Dynamics CRM and Microsoft Office Groups

Dynamics CRM and Microsoft Office 365 Groups

Over the last few months Microsoft have really been releasing some power functionality within the Office 365 (O365) platform. I generally get really excited when new stuff comes out because; A. I get to play with new stuff and B. I love seeing how this new functionality will benefit customers.

Recently, I got some time to test out the new Office 365 Groups functionality available within O365. I will admit that this wasn't a planned thing at all :) I was actually messing around with the new Dynamics CRM Web Access functionality and I saw the Office 365 Groups function... My squirrel like tendencies kicked in, i remembered that there is an integration to CRM and I just had to see how it all worked. Boy am I glad I did.

So what exactly is an office 365 group? well its actually pretty straight forward really. An office 365 group is a singular location where users are able to collaborate and share information with one another relevant to specific subject / s. Office 365 groups makes use of SharePoint and Exchange, to bring together best breed functionality to make this collaboration and information sharing MUCH easier.

Now I'm not going to focus on the engine these groups are powered by, but rather how they can be used within Microsoft Dynamics CRM.

Below is your typical look and feel you can expect from these office groups. These groups are accessible directly from Microsoft Outlook Web Access. At the very top, on the ribbon you are able to navigate between areas: 
1. Conversations; which is a conversation feed between group members (a bit similar to yammer)
2. Calendar: Any appointments relevant to that specific groups calendar.
3. Files: Any files uploaded to the group
4. Notebook: Any unstructured, shared notes taken by any of the team members relevant to the group.

This really is a nice detailed, consolidated view of information relevant to this specific group, which is associated to the "A.Datum" account. These groups may be made public or private, members may be invited or removed at any point. It is also VERY easy to interact with specific members through the summary pane provided directly from the groups team member list, all in all making life MUCH easier for any user. below is an example of the team member summary view.

So how does this all work with Dynamics CRM and why is it relevant? This Office 365 Groups functionality is relevant because it enables users that are both internal CRM users or basic Outlook Web Access members the ability to collaborate and share information between one another through the use of these groups and relevant to a Dynamics CRM record.

As a CRM user I can open any record that has had an Office 365 Group created for it and gain incite immediately into any collaboration that has taken place relevant to that group. As highlighted below, in the A. Datum account record in Dynamics CRM I get a consolidated view of all group related information. This is powerful detail that is made available to me immediately.

I also have the ability to create a new Office 365 Group for any record type that has been enabled for this functionality by simply opening up the record, going to the related records in the ribbon and clicking Office 365 Groups. This group will then be generated through the Dynamics CRM framework and made available within Microsoft Outlook. members may be added and let the collaboration begin.

So that's my brief update of Office 3645 groups. I hope you find them as useful as I will. I'm really looking forward to demonstrating this functionality a lot more. Very cool functionality Microsoft.... keep it coming :) Have a smashing day / night / whenever it is for you. :)