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Microsoft Dynamics Integration

Connect Backstory to Microsoft Dynamics.

The Backstory: Your sales data lives in Microsoft Dynamics, but the insights you want from Backstory depend on that data being available to analyze. Rather than exporting records or maintaining a separate copy of your CRM, you connect Backstory directly to your Dynamics instance so it can read the accounts, contacts, and opportunities you already track.

The Microsoft Dynamics integration connects Backstory to your Microsoft Dynamics CRM so it can read your sales data, including accounts, contacts, and opportunities. It works by creating a dedicated application user in your Dynamics environment with read-only access to a specific set of tables. This lets Backstory analyze your CRM data while keeping access tightly scoped and secure.

Note: Setting up this integration requires a Microsoft 365 administrator account and a Backstory administrator account.

Grant Authorization to Backstory

Follow these steps to connect Backstory to your Dynamics environment.

  1. Log into Backstory as an administrator.

  2. Click the grid icon in the top left corner.

  3. Select Admin Panel.

  4. In the left navigation menu under CRM Sync, click CRMs.

  5. In the top right corner, click + Add Integrations.

  6. Select Microsoft Dynamics.

  7. Enter a name for your CRM integration in the Display Name field. This name will help you identify your CRM in your Backstory CRMs page.

  8. Enter your Dynamics 365 Organization Name in the Host Name field. You can locate your Dynamics 365 Organization Name in the Power Platform admin center. See instructions here. The Organization Name is typically formatted like youruniquename.crm.dynamics.com.

  9. Click Launch Dynamics.

  10. The Microsoft authorization window will open. Review the requested permissions and click Accept.

  11. You will return to the authorization check window. Click Next.

  12. The integration wizard will open. Continue to the next section to create a security role.

Create a Security Role

Create a dedicated security role for the Backstory application user.

  1. Sign in to the Microsoft Power Platform admin center.

  2. Select Manage on the navigation pane.

  3. On the Manage pane, select Environments and then select an environment.

  4. On the command bar, select Settings.

  5. Expand Users + permissions and select Security roles.

  6. On the command bar, select + New role to access the Create New Role panel.

  7. Fill out the required fields.

  8. Accept the default Member's privilege inheritance setting, which is Direct User (Basic) access level and Team privileges. Learn more about the Member's privilege inheritance setting in Security roles and privileges.

  9. To use the new role to run model-driven apps, accept the default Include App Opener privileges for running Model-Driven apps setting, which is set to On.

  10. Click Save.

Grant Table Privileges

Grant the Backstory security role read access to the Dynamics tables required for the integration.

  1. Open the security role you created in the Microsoft Power Platform admin center.

  2. In the Tables tab, grant Read Access to the following tables and all of its fields:

    • Systemuser

    • Account

    • Contact

    • Teammember

    • Team

    • Opportunity

    • Opportunitysalesprocess

    • Processstage

    • Connection

    • Connectionrole

    • Transactioncurrency

    • Organization

    • Position

    • Audit

  3. In the Miscellaneous privileges tab, add the following privileges so the role can access the Audit table:

    • prvReadRecordAuditHistory

    • prvReadAuditSummary

  4. Click Save.

Create the Application User

Create an application user in Dynamics and assign the security role you created.

  1. In the Microsoft Power Platform admin center, navigate to the environment settings.

  2. Select Users + permissions, and then select Application users.

  3. Select + New app user to open the Create a new app user pane.

  4. Select Backstory Dynamics Connector from the App dropdown.

  5. Set the Business unit to the CRM where you are creating the user.

  6. Select the security role you created earlier.

  7. Click Save.

  8. Return to the Backstory Dynamics integration wizard.

  9. Check I have created an application user in Microsoft Dynamics.

  10. Click Next.

Test the Integration

After you create the security role and application user, test the connection to verify that Backstory can access your Dynamics data.

  1. In the Backstory Dynamics integration wizard, click Test Connection.

  2. Backstory will test the integration with Dynamics.

  3. If the test is successful, continue to the next section, Enable Sync.

If the test is unsuccessful, Backstory displays information about the issue. Address the issue and run the test again. If you are unable to successfully test the connection, contact support@backstory.ai.

Enable Sync

After successfully testing the connection, enable data sync to begin importing data from Dynamics into Backstory.

  1. In the Backstory Dynamics integration wizard, click Enable Data Sync. This prompts Backstory to begin pulling data from your CRM.

  2. You will be redirected to the Dynamics integration page in Backstory.

Your Microsoft Dynamics integration is now complete.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why does Backstory need a dedicated security role?

A dedicated security role keeps Backstory's access tightly scoped to the tables it needs. Using a separate role rather than an existing one makes the integration easier to audit and manage.

What level of access does Backstory have to my CRM?

Backstory is granted read-only access to a specific set of tables. It does not write to or modify any records in your Dynamics instance, unless you specifically enable it.

Need Help?

Contact your Customer Success Manager or support@backstory.ai.

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