Tag Archives: Configuring
Configuring Dashboards for Business Process Flows
Business process flows help to guide users through a defined set of stages and related steps required to complete a business process. Utilizing process flows can result in improvements in user adoption and provide greater visibility into the sales pipeline. This topic describes how to build process-centric dashboards in Dynamics 365 using out of the box entities.
Each business process flow configured in the Dynamics 365 corresponds with a related process entity that includes information such as active stage, status and start date. As a system customizer, you can edit the sitemap to display these process entities, manage permissions for each process via security roles and build custom views including process data as well as attributes from supporting entities. The custom views can also be used to create visualizations such as charts, sub grids and list views of records.
In this example, the organization is utilizing two types of sales processes that are relevant to opportunity entity. Each of these process entities have been added to the sitemap under the Business Processes section to support a process-centric view for a sales user.
The user can select a specific business process from the sitemap and double-click a process record from views to continue progressing the opportunity further.
We can configure a Sales Process Dashboard in CRM, leveraging system capabilities together to reduce the number of clicks and improve user experience.
Follow these steps:
1. Create a system dashboard called Sales Process Dashboard from the customizations area.
2. Insert a chart component into the dashboard by selecting a business process flow entity, a related view and chart visualization based on the stages of the process.
3. Insert a list component into the dashboard by selecting the same business process flow entity and a related custom view that combines information from the process and its supporting entity.
4. Save and publish the Sales Process dashboard.
Here is a sample Sales Process Dashboard configured to display information for two sales processes for an organization. As a result, sales users can view process-driven information in a user-friendly manner and identify opportunities that require attention.
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Happy Dynamics 365’ing!
CRM App for Outlook – Enabling and Configuring
Sometimes it is easier to find blog entries on functionality tips and tricks than the basics of setup. Today’s blog will get you to the starting line with enabling and configuring the CRM App for Outlook, which was introduced in the Fall of 2016. The good news is that there is nothing to download and install. It is an option a user can enable from within CRM itself.
The First Step is to navigate to settings for the CRM App for Outlook. There are two ways to do this:
Respond to the prompt if available; or
Navigate to Options and Apps for Dynamics 365
The Second Step is to enable the CRM App for Outlook. Ensure that you enable the “Microsoft Dynamics 365 App for Outlook” (not the second option “Microsoft Dynamics 365 for Outlook”).
The Third Step is to open Outlook with the same credentials used for CRM. If this is a different email address then your regular one, you will want to either added the new email account to Outlook or create a new profile to use within Outlook.
Within Outlook, you will see a “Dynamics 365” button 
that provides the app functionality.
The vast majority of users can get up and running by executing the 3 steps above. There are more sophisticated methods to Programmatically Enable the Dynamics 365 App for Outlook. Additionally there is a plethora of resources to leverage the power of the app, including 5 Things We Love About Dynamics 365 App for Outlook.
Happy CRM’ing!
Need Help Configuring AlwaysOn Availability Groups for Dynamics CRM 2016?
Configuring Dynamics CRM 2016/2015 with SQL Server 2014 AlwaysOn Availability
Shashank Chandra, Sr. Dynamics CRM Consultant
Microsoft SQL Server Availability Groups provide a comprehensive high availability and disaster recovery solution. In this blog post we will see how to configure Dynamics CRM 2016/2015 with SQL Server 2014 AlwaysOn Availability Groups.
The diagram below illustrates the environment setup:
(Source: https://blogs.msdn.microsoft.com/crminthefield/2013/11/27/configuring-sql-server-2012-alwayson-availability-groups-with-dynamics-crm/)
1. Create SQL Server Availability Group
The first step is to create the SQL Server availability group. This link talks about how you can set it up – https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/jj822357.aspx
2. Create SQL Logins for Microsoft Dynamics CRM
The next step is to Create the SQL logins for the Microsoft Dynamics CRM security groups on all secondary replicas. To do this:
a. Start SQL Server Management Studio and connect to the secondary SQL Server replica. Expand the Security node, right-click Logins and then click New Login.
b. In the Login name box, click Search, make sure that Groups is included in the Select this object type (if not click Object Types and add it). TypeDomainName\PrivReportingGroup, click Check Names, and when the name resolves correctly, click OK. Repeat step for the following security groups – ReportingGroup and -SQLAccessGroup
3. Create the MSCRMSqlClrLogin SQL Login
a. Create the asymmetric key for the MSCRMSqlClrLogin SQL Login
On all secondary replicas, execute the following SQL statement against the master database to create the asymmetric key, where <path> is the path to the Microsoft.Crm.SqlClr.Helper.dll file that is located on the server where the Deployment Tools server role is installed. For example, specify a UNC path on a share similar to \crmdeploymenttools\CRMshare\Tools\. By default, Microsoft.Crm.SqlClr.Helper.dll is located on the Deployment Tools server in the C:\Program Files\Microsoft Dynamics CRM\Tools\ folder.
IF NOT EXISTS (SELECT * FROM sys.asymmetric_keys WHERE name = ‘MSCRMSqlClrKey’) BEGIN CREATE ASYMMETRIC KEY MSCRMSqlClrKey FROM EXECUTABLE FILE = ’<path>\Microsoft.Crm.SqlClr.Helper.dll’;
b. Create the MSCRMSqlClrLogin SQL login
Execute the following SQL statement against the master database to create the MSCRMSqlClrLogin SQL login.
IF NOT EXISTS (SELECT * FROM sys.syslogins WHERE name = ‘MSCRMSqlClrLogin’) BEGIN CREATE LOGIN MSCRMSqlClrLogin FROM ASYMMETRIC KEY MSCRMSqlClrKey GRANT UNSAFE ASSEMBLY TO MSCRMSqlClrLogin END
4. Update the configuration database connection strings in the Windows registry
Update the SQL Server connection string in every Windows registry on all servers that are running a Microsoft Dynamics CRM Server role, including the Microsoft Dynamics CRM Reporting Extensions server. To do this, follow these steps.
- On the computer that is running the Microsoft Dynamics CRM Server role, start Registry Editor and locate the following registry subkey:HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\MSCRM\
- Right-click configdb, and then click Modify.
- If Failover Partner=MSCRM_Mirror is present, remove this from the value.
- Change the Data Source from the SQL Server instance name to the availability group listener name.
- Click OK, and then close Registry Editor.
- Repeat the previous steps to add the connection string to the config subkey for each server that is running a Microsoft Dynamics CRM Server role, including the server running Microsoft Dynamics CRM Reporting Extensions.
5. Update the connection string in the configuration database
Update the organization table in the configuration database to specify the availability group listener name for the client connection string. To do this, run the following update statement against the configuration (MSCRM_CONFIG) database.
Update Organization set ConnectionString = ‘Provider=SQLOLEDB;Data Source=AG_Listener_Name;Initial Catalog=OrganizationName_MSCRM;Integrated Security=SSPI';MultiSubnetFailover=True’ where DatabaseName = ‘OrganizationName_MSCRM’
- Replace AG_Listener_Name with the availability group listener name where the Microsoft Dynamics CRM organization database is located.
- Replace OrganizationName_MSCRM with the name of the organization database.
6. Restart IIS and Microsoft Dynamics CRM Services
After you make these changes, reset IIS on the computer that is running the Web Application Server role.
For more information contact ACE today!
Configuring the Power BI Higher Education Model #2: Enrollment
Partnering with Stetson University, I am happy to share the second installment of our Power BI Higher Education Analytics solutions. This solution shows Fall term enrollment data and trends, including enrollment by degree level, class level, residency, gender, ethnicity, college, and major. The entire solution with documentation can be downloaded here.
Click on the report below to see Stetson University’s enrollment report in action. Flip through the pages and click a few of the slicers to see the full capabilities of the solution.
This report was built with the Power BI Desktop and published to the web via the Power BI Service to share the data with the campus community.
Just as with the previous solution, the download zip file contains the following items to help you quickly create your own enrollment report:
- a step by step guide to setting up the files and configuring Power BI,
- a Data Dictionary, which contains detailed information on the views, tables, and variables used to create the extracted data file,
- a sample Excel source data workbook, and
- the Enrollment report template which contains the data model and reports.
The documentation included in the download assumes users understand how to extract data from their existing source systems and does not provide detailed guidance on this aspect of the process.
If you have any questions, suggestions, or concerns, please feel free to email myself at pleblanc@microsoft.com, Resche D. Hines, Ph.D. (rhines@stetson.edu) or Angela Henderson (ahender1@stetson.edu).
Stay tuned to my blog, Facebook page, and twitter (@patrickdba) for updates on forthcoming higher education reporting solutions.
Talk to you soon,
Patrick LeBlanc
Configuring Outlook Client for Microsoft Dynamics CRM via a Second Federation
One of the great things about Microsoft Dynamics CRM is the ability to configure an ADFS server to be able to login via different domains. The configuration is done through a claims trust. Once the configuration is complete, users are then able to navigate to the CRM URL and simply click which federation they want to log into.
While this feature is extremely useful, the CRM Outlook client does not allow for the ability to choose domains as you would through a normal web browser. Today’s blog, however, will show you exactly how this can be achieved by making an addition to the local workstation registry.
Before you begin, you will first need to know the Home Realm URL of the ADFS server you want to configure with the Outlook client. Once you have this, simply follow the steps below on the workstation that you are configuring the Outlook client for. Let’s get started!
1. Open the registry editor.
Warning: editing the registry should only be done by an experienced user as system errors can occur if done incorrectly. If you are not comfortable using the registry editor, it is recommended that you seek additional assistance from your IT staff.
To find the registry editor, search for ‘regedit’ on your device and then open.
2. Open the registry key following the path HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Policies\Microsoft.
3. Right-click on Microsoft, select New Key, and add MSCRMClient.
4. You should then see the MSCRMClient under Microsoft.
5. Right-click on MSCRMClient, select New and then String Value.
6. Type in HomeRealmURL.
7. Right-click on HomeRealmURL and select Modify.
8. Enter in the Value data of the federated ADFS. The URL must end in /adfs/service/trust/mex.
Then select OK.
9. Close the registry editor.
10. To configure CRM for Outlook, follow the steps included in the blog Install Dynamics CRM 2015 for Outlook.
*Please note that in an enterprise environment it is suggested that the value be set through a group policy.
That’s all it takes! If you need further assistance on how to accomplish any steps or instructions in this blog or if you want to learn more, you can view the official documentation from Microsoft or seek help from our CRM support desk.
Thanks for stopping by our blog today! And as always, happy CRM’ing!
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