Update to Server-Based Communication for CRM
With the CRM Online Spring ‘14 release, ServerBased SharePoint Integration was introduced. We go over the latest round of updates.
ServerBased SharePoint Integration
With the CRM Online Spring ‘14 release, ServerBased SharePoint Integration was introduced. This initial release supported CRM Online to SharePoint Online ServerBased communication. Prior to the release, all communication between CRM and SharePoint was conducted via the List Component. There are multiple reasons for updating to ServerBased Communication. One of the biggest influence is the fact that List Component relies on the Sandbox model, which is a technology that SharePoint has since deprecated. Other reasons are that List Component displays documents in a way that does not correlated with the rest of the CRM user experience and the List Component does not provide a single sign-on experience. With ServerBased SharePoint Integration, communication is now directly between CRM and SharePoint. Also, ServerBased SharePoint Integration is required to be able to use the new “OneNote Integration” feature that is with CRM Online 2015 Update 1.
With the CRM Online 2015 Update 1, CRM Online to SharePoint On-Premises communication is also now supported. However, any CRM On-Premises to SharePoint communication is not supported by ServerBased Integration yet, thus forcing users in those situations to use List Component. CRM On-Premises to SharePoint communication is planned to be supported with future releases. This means that in the future List Component will be completely terminated.
Hybrid ServerBased SharePoint Requirements
In order to implement the ServerBased SharePoint communication method, there are multiple requirements that must be met by the user and the users system. The requirements are as follows:
Admin Personas
- Office 365 Global Admin
- SharePoint Farm Admin
SharePoint Requirements
- SharePoint Server 2013 with SP1 or later version with hotfixes
- SharePoint website must be accessible via the internet
- SharePoint website must be configured to use SSL (HTTPS)
- Certificate must be issued by a public root Certificate Authority
- Single Farm Deployment
- One SharePoint Online user license
Configuration
When configuring the new ServerBased SharePoint Implementation, the user must execute the follow steps:
Settings → Document Manager → Choose “Enable SharePoint Integration” → Select “Next” → Choose “On-Premises” or “Online” accordingly → Select “Next” → Enter the unique SharePoint site URL
During Configuration, if the user chooses “On-Premises” it is important to know that they need to have a publicly accessible SharePoint On-Premises using HTTPS with a publicly trusted certificate. The reason being that there needs to be an established trust between CRM and SharePoint in order to commence communication. By following this link → https://technet.microsoft.com/en-US/library/dn946906.aspx the user can view detailed steps to ensure that the trust connection has been established.
