Salesforce-Microsoft Dynamics AX Integration
Direct integration between Salesforce and Microsoft Dynamics AX, so sales and finance work from the same customers, orders and invoices. Configured on screen with no programming, and supported by the people who built it.
Automate the quote to cash process
A lead starts in Salesforce and ends as a paid invoice in Dynamics AX. Rapidi carries each step across, so neither team re-keys what the other has already entered.
Send orders to Dynamics AX
At a trigger point you choose, such as the first accepted quote, Rapidi creates the customer, the contact and the sales order in Dynamics AX. The AX order number is written back to the opportunity.
Follow the order in Salesforce
A copy of the open sales order comes back to Salesforce under the opportunity or the account, and changes follow it. Once invoiced, it leaves the open orders and appears as a posted invoice.
See payments against invoices
Payments arrive as ledger entries, balanced against the matching invoices, so the customer balance and payment history are on the Salesforce account without switching systems.
What you can integrate
These tables are mapped in the standard template. You decide object by object whether each one runs one way or both, and any table can be integrated in any direction.
Salesforce
Direction
Dynamics AX
Accounts
Customers
Contacts
Contacts
Products
Items
Standard price list
Standard item prices
Opportunities
Sales orders
Sales orders
Sales orders
Payment history
Customer entries
Sales history
Booked invoices
Any object, standard or custom
Any table, standard or custom
Get the template
You start from the template built for this pair rather than a blank canvas. It is a predefined set of transfers, mapped on the fields most customers use, and designed to change as little as possible in Dynamics AX. Add a custom table or field on screen within minutes, and switch off the parts you do not need.
Integration features
Built for one pair of systems rather than assembled from a toolkit, and specified so a technical buyer can qualify it before the first call.
Pre-configured pair template
A template built for Salesforce and Dynamics AX specifically, not a generic connector you assemble yourself. Accounts, contacts, items, item prices, sales orders, booked invoices and customer entries are mapped before you start, with ready-made formulas included.
Per-object timing
Schedules you set, each running a group of transfers in the order you define: daily, hourly, every 10 minutes, every minute or triggered, depending on your subscription. You can create as many schedules and transfers as you need.
Reads over SQL, writes through web services
Rapidi writes to Dynamics AX through the AX web services, and reads straight from the AX SQL database, which is usually much faster. As a native SQL client it gets full transaction control and full SQL filter syntax.
Failed transfer reporting
When a transfer fails, for example on invalid source data or a dropped internet connection, Rapidi logs the error and emails you the message with a direct link to it. You set the rules for how and when you are told.
Reaches systems inside your network
Dynamics AX sits behind your firewall, on premises or in Azure. The RapidiConnector sits inside that network with it, so AX is never opened to the internet and your firewall needs only one outbound port.
Access with an AX user you set up
Rapidi signs in to the AX web services with NTLM, using a user ID, password and Windows domain you enter and control. Calls to the web services always run over SSL on port 443.
Built for Dynamics AX as you run it
The standard solution is designed to cause as little change in Dynamics AX as possible.
- Dynamics AX needs at most three extra fields, and only for the integrations you use: one on the customer table for the Salesforce account ID, one on sales lines for the order, and one on invoice lines for the invoice.
- If you run more than one company in AX, a Legal Entity picklist on the Salesforce account says which AX company the account belongs to.
- Writes to AX 2009 and AX 2012 R1, R2 and R3 go through the AIF web services, which must be installed. Check your Microsoft licence terms, as extra licences may be needed.
- AX 2018, now Dynamics 365 for Finance and Operations, normally connects over OData, with reading and writing, and one connection per AX company.
- Where AX tables carry no timestamps, Mirror still moves only new and changed records.
The eight most common integrations
The transfers most Salesforce and Dynamics AX customers start with, and why each one earns its place.
1. Account to Customer
An order has to be linked to a customer before it can be processed, and the account usually starts life as a lead in Salesforce. The usual direction is Salesforce to Dynamics AX, and it can run both ways so sales and finance both maintain the record.
2. Contact to Contact
Most AX set-ups need only a main finance contact, so this transfer is often limited. Contacts are master data and the hardest to keep clean, because people change role, employer and name. Never transfer data you do not implicitly trust.
3. Product to Item
If quotes are built in Salesforce, product data has to be there. Salesforce says products and AX says items, and the field labels differ too, so the mapping needs someone who knows both. It runs one way or both, depending on where new items are created.
4. Item price to Product price
The two systems price and discount differently. Dynamics AX pricing and discount models are converted into Salesforce price books, often including the currency dimension. Once the method is in place it is reusable.
5. Quote to Order
The quote in Salesforce becomes a sales order in Dynamics AX, so nobody types totals into one system and converts them in the other. Sales then works only in Salesforce, and you do not buy sales user licences for both systems.
6. Sales order to Sales order
The order syncs back so the account and opportunity show the full picture, and keeps syncing through order changes, part delivery, part invoicing and product substitutions.
7. Sales history
Booked invoices and credit memos move from Dynamics AX to Salesforce. An AX invoice has a header and lines, so this is several tables. In Salesforce, with its AI features, sales history is a valuable asset for charting predictive actions.
8. Payments
Ledger entries complete the quote to cash loop and show payment patterns and overdue amounts on the account. Useful to sales, useful to cash collection, and useful as a negotiation parameter on new deals.
Quick facts about the solution
| Feature | Description |
|---|---|
| Data transfer | Data is SSL encrypted, packed and compressed by the RapidiConnector, and sent in binary format. |
| Salesforce API and access | Rapidi is Salesforce certified, which lets you integrate Salesforce Pro Suite without buying Salesforce API access. |
| UPSERT | Rapidi can write to Salesforce with UPSERT, 200 records in one API call instead of one call per record. |
| Dynamics AX API and access | Web Services for write, SQL Client for read. |
| Security | Encryption follows the current TLS standards, TLS 1.2 and TLS 1.3 preferred. |
| IP address and firewall | No fixed IP addresses, and no inbound ports opened on your firewall. |
| RapidiConnector | Connects Dynamics AX with your Rapidi service, then compresses, packs and SSL encrypts the data. |
| Read design | One click reads the database design, so every table and field, metadata included, is available for mapping. |
| Data mapping | Any table or field. Field lists, filters, sub transfers such as sales header and lines in one transaction, and tags to reuse a mapping. |
| StoreNewID | Writes the key one system assigns back to the record in the other. The Customer No. AX gives a new customer goes back to the Salesforce account in the same transaction. |
| New or modified data only | Changes only where tables carry timestamps, and Mirror where they do not, so only new and changed data moves. |
| Transfer frequency | Daily, hourly, 10 minutes, 1 minute, or triggered, depending on subscription level. |
| Schedules | A schedule runs a group of transfers, with the order, the frequency and the notification rules you set. |
| Advanced data toolbox | Excel-syntax formulas to align formats and field structures. Ready-made formulas ship in the standard templates. |
| Log and notification | Rapidi records detailed information about every schedule and transfer, and no customer data. |
| AI agent | Albert, the Rapidi AI agent, assists with your integration setup and can perform tasks on it. |
Get the fact sheet
The Salesforce and Microsoft Dynamics AX integration on 6 pages: the key benefits, the object map with directions, the supported versions and the technical quick facts.
One short form, the PDF on the next page.
Security and deployment
Your systems are never exposed to the outside world.
- The RapidiConnector sits inside your network, on premises or in Azure, next to Dynamics AX. It compresses, packs and encrypts data before it leaves.
- Encryption follows the current TLS standards, TLS 1.2 and TLS 1.3 preferred. You can use your own SSL certificate.
- One outbound port. No fixed IP addresses, and no inbound ports opened on your firewall.
- Data is processed end point to end point in memory, with no intermediate storage. No customer data is stored on any Rapidi server, and configuration data is stored encrypted.
- Rapidi monitors your setup and contacts you when a server stops responding or invalid data is being exchanged.
- The connector protocol strips metadata and sends compressed binary, cutting data volume by up to a factor of 50: roughly 20 bytes per customer record instead of 1000.
What our customers say about Rapidi
What we support
Salesforce editions
Starter Suite, Pro Suite with API access included, Enterprise, Unlimited and Einstein 1. Rapidi is Salesforce certified and Lightning Ready.
Dynamics AX versions
AX 2009, AX 2012 R2 and R3, AX 2016 and Microsoft Dynamics 365. Older versions can be supported with a custom configuration.
Deployment types
Dynamics AX on premises or in an Azure instance you control, through the RapidiConnector. Dynamics 365 for Finance and Operations hosted by Microsoft connects over OData.
Dynamics AX data inside Salesforce
The Rapidi Sales History App puts posted invoices, customer ledger entries and, with its add-on, open sales orders from Dynamics AX on the Salesforce account. Sales people drill into orders and history, look up accurate pricing and see the main sales KPIs without leaving the CRM.
The app is unmanaged, so you can customise it, and the history can be linked to other objects such as the opportunity. Roll-up summary fields calculate totals like sales this financial year without running a report.
Rated by the people who run it
Scores from the review sites your own procurement team will check.
4.95
Salesforce AppExchange
out of 5, from 62 reviews
4.8
G2
out of 5, from 5 reviews
5.0
Capterra
out of 5, from 5 reviews
Customer success stories
See what our customers have to say
Two companies running Salesforce alongside Microsoft Dynamics AX, one supplying US healthcare and one supplying French swimming pools.
Integration specialists since 1987
Rapidi is data integration and replication software for Microsoft Dynamics, Salesforce and HubSpot. Microsoft partner since 1987 and Salesforce partner since 2007, with 56 documented connectors and integration and replication in the same product. The company builds the templates, runs the support, and answers the phone.
Frequently asked questions
Which Salesforce editions and Dynamics AX versions does the integration support?
Salesforce Starter Suite, Pro Suite, Enterprise, Unlimited and Einstein 1. On the AX side, AX 2009, AX 2012 R2 and R3, AX 2016 and Microsoft Dynamics 365. Older AX versions can be supported with a custom configuration.
Do we have to buy Salesforce API access?
No. Rapidi is Salesforce certified, so a Pro Suite organisation can be integrated without buying Salesforce API access separately.
What data does the standard template move?
Accounts to customers, contacts, products to items, standard item prices to the Salesforce price list, opportunities to sales orders, sales orders back to Salesforce, customer entries as payment history, and booked invoices as sales history. Any other table, standard or custom, can be added in any direction.
Does the data move both ways?
Yes, where you want it to. You decide table by table whether a transfer is one way or both. Rapidi writes to Dynamics AX through the AX web services and reads from the AX SQL database.
Can one Salesforce org serve several AX companies?
Yes. A Legal Entity picklist on the Salesforce account says which AX company each account belongs to. It is only needed if you run more than one company in AX.
How often does the data sync?
On schedules you set: daily, hourly, every 10 minutes, every minute or triggered, depending on the subscription plan.
Do we need to open our firewall for Dynamics AX?
No. The RapidiConnector sits inside your network and uses one outbound port, with no fixed IP addresses and no inbound ports. Traffic is encrypted with TLS 1.2 or 1.3.
What has to change in Dynamics AX?
Very little. Up to three extra fields hold the Salesforce IDs, on the customer, sales line and invoice line tables, and only for the integrations you use. Writing needs the AIF web services installed, and extra Microsoft licences may apply.
Is our data stored on Rapidi servers?
No. Data is processed end point to end point in memory, with no intermediate storage. No customer data is stored on any Rapidi server, configuration data is stored encrypted, and the logs hold no customer data.
Does the sales team need a Dynamics AX licence?
Usually not. Sales works in Salesforce, the order goes to Dynamics AX through the integration, and the Sales History App shows invoices and payments on the account, so most users do not need both licences.
Ready to connect Salesforce and Dynamics AX?
Tell us your Salesforce edition, your Dynamics AX version and how many AX companies you run, and we will tell you plainly what the template covers and what it costs.