Dotdigital for Microsoft Dynamics is a powerful integration that lets you synchronise data between your Dotdigital accounts and Microsoft Dynamics CRM.
When installing the Dotdigital for Microsoft Dynamics connector, we create several new entities, and some existing entities are also extended.
Learn what changes are made to Microsoft Dynamics as part of this integration in Changes made to Microsoft Dynamics.
Before you start
Things you need to know:
If you secure your Microsoft Dynamics CRM with a firewall, you must allow some IP addresses.
Learn which IP address to allow in the section Dynamics CRM connector in our IP addresses article.
Learn more about the data synchronisation process between Microsoft Dynamics and Dotdigital in the Microsoft Dynamics Data sync section on our Help Centre.
The Microsoft Dynamics to Dotdigital integration must be installed by a user with a Microsoft Dynamics Enterprise Applications - Full Users license.
Non-production (Sandbox)
We provide a Dotdigital Sandbox account with any new Dynamics connection, so we firstly ask you information regarding your non-production environment. Once you’ve run your tests on this environment and are ready to use a connector with your production environment, a connectivity form for the production system needs to be completed and submitted.
Contact us if you don't have access to a sandbox account.
The sandbox connector can remain active as long as you want and can be used for on-going testing and development if required.
If you’d prefer to skip this step and directly integrate your production environment, please let your project manager know.
1. Customer Details
This section of the form contains your company name and your Digital Marketing Specialist.
You cannot edit this section of the form. If any of these details are incorrect, contact our Support team.
2. Connected Dotdigital Account(s)
Here you see the Account Name, Account Email Address, and Account Id(s) of the Dotdigital Account you want to connect to your CRM. During the provisioning process, they are created within Microsoft Dynamics.
You cannot edit this section of the form. If any of these details are incorrect, contact our Support team.
3. Contacts
Here you can see and add members of your organisation as business or technical contacts. Only users named here can access the connectivity form.
Business Contacts
The people in your organisation that need to be informed on the progress of the integration.Technical Contacts
The people in your organisation or your CRM consultants who need to provide the technical information requested in the connectivity form. We will arrange the technical onboarding call with these contacts.
To add additional contacts, select Add business contact or Add technical contact. Enter the names, email addresses, and phone numbers.
4. Installation requirements
Here you choose who is responsible for installing the managed solution and a suggested date for when it should be installed by. The installation and setup is done in two parts:
Installation of the managed solution
Provisioning of the connected account(s)
Provisioning happens typically within 48 to 72 business hours after submitting the form. We do our best to meet your suggested date, but these dates are subject to change.
During installation and provisioning, users can continue to access Dynamics and Dotdigital.
Installation Approach
There are two installation approaches listed:
Customer/Consultant conducts installation (standard method)
You or your CRM consultant should install the managed solution. When this option is selected, you see a link to download the chosen package.
After installing the managed solution and checking the connectivity, you should submit the form. After you submit the form, our engineers will provision the system within 48 to 72 business hours.
The Connector Service Account on the form is used to confirm remote connectivity and then get the current CRM metadata. We give this account the Email Campaign Connector Service (System Use only) role during the provisioning. This role lets the account access and update all of the entities used by the integration.
Provisioning of the system by Dotdigital includes the following steps:
Dotdigital accounts are connected.
Standard Synchronisation and Data Mappings (email address, first, last and full name) are applied.
Synchronisation tests are conducted.
The technical onboarding call is provided.
During provisioning, which usually takes around 40 minutes, the service account might require temporary administrator/customiser access.
Dotdigital conducts installations and provisions the system
This option requires Dotdigital to be granted temporary administrator/customiser access to your Microsoft Dynamics instance. This Connector Service Account is used to read the current CRM metadata and existing customisations and to confirm remote connectivity.
Installation and provisioning include the following steps:
The managed solution is imported. Changes to CRM include new entity metadata, 4 security roles, new forms, configuration data and changes to the site map to allow access to the new Email Campaign information, which is added to the Marketing section.
Dotdigital account(s) are connected.
Standard Synchronisation and Data Mappings (email address, first, last and full name) are applied.
Synchronisation tests are conducted.
Technical onboarding call is provided.
Suggested Installation Date
Here you suggest a day when you want the installation to be performed. Provisioning normally happens within 48 to 72 business hours once this form is successfully submitted.
We do our best to meet your suggested date, but these dates are tentative and subject to change.
5. Microsoft Dynamics CRM Settings
Select the appropriate access method, CRM version and URLs to allow connectivity to your CRM.
Web Service Access Type
This section is used to identify how your Dynamics CRM can be accessed by the integration. You’ll see the below options available to you in the drop down:
Microsoft CRM online
Microsoft CRM Online (Office 365)
Internet Facing Deployment (IFD) - If you host your own Dynamics CRM, you can use this method to connect it to the Dotdigital for Dynamics connector.
Learn more about Internet-facing deployment (best practice)Partner Hosted - Your organisation may not have a public-facing IFD environment and may already use a reverse proxy solution to publish internal web sites to the Internet.
Learn more about how to use a reverse proxy.Direct Access (external IP) - This approach involves your Dynamics CRM Server being directly accessible from the Internet and will use standard Windows authentication to access the CRM system. This option is not usually recommended without secure firewalls being in place and SSL connectivity.
Learn more about direct web service connection via an internet connection to a public IP address (port forwarding).
Authentication type
Expand the Authentication type drop-down menu and select the authentication type you want the connector to use when connecting to your CRM.
There are three authentication types: Office 365, AD, OAuth.
If you select OAuth, you must also enter an App ID and a Redirect URL.
Dynamics CRM Version
Choose your Dynamics version from the drop-down. To identify your organisation's Dynamics version, login in your CRM then:
Select the Tools/Settings icon in the upper right
Select About
The About window displays the version
Dynamics CRM versions currently supported are:
Microsoft Dynamics CRM 365
Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2016
Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2015
Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2013
Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011
CRM Web Application URL
The CRM Web Application URL is the web address that is used to access your Dynamics CRM. For example, your Web Application URL might look like:
CRM Discovery Service
Enter your Dynamics CRM Discovery Service URL. To identify your organisations Discovery Service URL, login to your CRM then:
Select Settings
Select Customisations
Select Developer Resources
6. CRM Connector Service Account
The integration requires a service account in Microsoft Dynamics for the API interaction. Some customers use a full user license so we can assist in diagnosing issues and carry out investigations should the need occur. All CRM records created and updated by the Dotdigital service will be associated to this CRM user account.
In the fields provided, enter the CRM Connector Username and password. The Domain field is only only applicable for certain connectivity types, it is visible only when it is required.
Passwords
Password requirements
All passwords for this user should be non-expiring, as this is an ongoing service account.
Save the settings
Once the CRM Settings and Service Account sections have values, select Save.
This can be used at any time to establish values. No actions will be triggered when the Save button is used.
Verify connectivity
After the data has been saved, select Fetch Organisations to verify connectivity to the organisation.
If connectivity is successfully established:
The form will display the available CRM Organisations.
It will also show the CRM Organisation Service URL.
Check service account access
Select Click here to verify service account connectivity.
If successful, a success message is displayed.
If unsuccessful, an information box will show where data is missing or possibly incorrect.
Submit the form
After the success message is displayed, the form can be submitted by selecting Submit at the bottom of the page.
Add notes or instructions
Any notes or special instructions should be included in the Notes / Other Considerations field.
This can include a request for a call prior to any work being carried out.