Integration of Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2015 as an External Content Type in SharePoint 2013

Open your SharePoint site in SharePoint Designer. Click on External Data Type. You will get the following message if the Business Data Connectivity (BDC) Service is not started on the SharePoint Farm.



Create a BDC Service, start it and again open the site in SharePoint designer.



Click on External Content Type (ECT) and choose to create a new ECT.



Provide a Name, Display Name, select the Item Type as Generic List and click on External System.



You need to create a Data Connection. Click on Add Connection and choose SQL Server from the Data Source Type Selection drop down.



You will be asked the SQL Server name and authentication information.



Specify these and click OK. I am choosing Connect with User's identity, but an ideal way is to create a Secure Store Application ID in SharePoint and use it for this connection. If all goes well, you should be able to connect to CRM Tables, Views and Routines.


The ideal way is to use Views for the read operation since we don't want to directly use data from the tables. For this demo purpose I am choosing a view related to Contacts. Here is a reason why FilteredViews should be used.



Follow the procedure to create this operation. First provide a name.



Add Filter.



Choose the Columns.



You can get an error as in the following if the threshold limit is exceeded.



So select only columns that are really required.



Click on Finish.

Similarly create a Read Item Operation.



Our ECT to CRM data is ready. Now we can test in designer if we can create a External List.
Click on “Create Lists and Forms” and enter the details.



Click OK. If all goes well, you will see the List created under Lists and Libraries.



You will see the same in your SharePoint Site -> Site Contents.



You can now use this CRM Account Data in SharePoint depending on your business needs.