Exchanging project information between Microsoft Dynamics CRM and Microsoft Dynamics AX

Posted on: January 10, 2014 | By: Jarrod Kraemer | Microsoft Dynamics CRM, Microsoft Dynamics AX/365

In Service Industries there are moments-of-truth when organizations either achieve or fall short of excellence in client service.  Nowhere is this more evident than in the execution of handoffs between client service professionals, and particularly between pre-sales pursuit and post-sales service delivery teams. Internal miscommunications and misunderstandings of project scope, cost estimates, and fee proposals often lead to incorrect client expectations and sow seeds of future dissatisfaction or write-offs.

With the following new capabilities, Microsoft helps bridging the gap between project sales activities that occur in Microsoft Dynamics CRM and the project delivery activities that occur in Microsoft Dynamics AX.  For example, a sales professional can view up-to-date project status information right in Microsoft Dynamics CRM.  A project manager can see project quotation information right in Microsoft Dynamics AX.  This enables the project sales and project delivery teams to use role-oriented tools of choice to collaborate effectively.

Here is a scenario flow that will be enabled:

AX-CRM project integration

  1. Create and submit a project quotation
    A sales professional will be able to create a project quotation in Microsoft Dynamics CRM, add items to the project quotation and submit the project quotation to Microsoft Dynamics AX. This will create a linked project quotation in Microsoft Dynamics AX.
  2. Specify details of the project quotation
    A project manager will be able to pick up the project quotation created in the previous step and add the required details using the rich project planning and costing capabilities of Microsoft Dynamics AX (and Microsoft Project client if preferred for planning). Then, the project quotation is taken through the quotation approval workflow. Once approved, the project quotation details are synchronized to Microsoft Dynamics CRM, and the sales professional sees that the quotation is now approved by the project manager.
  3. Win the quotation and update the status to ‘Won’
    A sales professional will be able to activate the project quotation and finalize the quotation process (quotation is won, lost or cancelled). This status is synchronized back to Microsoft Dynamics AX, so the project manager will be aware of the result, and can take appropriate action.
  4. Create a new project and sync to Microsoft Dynamics CRM
    If the project quotation is won, a project manager typically transfers it to a project, adds scheduling details and assigns resources. This project status is synchronized back to Microsoft Dynamics CRM, where the sales professional can keep track of how the project is progressing.

Solution

This is a new scenario to be supported by the existing Connector for Microsoft Dynamics. The solution adds a new project construct to Microsoft Dynamics CRM and then extends the existing sales quotation to support project quotations and synchronize related data with Dynamics AX.