Rajeev Pentyala – Microsoft Power Platform

Last week there was a question on my blog to check for the options to build a Canvas App which consumes CRM on-premise data.

To answer this, Power Apps has connectors (CDS and Dynamics 365) to communicate with Dynamics online but there is no built-in Dynamics on-premise connector.

However there are options to connect Canvas app with Dynamics on-premise, which are listed below.

Using ‘Gateway’ to connect to SQL on-premise DB:

• This option is about connecting to Dynamics SQL DB using on-premises data gateway.
• The on-premises data gateway acts as a bridge to provide quick and secure data transfer between on-premises data PowerApps.
• Refer my blog on steps to use gateway and build a Canvas App.
• Limitation:
  • With ‘Gateway’ option we can only view Dynamics data in PowerApps.
  • There is no way to add or modify Dynamics data using the current PowerApps gateways.

Using ‘KingswaySoft’ connector:

• KingswaySoft SSIS Integration Toolkit for Dynamics 365 includes components to integrate with CDS.
• Using the ‘CDS Connection Manager’ we can easily connect and bring data into and out of CDS.
• Once data is in CDS, we will be able to leverage this data with PowerApps.
• Any updated data being generated with PowerApps will be reflected in CDS which can then be retrieved and synced with your Dynamics on-premise instance.

Integrate on-premise environment with the CDS:

• Its the same approach, ‘KingswaySoft’ connector leverages but this option is manual integration.
• Integrate the on premise environment with the CDS–in effect setting up a hybrid environment, where you have a copy of your configuration in the cloud as well as your on premise CRM, and create a bi-directional integration to synchronize data changes between the two environments.
• Limitation:
  • There will be potential delay for record changes to synchronize between the On-premise and CDS.

Refer the article for more details.

🙂