The mysterious External Connector License

In the previous version of crm (3.0) the external connector license was already a very mysterious topic. There was always discussion why and when to use it or how to use it.

Guess nothing has changed :-) The license is still surrounded with a lot of discussion and confusion. The books about crm 4.0 only spend a small section about this license.

In general it's just a "key" nothing more or nothing less. There are two versions the full license and the read-only license and only available for Professional or Enterprise Edition of Microsoft CRM 4.0. You have to use it when you want to work directly with the data contained in de ms crm database.

The external license for 3.0 was pretty expensive, so there were some workarounds. At this moment the prices are reduced a lot compared to 3.0 versions and in most cases it's not worth the extra effort to create or build a workaround.

Nevertheless if you have issue with the use of this connector, just post it in the comments.

*** UPDATE ***

The basic rule is if the user hasn't a AD account you would need the external connector licences.

Also check Menno's post about this topic.

Comments

Conn said…
So does that mean that if I want to use Scribe to integrate GP, I'll have to buy the External Connector License?
Hi,

The GP users should be in AD, so in this case not.
Anonymous said…
But, do I need CRM licence. I am asking this for multiplexing issues. If someone is not CRM user (no CAL license) but he can edit Account data in GP. In next synchronisation schedule GP with CRM that action should update CRM. Acctualy he invoked this process.
Hi Vladimir,

The external connector is only for traffic from extern -> ms crm.

In this case you don't need it, but depending on how you connect to ms crm you probably need license for ms crm to communicate between GP and CRM.
Kamaldeep said…
I really dont see any use of CRM external connector..

Have been working wid ms crm from 3.0 version .. and my technical team easily able to connect the clients external website wd ms crm 3.0.. and now with ms crm 4.0 too...

so do i really need it??
Hi Kameldeep,

The connector is only software key and is no application or connector.

You would need it in scenario that you publish crm data to user who not exist in the AD.

Regards,

Friendlycrmonster
Massoud said…
Hi, It sure is a mystery. The question is this: are external users added to systemuser table, i.e. they are going to have roles and hence visibility rules applied when they access CRM data, or does an external app integrating with CRM would need to use a generic user account to access the API and do any filtering of data itself (rather than that implied by roles)?

If it is the latter, then there is no value in the external connector at all.

Regards