Make your Microsoft Dynamics CRM investement a success with API integration & Bluemix
Managing customer relationships relies on our ability to collect, store and manage customer data, and then trigger business processes which lead to sales or allow enterprises to stay closer with it’s customers.
Unfortunately many customers fail to realize their investments in Dynamics CRM and only could able use the basic functions like account and contact management. At a more sophisticated level they may manage quotes and estimates, email marketing and contact histories.
From the outset, the challenge here is not a technology one. so that’s not the only challenge. The challenge includes people and process, strategic, operational, organizational. This old chestnut i.e. at the core of the challenge is ownership of data and who can make decisions to enhance the accessibility of the data and the quality of the data.
Microsoft Dynamics supports SOAP Webservices and .Net SDK allows integration.If you don’t work with Microsoft integration on a regular basis, getting started with the Microsoft Dynamics CRM API can be a daunting process. The Microsoft Dynamics API was really built for the Microsoft developer who is familiar with the .NET framework, anything else including Java is a big learning curve.
Touchpoint-based marketing and customer experience models become increasingly important as the customer journey changes but most of all as the focus should not be on the channels and campaigns as is often the case in marketing automation but (also) on the longer-term (smart marketers move away from short-term) and most of all the customer experiences in a highly connected and integrated digital reality.
In order for marketers to move beyond “email marketing” and progress to “marketing automation”, they need to be confident about the data they have access to. Modern Marketers have the ability to automate campaigns based on data stored and captured in the Dynamics CRM leveraging marketing automation software’s segmentation capability which is rich and powerful, but only as powerful as the quality of the data.
A major challenge for companies was the lack of integration between Dynamics CRM systems and the newer marketing automation packages or new responsive javascript centric digital or mobile applications. Many established companies large and small are reluctant to let go of upgrade legacy CRM systems or change how they use customer data to drive new sales or better service.
To maximize your Dynamics CRM investment and leverage a next generation Marketing Automation solution, consider following
- Always start with your Marketing objectives. What do you want to achieve? Who do you want to reach and how?
- Examine your current business processes. Are they efficient? In what way could these processes be stream-lined.
- Design your ideal customer journey. Forgetting for the moment any systems you may currently be using, design a customer journey that is both efficient for you and makes it easy for the customer to buy from you. Ask the question – what would a great customer journey look like?
- Evaluate the technology you are currently using. Does it work well for you or not? What are the frustrations? In what ways do your current solutions limit you? How far away are you from the ideal journey?
- Write a wish list. Draw up a list of functions that you need from your sales and marketing technology. Think about your budget and how you could measure your return on investment. What legacy systems do you need to keep and to what extent do they need to be integrated with new mobile or marketing automation software?
- Identify your API requirements: Consider a digital strategy aligned with API strategy. Assess the hybrid integration needs for the APIs
Nexright has built a set of solutions and assets for MS Dynamics customers which provides the right foundation necessary for easier integration with cloud and on-premise applications. This API based approach and bluemix platform from IBM allows two speed IT and allow customers to drive innovation.
The overall solution consist of following components for Microsoft customers
- Nexright Hybrid Integration solution which consist of MS Dyanamics connector
- Bluemix API management
- DevOps enabled Bluemix App development framework
Contact us today at sales@nexright.com to know more about our MS Dynamics API integration and Bluemix App innovation solutions.
Note: We provide a free 2 hour API assessment session and assist in Digital or API strategy.
