Integration Basics

Microsoft CRM includes support for integration to the Microsoft Business Solutions Great Plains product line. For version 1.0 of Microsoft CRM, integration to Great Plains Edition 7.0 and higher is provided. Great Plains Edition is one of Microsoft's accounting and financial software packages. Look for support for Microsoft's Solomon and Navision products in the neat future.

Integration to Great Plains is provided though BizTalk Server 2002 Partner edition. This edition of BizTalk Server is included at no charge with Microsoft CRM Integration to organizations that own at least one license of Microsoft CRM Sales Professional or Suite Professional.

BizTalk Server, Microsoft's enterprise application integration (EAI) solution, provides a platform for migrating and mapping data between applications. In addition to integration, BizTalk Server contains functionality that enables automation of business processes; however, this functionality is not utilized by the Microsoft CRM Integration.

The main components of BizTalk Server that are used by the CRM Integration are receive functions, channels, and ports. Receive functions are BizTalk Server's mechanism for collecting data. Receive functions can be created that monitor many different sources for incoming data, such as the filesystem or email attachments. BizTalk Server channels contain information that is used to determine how to handle incoming data documents. This information helps determine if the incoming source data is complete and transforms this data into a form that the destination can accept. BizTalk Server ports are the destination points to which the channel hands the data. Ports use additional software components to push the data into the targeted application.

The Partner edition of BizTalk Server is licensed for a single processor and can connect up to two external trading partners with two internal applications. The Microsoft CRM Integration qualifies as an integration of two internal applications. It is interesting to note that a company is permitted to use the BizTalk Server installation of Microsoft CRM Integration to integrate Microsoft CRM and/or Great Plains with up to two external trading partners. The Partner Edition only supports a single processor and does not support clustering. Therefore, transaction volume needs to be considered when integrating with external trading partners. For additional information about the different versions of BizTalk Server and their features visit www.microsoft.com/biztalk.