How to Master a Dynamics CRM Integration Project
If you haven’t already achieved it, complete software integration should be topping your business’ list of New Year’s resolutions. Imagine the possibilities you can achieve when you connect your CRM with ERP and get them working together in harmony; shop-floor data for your sales team to take advantage of and demand information from your sales side to better plan your manufacturing processes. Not to mention the elimination of double entries and data holes in both your CRM and ERP systems. And those preconceived notions about CRM integration being complex, technically involved and invasive? Not true at all. With modern day pre-built platforms for integration, you can usually connect your data in no time at all, in a way that is totally invisible to your end users. Integration is easier than ever—so why wouldn’t you want to achieve it?
However, although the process has become considerably smoother, CRM and ERP integration does not always go off without a hitch. So, when you do embark on a Dynamics CRM integration with ERP, you need to have a few points firmly set in your mind. We’ll detail them in this post; use these principles as your integration navigation points to ensure that every project stays on track and you’ll be sharing data like an integration pro in no time.
Consider Your Business Process—and Future Goals
Before you begin any new project, you need to ensure that you have done a thorough review of the systems you will be connecting and all the processes that they currently support. When you are shopping around for an integration platform, ensure that it will able to accommodate all of your current processes before you are sucked into all the new things that it will also be able to do for you. Moreover, you also need to be thinking about the places you see your company going in the future. Do you plan on having a highly mobile sales team? You’re going to need a cloud-based integrator that can keep all of your data hosted in the web and accessible to any employee. Are you planning on large growth in your future? Make sure you choose a flexible platform that can easily be scaled up to accommodate the extra data—and which won’t put in a hole in your wallet when you do increase that server size. When it comes to any enterprise project, the business processes are always more important than the software, so make sure you have a detailed grasp on them before jumping into anything.
Assemble the Right Team
The key to becoming a Dynamics CRM integration master is largely having the right people to help you. A project team is an invaluable resource, and will be to staffed carefully so that you know you can execute every level of the integration with finesse and speed. Aside from the usual; a practiced project manager, business analyst and corporate sponsor etc. you will need technical experts in all of the systems you will be integrating. They will be the ones getting their hands dirty with the custom coding and development, so you need to be confident that they know what they are doing. Third party help is always an option when it comes to your project team, as well. A well-armed task force will be able to get your Dynamics CRM project done without a hitch.
For more information on how to assemble the perfect integration project team, read this post!
Don’t Go Overboard
As with any software project, It’s tempting to get too caught up in promises and projections; but a ‘customize everything’ attitude can be fatal for your integration. Customizations take time and money, and can warp your integration platform beyond its original functionality, weighing down every business process with too many specifics, requirements and modifications. To avoid this pitfall, prioritize the business processes that you outline during the modeling phase. Those processes that are highest priority—that you cannot operate without—will need to be supported, and customizations made in your integration if necessary. Ensuring that only the absolutely necessary customizations are made will keep your Dynamics CRM integration project simple and stress-free.
Prioritize the Customer, Always
Although a CRM and ERP integration can often seem like a lot of work on the back-end and technical customization, you should always remember the reason your decided to integrate your Dynamics CRM with ERP software—greater customer service and efficiency. After all, the interconnected enterprise is one that has a total view of their customer, their needs and demands and how those change over time. With this knowledge, you can be unstoppable in attracting customers, making them happy, and keeping them. By keeping your mind focused on the customer you can focus on the benefits of the your Dynamics CRM integration, and ensure that every decision and customization you make during that integration is necessary and for the good of the end-product.
Wrap Up
The interconnected enterprise is the business of the future—and it’s high time you jumped on the bandwagon by starting your own Dynamics CRM integration with other existing business systems. It will be to the advantage of every single member of your team and, crucially, your customers as they are rewarded with faster shipping times, better quality and lower prices.
So, what’s holding you back from your Dynamics CRM integration project? If you’ve built it up as too burdensome, lengthy and expensive, it simply doesn’t have to be that way. With a product like Datix Unity, you can integrate your existing Dynamics CRM instance with any ERP product (and even further systems like Magento or marketing automation software). The possibilities are endless.
For a demo of Unity or just a helping hand on an upcoming Dynamics CRM integration, contact an expert at Datix today.
