Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2016 Customization and Configuration with Eazzy Learn

Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2016 Customization and Configuration: A Guide by Eazzy Learn

Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2016 is a powerful platform designed to streamline customer relationship management, sales, marketing, and customer service processes. Its true strength, however, lies in its immense flexibility. Out-of-the-box functionality provides a solid foundation, but to truly align the system with unique business processes and requirements, customization and configuration are essential. This guide explores the core concepts of tailoring Dynamics CRM 2016 to fit your organization's specific needs.

Understanding Configuration vs. Customization

A fundamental concept in mastering Dynamics CRM 2016 is distinguishing between configuration and customization.

Configuration refers to changes made using the built-in tools provided by the platform without writing code. This includes modifying the user interface, creating new business units and teams, defining security roles, setting up email templates, and configuring system settings. Configuration is typically the first step in adapting the system and is often reversible and upgrade-safe.

Customization involves deeper changes that extend the platform's native capabilities. This usually requires more technical expertise and can include creating new entities (tables), fields (columns), and relationships, writing client-side JavaScript, developing plugins (server-side code), and building custom workflow activities. Customization allows for a near-linfinite level of tailoring but requires careful planning to maintain system stability and performance.

Core Areas of Customization and Configuration

The customization and configuration capabilities in Dynamics CRM 2016 are extensive, focusing on several key areas.

✦ Entity and Field Management

Entities are the core building blocks of Dynamics CRM, representing tables like Account, Contact, or Opportunity. You can customize these out-of-the-box entities or create entirely new custom entities to store specific data unique to your business, such as "Service Request" or "Project Timeline." Within each entity, you create fields to capture data. CRM 2016 offers a variety of field types, from simple text and numbers to picklists, lookups (to link records), and even calculated fields for automated data derivation.

✦ User Interface (UI) Adaptation

A user-friendly interface is critical for adoption. The CRM 2016 web client allows you to easily configure forms, views, and charts. You can add, remove, and rearrange fields on forms using a drag-and-drop editor, create multiple forms for different user roles, and group fields into tabs and sections for better organization. Similarly, you can customize system views to display the most relevant list of records and create visual charts and dashboards for at-a-glance insights.

✦ Business Process Automation

Automating repetitive tasks ensures consistency and improves efficiency. Dynamics CRM 2016 offers two powerful tools for this:

• Processes: This umbrella term includes Workflows and Dialogs. Workflows automate business processes behind the scenes, such as sending an email, updating a record, or assigning a task based on specific triggers. Dialogs provide a guided, scripted interface for call center agents or sales reps to follow, ensuring a standardized process for interactions like customer onboarding.
• Business Process Flows: These provide a visual, step-by-step guide for users to follow for complex processes like a sales pipeline or a case resolution path. They help standardize best practices, keep users focused on the right stage, and ensure all necessary data is collected.

✦ Security Model Configuration

A robust security model is paramount. CRM 2016 uses a role-based security system where access is determined by a user's security role and their position within the business unit hierarchy. You can configure these roles to grant precise privileges—such as Create, Read, Write, Delete, Append—on specific entities. Additionally, you can use sharing and teams to grant access to individual records beyond the standard security roles, ensuring sensitive data is only visible to authorized personnel.

The Power of Advanced Customizations

For requirements that go beyond point-and-click tools, CRM 2016 supports advanced development.

• Client-Side Scripting (JavaScript): Used to add logic to forms, such as making fields mandatory conditionally, showing/hiding sections based on user input, or validating data before it is saved.
• Plugins (.NET Assemblies): These are server-side code that execute in response to specific events (e.g., when a record is created, updated, or deleted). They are used for complex validations, integrations with other systems, and performing operations that require high privileges.
• Custom Workflow Activities: Allow you to create your own reusable actions that can be dropped into a workflow, extending the native actions available.

Best Practices for Successful Implementation

Embarking on a customization journey requires a strategic approach.

• Plan Thoroughly: Document business processes and requirements before making any changes. Understand the "why" behind each customization.
• Leverage Configuration First: Always seek a configuration-based solution before opting for a code-heavy customization. It is easier to maintain and upgrade.
• Consider the Future: Think about how your customizations will be affected by future updates and upgrades to the Dynamics CRM platform. Avoid over-customizing, which can lead to a complex and fragile system.
• Test Extensively: Always test customizations in a development or sandbox environment before deploying them to production users.

By mastering the art of customization and configuration, you can transform Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2016 from a standard application into a strategic asset that perfectly mirrors and empowers your organization's unique way of doing business.