Document Management in CRM Online 2011 with SharePoint Online
Late last year we blogged about the possible connection between two different applications, Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online 2011 and Microsoft Office SharePoint Server. Due to recent changes made by Microsoft, you can now connect the cloud application, CRM Online 2011 with the cloud application, Microsoft SharePoint Online.
Once they are connected, you can store documents on SharePoint that relate to records in CRM Online, and access those documents seamlessly through CRM Online. Today, we walk you through enabling this connection using the Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 List Component for Microsoft SharePoint Server 2010.
If you do not already have access to these applications, Microsoft offers a free 30-day trial for CRM Online and a free 30-day trial for Office 365, which includes SharePoint Online. If you decide to open a CRM Online trial, we recommend a visit to the CRM Success Portal for users of Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online 2011. It’s loaded with video tutorials for beginners and intermediates alike, and it helps you take full advantage of a limited-duration trial.
The steps in the following walkthrough require administrator-level privileges in both CRM Online 2011 and SharePoint Online.
Download the Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 List Component for Microsoft SharePoint Server 2010, and then run it.
The Setup for SharePointList window opens (see below). Check the box titled Click here to accept Microsoft Software License Terms, and click Continue.
You’re prompted to save several files to a folder (see below). Choose a location (we prefer the desktop), and click OK, which closes the prompt.
The Setup for SharePointList window finishes extracting the files and closes.
Navigate to https://portal.microsoftonline.com/ in your browser (see below), sign in if you need to, and click Team Site.
The Team Site page opens. Open the Site Actions menu and click Site Settings.
Click Solutions underneath the Galleries header (see below).
The Solutions tab opens with a list of Solutions (see below). Click Upload Solution in the ribbon.
The Upload Document window opens (see below). Click the Browse… button.
Locate the files you extracted earlier, select the “crmlistcomponent.wsp” file, and then click the Open button.
Click OK and the Upload Document window closes.
The Solution Gallery – Activate Solution page opens (see below). Click Activate in the ribbon.
The Solution Gallery – Activate Solution page closes, and the original Solutions tab refreshes, this time listing “crmlistcomponent” as an Activated solution (circled below).
That’s it for configuration on the SharePoint side of things, but there’s still one setting left to be configured in CRM Online 2011. Before we move on, feel free to delete the files you extracted to your desktop, as this walkthrough no longer requires them.
Open CRM Online 2011, navigate to Settings > System > Document Management, and click Document Management Settings (see below).
The Document Management Settings dialog opens (see below). Select which entities you want enabled for document management by checking their corresponding checkboxes, and then enter your SharePoint Online domain address in the URL: field. When you have verified that the settings are correct, click the Next button.
CRM Online 2011 verifies that the URL you entered is a valid URL (see below), and the webpage dialog prompts you to design a folder structure. If you leave these settings blank, a default folder structure will be created. We prefer the default structure, although you should use whatever makes you most comfortable. Click the Next button when you have made a decision on folder structure.
The webpage dialog creates a document library sequentially for each entity you enabled for Document Management (see below). When you have verified that all entities have completed successfully, click the Finish button and the webpage dialog closes.
There’s only one step left now. Navigate to Workplace > Accounts (see below), and open an existing Account record, such as “A Store (sample)”.
The “A Store (sample)” record opens. Click Documents under the Common header.
A message from the webpage appears notifying you that a SharePoint folder is about to be created to parallel the current Account record in CRM Online so that you can store documents about this Account on SharePoint and access them through CRM Online 2011. Click OK to create the folder and close the window.
You’re now ready to start working with documents directly in CRM Online 2011. Keep following along with us at our xRM.com blog for Microsoft Dynamics CRM and we’ll show you how to upload documents to SharePoint via CRM Online 2011 using the Document Management feature you just enabled.
Nice article but users need to keep in mind that if they are using the Sharepoint online service they need to be continuously logged into it. If the sharepoint session breaks the users cannot access the sharepoint folder from within the crm.