As the Spring '14 Wave continues to make 'waves' , we continue our own deep-dive into the changes.  Previously, versions of Microsoft Dynamics CRM online used a client-to-server strategy to authenticate and transmit data from Microsoft Dynamics CRM to SharePoint Online. Now Dynamics  has introduced a new approach to CRM and SharePoint integration. The integration now happens at the server level and, administrators can enable server-based SharePoint integration.

Steps to enable server-based SharePoint Integration:

1. Make sure your organization has been upgraded to Spring '14 version.
   
2. Navigate to Settings ->Document Management and click Enable server-based SharePoint integration. You can also click Enable Now in the yellow alert notification as seen in the picture below.

3. When you click on Enable server-based SharePoint integration, a wizard will open where you have to enter your SharePoint Site URL and click Next.

4. The wizard will validate your SharePoint site. After validation is finished, click Next.

5 .Click Finish to finish creating a server connection between Microsoft Dynamics CRM and SharePoint Online.

Server-based SharePoint integration is now enabled. Now, you can start using the document management feature in Microsoft Dynamics CRM by using server-based SharePoint integration as you did with the previous client side integration.

Key Points:

1. The server-based authentication does not require you to install the Microsoft Dynamics CRM list component in the sandbox environment for Microsoft SharePoint Online.
   
2. You can enable server-based SharePoint integration for Microsoft Dynamics CRM online only by using the web or Outlook client.
   
3. After you enable server-based SharePoint integration, you can't revert to the previous client-based authentication method.
   
4. With server-based SharePoint integration enabled, you can now perform SharePoint actions in the CRM command bar. And, you can now view SharePoint documents in Microsoft Dynamics CRM lists, no more iFrames.
   

Note: Users don't need to log into SharePoint before viewing documents in CRM.

Please keep your eye on our blog for additional tips and tricks to enhance your CRM experience, as well as for education and other Microsoft Dynamics CRM updates.

Happy CRM'ing!