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The Microsoft Dynamics CRM and Yammer Integration

Post Author: Joe D365 |

It was announced at YamJam'12 and made clear in the Microsoft Dynamics CRM Statement of Direction that CRM will have a much deeper integration with Yammer. This is really exciting news on many fronts. But it's most important to realize that most organizations will likely replace the current Activity Feeds capability with the expanding Yammer integration with Microsoft Dynamics CRM.

At PowerObjects, we've been using Yammer since 2011. Let us tell you a few reasons why we're so thrilled about the changes to come.

  1. Yammer attaches Microsoft Dynamics CRM supported processes to business conversations.

    At Yam Jam '12, Yammer announced the new Pages capability, which will allow for a Page to be created on any topic in Yammer (currently pages can be created only within Groups). Therefore the integration between Yammer and Microsoft Dynamics CRM will be able to create a page in Yammer when a record is created in CRM—whether it's an Opportunity, a Case, a Project, or something that is unique to your organization, you will be able to discuss it in Yammer. Conversations about that topic then have the possibility of occurring with people from all parts of the organization.

    Featured below is a screenshot from this great video on how all your business apps will work together for one social experience showing a customer service case created in another system and shown in the Yammer feed.
    CRM and yammer: activity feeds

  2. Yammer brings business conversations into Microsoft Dynamics CRM supported processes.

    Sending information from Microsoft Dynamics CRM to Yammer isn't just about notification—like, "there is a new opportunity". It's about an invitation to connect—do you know about this opportunity, case, event, or project? Do you have something to contribute to it? Do you have questions on it? Are there issues with it to discussion? You're invited to comment. Many organizations are finding this streamlines so many processes by allowing others to engage in unstructured conversation.

    And this gathered information then becomes a part of the structured and defined process when it is viewed in CRM within the CRM record. Even non-CRM users may comment on conversations Yammer, and that information will be viewable on the related CRM record.

    Featured below is a screenshot from the Statement of Direction showing the new process driven UI and how the Yammer conversation is embedded into the user experience.

    CRM and Yammer

  3. Yammer brings the focus back to people and teamwork.
    The common denominator of all this connecting, sharing, and collaborating is people. People help customers, people have valuable organizational information, and people share that information internally and externally. So posts to Yammer don't just say "a Case was opened". It says who opened the case--connecting the business process to the team member who is conducting it.

    The screenshots below also from the Statement of Direction feature the difference between a standard automated feed about and a people-focused feed.

    CRM and YammerCRM and Yammer

Yammer is a business application focused on the connecting and collaborating across teams and layers of an organization. Case study after case study shows how Yammer improves productivity and promotes company growth, saving time to resolve customer issues and bringing key people together to make decisions more quickly. By using Yammer integrated with Microsoft Dynamics CRM, organizations are bringing the power of structured processes into the power teamwork and collaboration.

Stay tuned in to the PowerObjects blog to gain more insights into the integration with Microsoft CRM and Yammer.

Happy CRM'ing!

Joe CRM
By Joe D365
Joe D365 is a Microsoft Dynamics 365 superhero who runs on pure Dynamics adrenaline. As the face of PowerObjects, Joe D365’s mission is to reveal innovative ways to use Dynamics 365 and bring the application to more businesses and organizations around the world.

7 comments on “The Microsoft Dynamics CRM and Yammer Integration”

  1. Interesting... where does this leave Activity Feeds? For people who have implemented Activity Feeds, will that transition be seamless or will rework be required? What the security model around posts - for example, I don't want the entire organization to know about that large opportunity - how do I make sure I can post to only a subset of people that I want to collaborate on the opportunity?

    1. Hi RC - My guess (good guess) is that activity feeds will eventualy go away. I'm sure someone will come up wiht a 'migration' utility to migrate posts from activity feeds to yammer. If not, let us know how bad you want to activity feeds and we can give you a ball park estimate. Now regarding security, yammer does have a very nice set of security features. You can create private groups, groups that are invite only, external groups, etc.

  2. Joe - question! Functionality only works with a PAID Yammer subscription? Or can it work with the free one? Thank you!

    1. Hi AMS - You need a paid yammer subscription to configure the integration.

  3. Hi Joe. Any idea why Yammer isn't supported in an on-premises deployment? Obviously, MS can't drop Activity Feeds until Yammer works in both environments. Do you think this deficiency will be corrected soon (like in the next few weeks, months or years)? Is there a way to play with it right now, even if unsupported?

    1. Hi - CRM on premises will get the Yammer integration with the Orion release. In fact, the Orion release in late summer 2013 will bring back parity between online and on prem so they will both have the same features.

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