We all purchase tools and technology that best fit our needs based on factors like features and functionality, ease of use, brand name or budgetary concerns. Our purchasing decisions often result in best-of-breed solutions from different providers. It’s why I own a Samsung TV and LG DVD player. The problem is they don’t naturally interact with one another. I need to connect the two with an HDMI cord.
The same concept holds true with CRM and ERP platforms. Salesforce and Microsoft continue to battle for supremacy in the CRM space. Salesforce leads the way in market share yet Microsoft’s D365 solution is narrowing the gap. Microsoft, on the other hand, is also a major player in the ERP world. What happens when we want to use Salesforce for our CRM in conjunction with Microsoft Dynamics for our ERP? Like the HDMI cord example, we need to connect the two together. Although in this case, the proper tool is SmartConnect.
Partners and clients have utilized SmartConnect within the Microsoft ecosystem for nearly two decades, yet many aren’t aware we’ve been integrating with Salesforce for the better part of the last decade.
Salesforce and Microsoft ERP integration – whether it’s NAV, GP or Business Central – is one of the fastest growing areas of our business at eOne. We have pre-built connectors for each platform plus plug-and-play templates including over a dozen integration maps to get your project started off on the right foot – regardless of which system you know best.
The most common integration scenarios we see are syncing accounts, customers, opportunities and invoices. Although when we take it a step further – we find ourselves asking a few questions. Do we want all accounts in Salesforce to flow to Dynamics or only the accounts classified as customers? Do we want each opportunity integrated with our ERP or only the opportunities we’ve won? SmartConnect can incorporate all appropriate criteria so you’re only integrating the data you need when you want to send it. Plus, it’s a true bi-directional integration so opportunity invoice numbers in Salesforce, for example, are consistently updated from your ERP.
Once the basics are covered, we often see clients enhance these integrations to further support their business processes. Updating products in Salesforce to items in the ERP and sending price book changes from your ERP to Salesforce allows your sales team to see all the data they need, no matter the system they use. SmartConnect can even create users in Salesforce directly based on how they are classified in your ERP. The best part is each of the scenarios has sample maps available in our Salesforce integration templates.
Salesforce integrations may open a whole new set of doors you’re unfamiliar with inside SmartConnect yet no need to worry, we have your back. From blog articles on maximizing multiple objects through the External ID Fields or utilizing SmartConnect functions to keeps addresses in sync, there are a wide variety of resources available to guide you through every step along the way.
If you’re considering diving into integrations like these, join us every Thursday at 1 pm CT for our in-depth SmartConnect for Salesforce webinar. We’d love to see you there!
