Overview

One of the most important aspects of a line of business application is the exchange of data with other applications. For example, if an order is created in Microsoft CRM, it needs to be sent to the back office accounting system. To keep Microsoft CRM data synchronized with the other systems, Microsoft CRM Integration uses Microsoft BizTalk® Server 2002 Partner Edition as its core messaging engine and its associated tools, such as BizTalk Mapper and BizTalk Orchestration Editor. The integration between Microsoft CRM and Microsoft Business Solutions - Great Plains® product can be customized using BizTalk Mapper. This tool allows customization of existing field mappings as well as the addition of new field mappings.

The Link API may be needed when you create an integration that involves new entities that are not covered by the default integration settings. Using this SDK, Microsoft CRM BizTalk adapter, and BizTalk Server 2002 Partner Edition, you can customize your integration to Microsoft Great Plains.

The following sections are covered here:

• Integration Architecture. Describes the architecture of Microsoft CRM Integration for Great Plains.
• Integration Metadata. Describes the role of metadata in integration setup and processing.
• Integration Linking System. Describes the linking system used to entities between two systems synchronized.
• Integration Message Formats. Describes the message formats used during integration.
• Integration Logging. Provides instructions for turning the logging system on and off.