 9+ years of experience in:

  • Microsoft Dynamics CRM Consulting, System Integration, Development, Migration, Implementation, Upgrade & More
  • Microsoft Dynamics ERP (Dynamics NAV) Customization, Data Migration, Integration with external systems, Development, Migration, Implementation, Upgrade & More
  • Microsoft SharePoint Consulting, Deployment Planning, Implementation, Migration, Collaboration, Application Development & More
  • Microsoft Office 365 Consulting, Deployment, Integration, Migration, Volume Licensing, Distribution & Resell, Technical Support & More
  • Android, iOS, BlackBerry, Windows Phone - Games & Application Development Services
  • Software Development Services
  • IT Staffing Services & Solutions
  • Amazon Web Services, Windows Azure Cloud Services, Product Engineering Services
  • Complete IT Infrastructure Management Solutions & Services
  • ColdFusion, Drupal, Magento, Ruby On Rails (RoR), PHP, .Net, Java
  • QA & Testing Services
More about Rahul Ahuja