The best way to use DocMan to synchronise Security from Dynamics to SharePoint is two-fold:

(1) Correct use of Inheritance to ensure SharePoint Sites and Libraries mirror the hierarchy of records in Dynamics – more on this topic here.

(2) Unique Permissions where necessary are then managed by Teams

Looking at the second point, we can use DocMan to associate Teams to a specific Record in CRM that is using Unique Permissions for it’s Document Location in SharePoint.

We could specify the Users or Teams manually using the Access Team Tab of the DocMan Panel in CRM – but this adds a burden in defining the set of permissions for each record using Unique Permissions:

This burden can be managed by adding ‘Synch Fields’ that automatically map Lookup Fields from CRM to SharePoint – this initially can be as simple as mapping the standard Owner (‘ownerid’) field to ensure the Owner of the record in Dynamics is automatically granted access to the corresponding area in SharePoint, but we can configure these Synch Fields to configure any automatic mapping of Teams or Users to SharePoint Permissions.

We can configure a Sync Field by browsing to the Sync Fields area of the DocMan Security Configuration – this shows the list of Sync Fields defined in our instance of Dynamics CRM and DocMan.

We can add a new Sync Field here to specify a mapping of an existing CRM Lookup Field into SharePoint for any given Entity.

The addition of these Sync Fields will mean that any new ‘account’ record added to CRM that is specified to use Unique Permissions will automatically add the Users and Teams specified by the Lookup Fields indicated.

Initially this is very useful for ensuring default permissions are set in a new SharePoint Document Location where not inheriting from a Parent.

Defining our initial security in SharePoint based on the values in Dynamics:

This is useful in allowing us to detail the initial security from Fields in CRM that may themselves by automated to keep the Security Model consistent.

However when this is connected with Workflow in CRM this then becomes more powerful.

We can build standard Workflow Processes in CRM that set Lookup Fields to Teams at particular points in the Business Process to then flag the Documents Area to be shared with that Team. (or individual Users in smaller examples)

This gives us the tool the build processes that share Documents with Key Users at the right times to produce a flexible automated level of security between Dynamics and SharePoint.

If we combine Sync Fields with Inherited Permissions, this becomes more powerful as we can have our Top-Level Permissions defined at the Client or Project level and then have any areas underneath then inherit these permissions – so any changes to the Access Team via CRM Workflow will then automatically be replicated down through the Topology of Records and Document Locations between Dynamics and SharePoint, giving us complete control without becoming a maintenance overhead to keep the permissions in check.

This article builds on the concepts introduced in an earlier guide for Using DocMan to integrate Security from Dynamics to SharePoint.

For more information about DocMan generally, our mini-site gives a higher-level view of the functionality to being Dynamics and SharePoint together.

Find out more about DocMan here