CONFIGURABLE FRONT OFFICE AND BACK OFFICE INTEGRATION WITHOUT CODING WITH THE SCRIBE MICROSOFT DYNAMICS AX AND MICROSOFT DYNAMICS CRM TEMPLATE JULY 2011 PUBLISHED BY SCRIBE SOFTWARE CORPORATION 2011. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. REPRODUCTION WITHOUT PRIOR WRITTEN PERMISSION IS STRICTLY PROHIBITED. Scribe Software Corporation 1750 Elm Street, Suite 200 Manchester, NH 03104 USA P: 1.603.622.5109 F: 1.603.622.3862 www.scribesoft.com
The Scribe Microsoft Dynamics AX to Microsoft Dynamics CRM Template TECHNICAL BRIEF Over the past 13 years and across thousands of customers in the volume CRM market, Scribe has developed an approach to integration that solves the seemingly unsolvable dilemma posed by front office and back office integration; how to deliver a highly functional, real-time integration that can be quickly customized to meet the needs of each and every customer. This paper discusses the challenges posed by alternative integration approaches and presents the Scribe solution, and its inherent advantages, in detail. Traditional Alternatives In the past, customers and partners have been forced to compromise with two inadequate approaches to their front office to back office integration needs: Custom developed solutions This is where the customer or implementation partner hardcodes the integration. Because all of the data mappings and business logic have to be built from scratch, customers are typically forced by money and time to dramatically compromise on functionality. These solutions typically are expensive to maintain since they have little or no error detection and management built in and are very difficult to troubleshoot. And what happens when you change or upgrade either your back office or front office systems? You will likely need to rip it out and start over again. Packaged, point solutions This is where either the application vendor or a niche software developer creates an integration solution between one front office product and one back office product. On the surface, these solutions appear to be a good option since they have compelling functionality out of the box. The challenges typically arise at implementation when the customer requires customizations to the integration solution to meet their unique business requirements. Out of the box with these solutions typically means black box. To open up that black box requires extensive and expensive consulting services that typically can only be provided by a small, finite group of individuals. The customer along with their implementation partner is not only locked in up front, but is locked in to high costs down the road when they change their processes or upgrade their systems. The Scribe Advantage This is where the Scribe Microsoft Dynamics AX to Microsoft Dynamics CRM Template (hereinafter referred to as Dynamics AX and Dynamics CRM Template ) provides an advantage. Scribe s unique template model provides out of the box functionality, built over its industry leading integration tool. This Dynamics AX and Dynamics CRM Template can be quickly extended and customized utilizing the GUI-based mapping and development environment to deliver a solution that meets the unique needs of each and every customer. With Scribe s component architecture, when you upgrade to a newer version of Dynamics AX or Dynamics CRM, you upgrade to a new version of the Scribe Adapter for the upgraded application, and SCRIBE SOFTWARE CORPORATION SCRIBE DYNAMICS AX TO DYNAMICS CRM TEMPLATE 2
your existing Dynamics AX and Dynamics CRM Template continues to function with little or no disruption. Some application upgrades do require modifications to your integration. If new field mappings or business rules need to be applied, you can quickly make them in the Scribe Workbench, and you re off and running. This component architecture also enables customers to implement the template in phases or pick and choose the elements of the solution that they require. For example, a customer may not wish to implement order integration initially (or in some cases never) but can still synchronize customer activity (accounts, contacts, invoices) between Dynamics AX and Dynamics CRM. This modularity enables customers to implement the template right-sized to their exact needs. In addition, since the Scribe Insight product represents the general integration tool for hundreds of Microsoft s top Dynamics partners, there is no shortage of resources to help customers customize the template for their business. Scribe s on-line training curriculum and Web Community containing documented best practices resources, enable customers and partners to take full control of their implementations, now and in the future. The Scribe Integration Template Architecture The following diagram represents the components of the Scribe Template. Solution Template Dynamics CRM API Scribe Adapter For for Microsoft Dynamics CRM Console Scribe Insight Workbench Scribe Adapter For for Dynamics Great Plains AX.net business Connector Dynamics AX The Scribe technology tool is represented by the shaded boxes in the diagram. This includes the Scribe Insight product with its two graphical components, the Workbench and the Console along with the specific application Adapters. Scribe Adapters These components enable the Scribe Insight product to easily read data from and write data to a particular business application. Adapters give each application a consistent look within the Scribe Workbench, shielding the user from having to deal with the particular processing rules of the application. For example, a Scribe Adapter would typically take care of things like primary key generation and standard default values that will not change from implementation to implementation. The specific data mappings and processing rules of the integration that may change are part of the Template. Scribe Workbench - The Workbench is the design environment where all the business rules and data mappings, and transformations are established, at both the object and field level. These mappings and business rules are then saved as metadata in portable template files that drive the integration process at run time. SCRIBE SOFTWARE CORPORATION SCRIBE DYNAMICS AX TO DYNAMICS CRM TEMPLATE 3
Scribe Console - The Console is the automation and management environment where the events that initiate an integration process (as defined in the Template files) are established. These events can be triggered in real-time, via queuing or polling, or in batch mode, via a schedule or file transfer, depending on the needs of the customer. The Dynamics AX and Dynamics CRM Template operates in a real-time mode. In addition, the Console is where errors are reported and corrected, system monitors and alerts are established for proactive integration management, and business activity monitors that enhance the effectiveness of Dynamics CRM are set up. Dynamics AX and Dynamics CRM Template - The elements created and set up by the Workbench and Console represent the Dynamics AX and Dynamics CRM Template. Scribe provides the Dynamics AX and Dynamics CRM Template as a highly functional starting point that can be used as is and can also be extended and customized via the Workbench and Console to meet each customer s needs. Scribe maintains and updates its Dynamics AX and Dynamics CRM Template and posts it to the Scribe OpenMind website for download, at no additional cost, for its customers and partners. The Scribe Integration Template Architecture Advantage The Scribe Integration Template is comprised of the Scribe Insight product along with the Adapter for Dynamics CRM and the Adapter for Dynamics AX. Maintenance for the aforementioned products is required for the first year. By purchasing the Scribe tool, customers receive full access to the Scribe Web Community where they can download the latest Dynamics AX and Dynamics CRM Template. Online self-paced and Webinar-based training can be purchased as well. The customer or partner simply installs the latest Template and can immediately begin customizing the Template to meet their particular needs. Customers receive another significant benefit from this approach. Since the Template includes the full Scribe Insight migration and integration tool, customers can use the product to integrate with other inhouse systems, import leads from their Web site in real-time, load marketing lists, integrate with order entry systems, and migrate data from previous customer systems. Scribe provides additional templates to customers for download on the OpenMind website at no additional charge including ACT! and Goldmine Migrations, the Web Leads template, and more. With Scribe, one investment supports all of your CRM front office and back office data integration needs. SCRIBE SOFTWARE CORPORATION SCRIBE DYNAMICS AX TO DYNAMICS CRM TEMPLATE 4
Functionality of the Scribe Template The Dynamics AX and Dynamics CRM Template from Scribe, at a high-level, provides the functionality as depicted in the following diagram. This template provides a working integration between Microsoft Dynamics AX and Microsoft Dynamics CRM which integrates customer, vendor, contact, address, items, orders, invoices and unit data. Customer/Vendor Account, and Address This data can be created or modified in either Microsoft Dynamics AX or Microsoft Dynamics CRM and the additions or changes will be synchronized with the other application. The company matching components provide fuzzy account matching to avoid the creation of duplicate accounts and to facilitate an initial synchronization of existing Microsoft Dynamics AX and Microsoft Dynamics CRM environments. Addresses Primary and additional address synchronization is supported. The insert and update operations are fully supported by the synchronization in both directions. The delete operation is not supported as it is. Although it s possible to update the primary address fields by using this functionality the primary address data can be removed from both systems by setting empty values to all primary address fields. Exchange Rate To allow the exchange rate synchronization from Microsoft Dynamics AX to Microsoft Dynamics CRM the ISO currency codes in both systems should be manually adjusted in accordance with each other. SCRIBE SOFTWARE CORPORATION SCRIBE DYNAMICS AX TO DYNAMICS CRM TEMPLATE 5
Item/Item Dimension This data is mastered in Microsoft Dynamics AX and replicated to Microsoft Dynamics CRM to support the order process needs in Microsoft Dynamics CRM. Unit The list of existing units in Microsoft Dynamics AX is synchronized with Microsoft Dynamics CRM unit groups and units of measure. Units with unit conversions will be reflected in corresponding unit groups. Sales Order (header and lines) Orders are created in either Microsoft Dynamics AX or Microsoft Dynamics CRM. Updated information about the order is provided to Microsoft Dynamics CRM from Microsoft Dynamics AX. Every sales order of the Sales Order type and with the Document status field set to Confirmation will be synchronized. Orders that originate in Microsoft Dynamics AX are provided to Microsoft Dynamics CRM in a submitted state. Invoice The invoices are created in Microsoft Dynamics AX and replicated to Microsoft Dynamics CRM. Updates can only be sent from Microsoft Dynamics AX to Microsoft Dynamics CRM. SCRIBE SOFTWARE CORPORATION SCRIBE DYNAMICS AX TO DYNAMICS CRM TEMPLATE 6
Most Commonly Requested Customizations and Extensions to the Scribe Template Customers and partners can easily extend the Template utilizing the Workbench and Console to support additional functionality including: Multi-company support (AX, CRM) Discount Types and Discounts in CRM (volume discounts) Contact based orders (B2C) Write-in products for orders created in Dynamics CRM Some key capabilities of the Scribe Template The Scribe Integration Template v1.1 out of the box includes support for: Dynamics AX 2009 with.net Business Connector Dynamics CRM 4.0 Inserting a Customer in AX replicates into CRM as a new Account with Relationship Type = customer. Inserting a Vendor in AX replicates into CRM as a new Account with Relationship Type = vendor. Inserting an Account in CRM with Relationship Type = customer or vendor replicates into AX as a new Customer or Vendor. Inserting an Account/Address in CRM or Customer/Address in AX replicates into the respective target application. Contact records can be created in either AX or CRM with the results replicated in target application. Sharing of customers from Dynamics CRM is driven by the Relationship Type field (can be changed). Allows customers to be manually shared before their first order. Exchange Rate creation and updating is managed within AX with the results replicated/synchronized into CRM. Deletions in AX or CRM are managed as defined within the above entity touch-points diagram. Capabilities Not Included in this Scribe Template Substitute item information in Dynamics CRM Kits (kits can be sold from Dynamics CRM, however the list of included components is not available in Dynamics CRM) Unlike Microsoft Dynamics CRM, the Write In Products option does not exist in Microsoft Dynamics AX, therefore not supported within this template. Unlike Microsoft Dynamics CRM, the Freight Amount field does not exist in Microsoft Dynamics AX, therefore not addressed within this template. It is recommended that miscellaneous charges within Microsoft Dynamics AX be considered if needing to map freight data. Due to some anomalies within the Microsoft Dynamics AX Sales Order header Total dialog, the invoicing action produces zero values which are reflected within the matching Microsoft Dynamics CRM Sales Order invoice. This anomaly will be addressed in a future release of this template. SCRIBE SOFTWARE CORPORATION SCRIBE DYNAMICS AX TO DYNAMICS CRM TEMPLATE 7
Scribe Integration Template Mappings: Dynamics AX and Dynamics CRM Customer/Vendor to CRM Note - Some entity fields shown in the following tables may not necessarily be visible within their respective Microsoft Dynamics CRM forms however are template mapped at the database level. This table shows the field mapping s in the user interfaces between a Microsoft Dynamics AX customer/vendor and a Microsoft Dynamics CRM account. (CustTable/VendTable) AccountNum Name Phone TeleFax PaymTermId Currency CreditMax DivTerm DivMode ZipCode URL Email CellularPhone Memo Set to Customer / Vendor (account) accountnumber telephone1 fax paymenttermscode* transactioncurrencyid** creditlimit address1_freighttermscode* address1_shippingmethodcode* address1_postalcode customertypecode*** websiteurl emailaddress1 telephone2 description primarycontactid*** Relation Type accountid*** Values in double quotes preceded by the phrase set to indicate values set by the template designer. *Values for these fields are mapped by using the XRef.ini file. **If an appropriate currency was not found in Microsoft Dynamics CRM then the default currency will be used. ***Values for these fields are mapped by using the Workbench s variables, constants, or functions. SCRIBE SOFTWARE CORPORATION SCRIBE DYNAMICS AX TO DYNAMICS CRM TEMPLATE 8
Contact to CRM This table shows the field mapping s in the user interfaces between a Microsoft Dynamics AX contact person and a Microsoft Dynamics CRM contact. (ContactPerson) Email CellularPhone TeleFax URL Phone Title Pager Anniversary Decision Memo DocuIntro1 MartialStatus Department HomePhoneNumber Spouse AssistantName AssistantPhone Gender BirthDate FirstName MiddleName LastName *Values for these fields are mapped by using the XRef.ini file. (contact) emailaddress1 mobilephone fax websiteurl telephone1 jobtitle pager primarycontactid** parentcustomerid** anniversary accountrolecode* description salutation familystatuscode* department telephone2 spouse assistant assistantphone gendercode birthdate first middle last accountid** **Values for these fields are mapped by using the Workbench s variables, constants, or functions. SCRIBE SOFTWARE CORPORATION SCRIBE DYNAMICS AX TO DYNAMICS CRM TEMPLATE 9
Address to CRM This table shows the field mapping s in the user interfaces between a Microsoft Dynamics AX address and a Microsoft Dynamics CRM address. The CRM address can belong to the CRM Account or Contact entities. In AX, the address (CustomerAddress entity) belongs to the Customer, Vendor or ContactPerson entities. (CustomerAddress) Name Phone TeleFax CountryRegionId ZipCode County CellularPhone City Street Latitude Longitude DivTerm DivMode (address) telephone1 fax country postalcode county parentid** telephone2 city line1 latitude longitude freighttermscode* shippingmethodcode* addresstypecode** objecttypecode** customeraddressid** addressnumber** *Values for these fields are mapped by using the XRef.ini file. **Values for these fields are mapped by using the Workbench s variables, constants, or functions. SCRIBE SOFTWARE CORPORATION SCRIBE DYNAMICS AX TO DYNAMICS CRM TEMPLATE 10
Exchange Rate to CRM This table shows the field mapping s in the user interfaces between a Microsoft Dynamics AX exchange rate and a Microsoft Dynamics CRM exchange rate. (ExchRates) ExchRate/100 CurrencyCode (transactioncurrency) exchangerate isocurrencycode Item to CRM This table shows the field mapping s in the user interfaces between a Microsoft Dynamics AX item and a Microsoft Dynamics CRM product. UnitVolume ItemName ItemType CurrencyCode CurrencyCode CurrencyCode UnitID RecId stockvolume stockweight** defaultuomscheduleid* defaultuomid* productnumber* transactioncurrencyid* quantitydecimal* producttypecode pricelevelid* currentcost price standardcost description* uomscheduleid* uomid amount* productid* pricingmethodcode* quantitysellingcode* productnumber *Values for these fields are mapped by using the Workbench s variables, constants, or functions. **stockweight = Net Weight + Tare Weight SCRIBE SOFTWARE CORPORATION SCRIBE DYNAMICS AX TO DYNAMICS CRM TEMPLATE 11
Unit to CRM This table shows the field mapping s in the user interfaces between a Microsoft Dynamics AX unit and a Microsoft Dynamics CRM unit group and unit of measure. UnitId RecId Txt UnitId uomscheduleid description vfbaseuomname Unit Conversion to CRM This table shows the field mapping s in the user interfaces between a Microsoft Dynamics AX unit conversions and a Microsoft Dynamics CRM unit group. Factor FromUnit ToUnit quantity * uomscheduleid* baseuom* *Values for these fields are mapped by using the Workbench s variables, constants, or functions. SCRIBE SOFTWARE CORPORATION SCRIBE DYNAMICS AX TO DYNAMICS CRM TEMPLATE 12
Sales Order to CRM This table shows the field mapping s in the user interfaces between a Microsoft Dynamics AX sales order and a Microsoft Dynamics CRM order. Payment DivTerm DivMode ShipCarrierDeliveryContact SalesId DiscPercent Memo DeliveryZipCode DeliveryCounty DeliveryCountryRegionId DeliveryName ShippingDateRequested DeliveryCity DeliveryStreet LineDisc SalesPrice SalesPrice, SalesQty LineAmount SalesQty Name ZipCode ispricelocked* pricingerrorcode* statecode* statuscode* transactioncurrencyid* paymenttermscode shipto_freighttermscode shippingmethodcode customerid* pricelevelid* shipto_contact discountpercentage description shipto_postalcode shipto_stateorprovince shipto_country shipto_ requestdeliveryby shipto_city shipto_line1 willcall* volumediscountamount* ispriceoverridden* manualdiscountamount salesorderid* productid* priceperunit baseamount extendedamount quantity uomid* address1_postalcode customertypecode* *Values for these fields are mapped by using the Workbench s variables, constants, or functions. SCRIBE SOFTWARE CORPORATION SCRIBE DYNAMICS AX TO DYNAMICS CRM TEMPLATE 13
Sales Order Amount to CRM Order This table shows the field mapping s in the user interfaces between a Microsoft Dynamics AX sales order amount and a Microsoft Dynamics CRM sales order amount. TotalTax TotalAmount TotalEndDisc totaltax totalamount totaldiscountamount salesorderid* *Values for these fields are mapped by using the Workbench s variables, constants, or functions. SCRIBE SOFTWARE CORPORATION SCRIBE DYNAMICS AX TO DYNAMICS CRM TEMPLATE 14
Sales Invoice to CRM This table shows the field mapping s in the user interfaces between a Microsoft Dynamics AX sales order amount and a Microsoft Dynamics CRM invoice amount. Payment DivTerm DivMode SalesId DiscPercent Memo deliverzipcode DeliveryCounty DeliveryCountryRegionId DeliveryName DeliveryCity DeliveryStreet LineDisc SalesPrice SalesPrice, SalesQty SalesQty LineAmount ispricelocked* pricingerrorcode* transactioncurrencyid* paymenttermscode shipto_freighttermscode shippingmethodcode customerid* pricelevelid* discountpercentage description shipto_postalcode shipto_stateorprovince shipto_country shipto_ shipto_city shipto_line1 totallineitemamount* salesorderid* statecode* statuscode* willcall* volumediscountamount* ispriceoverridden* manualdiscountamount productid invoiceid priceperunit baseamount quantity Extendedamount Uomid* Statecode* Customertypecode* *Values for these fields are mapped by using the Workbench s variables, constants, or functions. SCRIBE SOFTWARE CORPORATION SCRIBE DYNAMICS AX TO DYNAMICS CRM TEMPLATE 15
Sales Order Amount to CRM Order Invoice This table shows the field mapping s in the user interfaces between a Microsoft Dynamics AX sales order amount and a Microsoft Dynamics CRM invoice amount. TotalTax TotalAmount TotalEndDisc totaltax totalamount Discountamount invoiceid* *Values for these fields are mapped by using the Workbench s variables, constants, or functions. Account to AX This table shows the field mapping s in the user interfaces between a Microsoft Dynamics CRM account and a Microsoft Dynamics AX customer. From Microsoft Dynamics CRM Name (account) address1_city address1_county address1_freighttermscode address1_line address1_postalcode address1_shippingmethodcode address1_stateorprovince creditlimit description emailaddress1 fax paymenttermscode telephone1 telephone2 transactioncurrencyid websiteurl address1_country To Microsoft Dynamics AX Name (CustTable/VendTable) City County** DivTerm** Street ZipCode DivMode** State CreditMax Memo Email Telefax Name PaymTermid* Phone CellularPhone Currency*** URL ContactPersonId**** CountryRegionId CustGroup**** RecId**** *Values for these fields are mapped by using the XRef.ini file. **Values for these fields are calculated based on a request to a Microsoft Dynamics AX table. ***If an appropriate currency was not found in Microsoft Dynamics AX then the default currency will be used. ****Values for these fields are mapped by using the Workbench s variables, constants, or functions. SCRIBE SOFTWARE CORPORATION SCRIBE DYNAMICS AX TO DYNAMICS CRM TEMPLATE 16
Contact Person to AX This table shows the field mapping s in the user interfaces between a Microsoft Dynamics CRM contact person and a Microsoft Dynamics AX contact. From Microsoft Dynamics CRM Name (contact) Accountrolecode Address1_city Address1_country address1_county address1_line1 address1_postalcode address1_stateorprovince anniversary assistant assistantphone birthdate department description emailaddress1 familystatuscode first, middle, last fax first gendercode jobtitle last middle mobilephone pager salutation spouses telephone1 telephone2 websiteurl To Microsoft Dynamics AX Name (ContactPerson) Decision* City CountryRegionId* County* Street ZipCode** CustAccount\VensdAccount*** State** Anniversary AssistantName AssistantPhone BirthDate Department Memo Email MartialStatus* Name Telefax FirstName Gender Title** LastName MiddleName CellularPhone Pager DocuIntro1** Spouse Phone HomePhoneNumber URL RecId*** *Values for these fields are mapped by using the XRef.ini file. **Values for these fields are calculated based on a request to a Microsoft Dynamics AX table. ***Values for these fields are mapped by using the Workbench s variables, constants, or functions. SCRIBE SOFTWARE CORPORATION SCRIBE DYNAMICS AX TO DYNAMICS CRM TEMPLATE 17
Address to AX This table shows the field mapping s in the user interfaces between a Microsoft Dynamics CRM address and a Microsoft Dynamics AX address. From Microsoft Dynamics CRM Name (customeraddress) addresstypecode city country county fax freighttermscode latitude longitude postalcode shippingmethodcode stateorprovince telephone1 telephone2 To Microsoft Dynamics AX Name (Address) Type* City CountryRegionId** County** TeleFax DivTerm* Latitude Longitude Name ZipCode** DivMode* State** Phone CellularPhone AddRecId*** AddrTableId*** RecId*** *Values for these fields are mapped by using the XRef.ini file. **Values for these fields are calculated based on a request to a Microsoft Dynamics AX table. ***Values for these fields are mapped by using the Workbench s variables, constants, or functions. SCRIBE SOFTWARE CORPORATION SCRIBE DYNAMICS AX TO DYNAMICS CRM TEMPLATE 18
Order to AX This table shows the field mapping s in the user interfaces between a Microsoft Dynamics CRM order and a Microsoft Dynamics AX sales order. From Microsoft Dynamics CRM Name ScribeChildNum quantity paymenttermscode shippingmethodcode shipto_freighttermscode requestdeliveryby salesorderid address1_postalcode To Microsoft Dynamics AX Name _salesid* _inventdimid* _itemid* _linenum _qty CurrencyCode* Payment DivMode DivTerm CustGroup* LanguageId* InvoiceAccount* ShippingDateRequested ScribeCrmKey SalesType* CustAccount* _id* Name ZipCode RecId* *Values for these fields are mapped by using the Workbench s variables, constants, or functions. SCRIBE SOFTWARE CORPORATION SCRIBE DYNAMICS AX TO DYNAMICS CRM TEMPLATE 19
About Scribe Software Corporation Scribe Software is an established leader of data integration solutions worldwide. With over 900 partners and 12,000 customers, Scribe has proven its ability to deliver cost-effective, reliable solutions that give both its customers and partners a competitive advantage in business today. Scribe s no coding, graphical user interfaces make configuring and managing integrations in the cloud, on-premise or anywhere in between quick and easy. As a Microsoft President s Award winner, Scribe had demonstrated expertise in all Microsoft offerings. Additionally, Scribe expertise includes Salesforce.com, Oracle, JD Edwards and SAP, among others. Scribe delivers data integration solutions that work. For more information about Scribe please visit www.scribesoft.com. Scribe Software Corporation 1750 Elm Street Suite 200 Manchester, NH 03104 USA Tel: 1.603.622.5109 Fax: 1.603.622.3862 Email: info@scribesoft.com www.scribesoft.com SCRIBE SOFTWARE CORPORATION SCRIBE DYNAMICS AX TO DYNAMICS CRM TEMPLATE 20