How to Use Drag & Drop and Metadata for Dynamics 365 CE for Better Document Management

We're excited to announce the launch of our latest Dynamics 365 Customer Engagement (CE) add-on: Drag & Drop and Metadata for Dynamics 365 CE! This practical tool is designed for companies that use the SharePoint integration in Dynamics 365. It streamlines document management within your CRM, saving you time and effort.

Drag & Drop and Metadata for Dynamics 365 CE transforms the document management experience with a custom grid that enables new functionality and enhances existing one.

Here's what you can expect:

• Metadata for Enhanced Organization: Users can edit each document’s managed metadata directly within Dynamics 365 instead of having to go to SharePoint and enter the metadata there. Managed metadata can include tags, categories, or any other information your organization feels will help categorize documents.
• Drag & Drop for Effortless Uploads: You can drag and drop documents directly from your folders into the intuitive grid, making it straightforward to upload large amounts of documents. You can upload any number of files and any type of file as long as each file is under 50MB.

It is important to note that if the user switches to SharePoint for each managed metadata property he needs to enter, this switch will take him a little over 2 seconds - for each property and each file. This is what a Harvard Business Review study calls the Toggling Tax. Additionally, it is more likely that the user does not follow the standard operating procedure to complete the workflow, filling in the necessary metadata because of the need to switch.

Drag & Drop and Metadata for Dynamics 365 CE eliminates these issues altogether. A new Edit metadata button becomes available, which opens the Update managed metadata window with the specific metadata your company is using.

Here's why you'll love Drag & Drop and Metadata for Dynamics 365 CE:

• Improved Efficiency: Searching with the improved organization through metadata is much easier. Drag & Drop and Metadata for Dynamics 365 CE facilitates entering managed metadata, and the more metadata is entered, the easier (and faster) it is to retrieve documents through search. Your team will find the documents they need, when they need them, without any hassle.
• Effortless User Adoption: Both the entering of metadata and the drag-and-drop functionality feel familiar and user-friendly, minimizing training time and maximizing user satisfaction.
• Increased Productivity: Not switching back and forth between SharePoint and Dynamics to enter metadata frees up valuable time. Plus, finding documents faster will allow your team to focus on core business activities.
• Enhanced Decision Making: Precise categorization and tagging ensure document searchability and accessibility, ultimately leading to better data-driven decision making.

There are two main aspects to consider before you can reap the benefits of using the managed metadata editor that we pointed out in the previous section:

1. Understand Managed Metadata: Managed metadata involves using a taxonomy or controlled terms to tag content systematically. This metadata helps organizations improve content findability, manage retention policies, and maintain better control over how information is categorized across their SharePoint environment.
2. Create a Taxonomy: Begin by creating the managed data you need for classification in SharePoint. This taxonomy should reflect the structure and requirements of your organization. This may include terms related to departments, data sensitivity, data type, or any other relevant categories.

There is an immediate advantage of the Drag & Drop and Metadata for Dynamics 365 CE: its ability to streamline document retrieval. By enabling users to add detailed SharePoint managed metadata directly in Dynamics 365 CE, it becomes much easier for the whole team to categorize documents. The integration with Dynamics 365 ensures that metadata updates are seamless, reflecting immediately in SharePoint.

You can even quickly add metadata tags right after dragging and dropping your documents. Having the documents properly categorized makes a world of difference when it comes to finding a document.

Imagine you're searching for a contract tied to a specific project or client; with the right tags, it's a matter of seconds instead of minutes or even longer, allowing for instantaneous search capabilities across platforms.

This solution empowers users to maintain a high level of organization with minimal effort. Users can then harness the full potential of search filters, using metadata tags to narrow down results and pinpoint the exact files they need. This efficiency not only saves time but also accelerates data-driven decisions by having critical information readily accessible.

The other area where managed properties can be used is compliance, namely in the implementation of retention policies. As you might know, retention labels can be applied to SharePoint content on different levels: document library, folder, or file level. For this use case, we are focusing on how you can automatically apply those retention labels based on metadata.

For that, you would need to use Managed Metadata and use that Managed Metadata in a formula within the Microsoft Purview Compliance Manager. Let’s see how that works.

Using managed metadata to define retention policies in Microsoft Purview involves organizing, categorizing, and governing data with a structured approach, often by leveraging metadata for consistent data management and compliance. Here’s a general guide on how you can achieve this:

1. Tagging Content: It all begins with tagging your documents with managed metadata. Our metadata editor helps in getting more tagging done and with more accuracy. For example, you can have a lookup list to ensure that users apply a tag consistently.
2. Define and Automate Retention Policies: With your content tagged using managed metadata, you can create retention policies based on these tags. In Microsoft Purview, you can define policies that automatically apply actions such as deletion or archival after a certain period, depending on the metadata tags associated with the content.
3. Monitor and Review: Regularly monitor the effectiveness of your retention policies. Review metadata tagging for accuracy and ensure that retention policies still comply with regulatory requirements and organizational needs.

By leveraging managed metadata in Microsoft Purview, you can effectively structure, manage, and enforce retention policies, helping maintain compliance and operational efficiency across your organization’s data assets.

If you keep your Dynamics 365 CE documents in SharePoint, you can reach the next level of efficiency and organization by using Drag & Drop and Metadata for Dynamics 365 CE:

• Categorization is effortless, making search more efficient
• Upload of any number of documents is easy and fast

Ready to revolutionize your document management in Dynamics 365 CE? Contact Connecting Software today to learn more about Drag & Drop and Metadata for Dynamics CE and how it can transform your CRM experience.