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The file attachment option works out of the box with Microsoft Dynamics CRM, and it works equally well in both Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online and on-premises or partner-hosted deployments. To attach a file to a record, open the record, click the Add tab in the ribbon, and then click the Attach File button. A new attachment dialog box opens and you can select a file to attach to the record, as shown in Figure 4-14.

After you finish attaching the file, you can view the file under the Notes section of a record. If you right-click the attachment, you can access a few menu options, such as opening or deleting the file, as shown in Figure 4-15. This file attachment feature works well for basic document management needs, but it does not provide a great experience for a document that will go through many revisions. If you download this file, make some edits to it, and then attach it back to the same account, Microsoft Dynamics CRM treats the revised file as a brand-new attachment. Therefore, you would see two different files attached to the record. Most users would not enjoy this experience, so we recommend that you use the file attachment option for files that don t need any revisions, such as signed contracts.

For organizations with more complex document management needs, the integration between Microsoft Dynamics CRM and Microsoft SharePoint offers great additional features and benefits. Table 4-2 compares the differences between using file attachments and the SharePoint integration for your document management needs in Microsoft Dynamics CRM.

Additional software required Stores documents in Microsoft Dynamics CRM database Can take documents offline with Microsoft Dynamics CRM for Outlook with Offline Access Uses Microsoft Dynamics CRM security roles and settings No Yes Yes

Single backup process with other Microsoft Dynamics CRM data for documents Check in and check out capabilities Version history and revision tracking Can search for content within documents Can configure alerts for modifications Yes

Microsoft SharePoint is not required to use Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011, but Table 4-2 shows that the SharePoint integration provides some very significant benefits and capabilities compared to file attachments. The trade-off is that your organization needs to acquire and set up Microsoft Office SharePoint Server. Let s take a deeper look at how Microsoft Dynamics CRM document management integrates with SharePoint in the following areas:

At the time this book went to press, Microsoft Dynamics CRM supported the following versions of SharePoint:

Microsoft SharePoint 2010 (all editions) Microsoft Office SharePoint Server (MOSS) 2007

Although Microsoft Dynamics CRM supports Microsoft SharePoint 2010 and Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007, SharePoint 2010 offers additional features by also installing the Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 List Component for Microsoft SharePoint Server 2010. With this list component installed, you get the following benefits:

The document management interface in Microsoft Dynamics CRM will mirror the rest of the application by displaying a grid of documents. You can configure Microsoft Dynamics CRM and SharePoint to automatically create folders for your documents.

Without this list component, Microsoft Dynamics CRM displays SharePoint documents in an inline frame (IFrame), which works fine but doesn t match the look and feel of Microsoft Dynamics CRM. We will show an example of the list component later in this chapter. We won t go through the entire process of setting up the SharePoint integration because the Microsoft Dynamics CRM Implementation Guide covers this process in detail. However, we want to highlight a few key configuration parameters. You can access the Document Management configuration options by clicking the Document Management link in the Settings area of Microsoft Dynamics CRM. Next, click the Document Management Settings link. A dialog box opens and you can select the entities for which you want to enable document management, as shown in Figure 4-16.