Webinar: Best Practices in Leveraging Extensibility Options for Dynamics CRM

Today, I attended a webinar about extending CRM featuring @MitchMilam hosted by CRMUG. Mitch discussed the extension options, their features and limitations as well as some examples with possible solutions. I wanted to review the main takeaways here.

Always remember there is not one correct answer but many different options. Depending on your situation and requirements, one of the options may be more correct than another.

There are 3 main questions to ask when looking at a project: immediacy, available resources, and Budget.

Immediacy: Does the user need to see what’s happening (JavaScript)? Can it be done on the Save (Plugin, Workflow)? Think about Asynchronous operations versus Synchronous operations.

Available Resources: Do you have someone who can do what you need? Can you hire a programmer?

Budget: Not just money budget (hiring developer, consultant, purchasing a tool) but also time budget. Do you have time to hire someone new or learn a new skill?

I compiled some notes on the tools along with my knowledge of the matter.

Feature	Type	Skill Set	Pros	Cons	Notes
Bulk Import	Built-in	Customizer	Allows you to quickly create records from a file	Limited duplicate checking against only one entity, cannot create additional records	Consider instead writing a custom App that can do exactly what you need
Bulk Edit	Built-in	Power User	Quickly update a set of records	Same edit to all, no logic
Advanced Find	Built-in	Power User	Find specific groups of records for other operations (Marketing Lists, etc.)	Limitations	This came up in the context of deleting E-mail Attachments - you can find E-mails with Attachments by using Advanced Find but you can only delete the whole message not just the Attachment.
Workflows	Built-in	Customizer	Quick, no developer necessary, can create/update records, send e-mails, etc.	Limited processing options but can be extended with Custom Workflow Activities, all run asynchronously
Dialogs	Built-in	Customizer	Allows for user interaction	Requires user interaction, cannot be run on multiple records, runs as the user	Note: if a Dialog calls a child workflow it runs with similar access to an on-demand workflow, as the user.
Field Level Security	Built-in	Customizer	Can allow user to see/update the data only if they are included on the FLS Profile	Based on User/Team membership not security roles	See more information in my earlier post
Role Based Forms	Built-in	Customizer	Can hide data from the form but expose to other users, based on Security roles	Data is only not visible on the form, users would still have access in Advanced Find	This could be combined with FLS for more granular permissions
JavaScript	Extension	Customizer	Can run whenever the form is loaded, saved or a field is changed; does not necessarily require a developer	Performance (form load time) can become an issue
Plugins	Extension	Developer	Can be asynchronous or synchronous; can run as the user or as another user	Runs on the save, user will not see the change unless they refresh; requires a developer
External Applications	Extension	Developer	Can be designed to fit any business need; many options	Requires a developer and time to design/write.

 If you are a CRMUG Collaborate user, you can watch the recording and download the slides.