Microsoft’s Dynamics CRM Connector Offers Baseline CRM 2011 and Online Integration for Dynamics AX Customers

Does your company need to integrate key data between Microsoft Dynamics CRM and Microsoft Dynamics AX?

If so, Microsoft's CRM Connector is the tool for you, according to Ray Schloss, Technology Evangelist for Microsoft Dynamics CRM and Microsoft Dynamics AX at Microsoft Corp. The CRM Connector's prebuilt templates allow companies with Dynamics AX and CRM to share data or to give your developers a software development kit to create your own, said Schloss, speaking at a Microsoft webinar for members of the AX User Group.

Announced in late 2010, the CRM Connector for AX was a long-awaited capability for many customers, who had previously weighed the benefits and risks of custom or partner-developed integration solutions.

 [Editor's note: Learn more about deploying the CRM Connector for Dynamics ERP? Register for Decisions Spring 2011 to learn from industry experts.]

One of the biggest challenges companies face in providing relevant data to their users and customers is how to combine relational and transactional data in a simple, yet effective way. To help companies do that, Microsoft created the Dynamics CRM Connector, which can also be used with Dynamics NAV and Dynamics GP.

"When you look at scope a business project there are three different tiers to it," Schloss said. "There's a portion that covers your needs that's delivered in the core product itself-the functionality that's met out of the box. Above that is a customization level so it then becomes imperative to look at what the tool sets are available in an individual ERP application and how extensible it ...