Optimize your business practices with Dynamics NAV-CRM Integration
Dynamics NAV is an enterprise resource planning (ERP) software that is used by companies large and small in order to manage everything happening behind-the-scenes, from accounting to supply chain operations to project management. Meanwhile, customer relationship management (CRM) software such as Salesforce is geared towards managing an organization’s customer-facing operations. Dynamics NAV and Salesforce are both industry titans, which means that many savvy companies implement both. However, many don’t realize that unless their CRM and ERP are properly integrated, they’re not really getting the most out of their solutions.
The histories of Microsoft Dynamics NAV and Salesforce
Once upon a time in 1984, Dynamics NAV was known as Navision. Originating as a group project between three friends, Navision was a program designed to help companies manage their finances and warehouse data. Based in Europe, the project made it to America in 1992, where it was advertised as Avista. It wasn’t until much later that Avista/Navision was purchased by Microsoft, and in 2005 rebranded once more to Microsoft Dynamics NAV. Then, in 2018, Dynamics NAV was subsumed by Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central. Certain companies still use their legacy copy of Microsoft Dynamics NAV, finding themselves without the resources or interest to upgrade to the latest in the Dynamics product suite. To date, Microsoft has no current plans to phase out support for legacy versions of NAV.
The goal of Salesforce has remained more or less the same since its inception in 1999; to be an effective, easy-to-use program that facilitated the management and use of customer-related information. Over the years, Salesforce has optimized and grown into a powerhouse in the industry and is one of—if not the most—popular CRM solutions available today. Salesforce quickly found footing and expanded into the worldwide market in 2001. Displaying a vested interest in environmental sustainability, Salesforce announced that it was a Net Zero company in 2021.
How data integration brings out the best in your ERP and CRM
Most companies are drowning in piles of data. It streams in from countless apps, eCommerce sites, their CRM, ERP, field teams, and partner companies. Lack of data isn’t a problem; data management is. Efficient and streamlined data management can give organizations a huge leg up on the competition, because data integration aims to optimize the collection, management, and implementation of a company’s data pools. Consolidation and clarity is the name of the game.
While most effective data integration solutions come with a price tag, integrated data can pave the way for exponential growth, and free up employees to focus on more pressing and important tasks. For many organizations, visible return on investment happens quickly.
When organizations embark on a data integration project, it means that they are implementing solutions that allow formerly disparate software to “talk” to one another, and pool their respective data banks into a unified point of truth. Some of the most commonly integrated software are CRMs and ERPs, like Salesforce and Dynamics NAV, respectively.
What kinds of Data Integration technologies are there?
There are three primary types of data integration technologies that can be used to connect ERPs like Dynamics NAV with CRMs like Salesforce. The first and oldest is called Extract Transform Load (ETL). ETL data integration means exactly what it says on the tin: data is extracted from one system and loaded to a target system after its transformation. Common transformations include cleaning, consolidating, and reconciliation.
Enterprise Information Integration involves creating a “false front” overlaying the complex web of a company’s various applications and software, streamlining interaction. In essence, it allows users to interact with those apps and software as if it were one single database.
Last but not the least, Enterprise Data Replication (EDR) is most commonly used as an information propagation technique, ferrying data from one point to another. Data may be replicated in real time, on a schedule, or instantaneously. EDR differs from ETL in that it does not involve any transformation of the data.
What you need to know before integrating
It’s crucial that businesses understand their goals going into a data integration project. Data integration projects can be complex, time consuming, and expensive. While they’re well worth it, you can make the process easier for your team-members by ensuring that everyone knows exactly what data they will be prioritizing, and what it will be used for. Having clean data to begin with is another way to expedite the integration process. Plus, your team should be prepared to set aside time for full training on how to properly interface with and maintain the data integration solution.
About Author Rapidi’s Cutting-Edge Data Integration Technology Rapidi has been in the business of data integration and data replication for nearly three decades. In that span of time, they’ve accrued many loyal customers and optimized their integration and replication solutions according to best practices. RapidiOnline, their proprietary integration solution, is robust, flexible, efficient, and easy to implement; your business can be back on its feet and all staff-members fully trained in just a matter of days! It’s subscription based, meaning that your company will always have access to the latest and greatest version; once it’s deployed, you won’t ever have to worry about your version being phased out. The Rapid team specializes in data integration projects involving Microsoft products, from GP to Dynamics 365. Why put off that data integration project even one more day? Contact Rapidi, and let their team of experts steer your enterprise towards success.
Read Next: How to create data-driven strategies for your company
