Whilst working on an Integration project this week, one of my colleagues made me aware of a vaguely documented “mode” that makes MSCRM Sales Order Processing integration easier to work with other third party applications.
Take the following scenario..
SuperCorp have decided that they would like to start using their MSCRM system for creating orders. They will only need to create quotes and orders in the system as the actual fulfilment of the orders is very complex and requires other variables to complete.
Standard out of the box functionality in CRM will mean that the user will have to fulfil the order in CRM before actually processing it. MSCRM continues its SOP process by creating an invoice.
This would be an unnecessary step for the users and would hinder the automation they want to achieve.
Enter Integration Mode……
Integration Mode disables some of the SOP Process to allow for the above scenario, On the Order record, the “Create Invoice” button is replaced with a “submit order” button.
CRM with Integration Mode Off
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CRM with Integration Mode On
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The excerpt below was taken from the Scribe Help Documentation
Using integration mode
Integration mode is a special, optional, Microsoft Dynamics CRM server mode that makes several changes to Microsoft Dynamics CRM's behavior and user interface. These changes improve the integration between Microsoft Dynamics CRM and your ERP system.
Integration mode must be started after Microsoft Dynamics CRM is installed.
Integration mode provides the following functional differences in Microsoft Dynamics CRM,
• On the order detail page, the Create Invoice button is replaced with a Submit Order button. Clicking Submit Order changes the state of the order to "submitted" allowing it to be sent to the back office system for processing.
• The File Properties dialog box for accounts, contacts, and orders shows additional integration status information.
• When in integration mode, only the INTEGRATION user can edit, orders that are either canceled or invoiced, and invoices that are either canceled or paid.
The instructions in the steps below are different for version 4.0 and version 3.0 of Microsoft Dynamics CRM. Be sure to use the version of the instructions that corresponds to your version of Microsoft Dynamics CRM.
To enable this “mode” you will have to update the column “IsSopIntegrationEnabled” to True - this column is found in the OrganizationBase table inside the Organisations ORGNAME_MSCRM database.
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SQL Query: UPDATE dbo.OrganizationBase SET IsSopIntegrationEnabled = 1
**Updating the Database directly is unsupported**
The added benefit of this integration mode is that it gives you the ability to rewrite to the sales order through the SDK.
See excerpt below from Scribe documentation
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: A sales order can only be put into state 3 (Fulfilled) or 4 (Invoiced) via the API, i.e. using Scribe. States 3 and 4 only exist when Microsoft CRM is in integration mode. State 2 is "Cancelled" and in no case can a cancelled order be updated
Once the SuperCorp third party ERP system has fulfilled the order, the system will be able to write back to the CRM order and update the status.