I have been tasked with a Sales Force to BC 365 integration project. The requirements are not taht complex. There is no Data writing. Only 8 sales people being able to see their active sales orders , their status , and inventory levels of the items in their sales orders. II have to mention we are have on prem edition. We have been approached be a myriad of BC and SF consultants each offering their approach to the task ranging from full development utilizing java coding and batching data modifications (they did not understand - no edits) to utilizing SmartConnect - which is the architecture I support but is far too costly for the licensing. I have blue printed a solution utiolizing azure as the “middleware” and would like to get some feedback on this. The following is a snippett from the paper I presented to the stake holders. Can anyone tell me if they have had experience with BC to SF integration and if my thoutghts are a valid approach to this?
While conceptually SmartConnect was a viable choice to implement the architectural requirements of our company, it is not the recommended middleware selection that we feel allows us to reach our goals in a cost effective timely manner.
These above mentioned enitities (Sales orders, inventory etc) will be synchronized using Azure Logic Apps (Consumption Plan) with a Microsoft-supported On-Premises Data Gateway, replacing custom Apex logic with a configuration-driven, low-code model providing built-in retry, logging, and monitoring.
That way the Azure Apps model will provide real-time Operational Data Access, and not have us reliant on batchihng .
Our salesd people require real-time access for our Sales Force personnel to include:
· Inventory availability
· Customer-specific pricing
· Order status (holds, releases, shipments)
· Accurate quoting
· Accurate availability
· Live fulfillment visibility
I di inot want to get into the weeeds but merely gain insight into whether this is a viable, best practice solution .
Hi @Dale_Jones
Your Azure Logic Apps approach is the right call - real-time data, configuration-driven, no batch delays, exactly what your salespeople need.
Why it works:
Logic Apps + On-Prem Gateway is built for this. Microsoft-backed, cost-effective, and you own the architecture.
Why others fall short:
- Custom Java + batching → Stale data, high maintenance
- SmartConnect → Enterprise overkill for read-only access to 8 users
Since we started with BC, this is exactly what we’ve been helping clients do. Keep it simple, keep it real-time.
One tip: solid monitoring from day one (Logic Apps logging handles this well).
Happy to discuss specifics - data model, sync frequency, gateway setup. Feel free to reach out.
I would love to send you what I have composed for my company in direct opposition to a customized batching (stale data) java app. A company out of India was wanting Approximately 45K to basically give me a beta version with a mndatory 50 support clause - meaning an additional 12K And no set timeline. To reduce “Vendor-locck” and billable hours for java customization, I changed architecture and started to look at SmartConnect. Unbelievable licensing cost - about 21k a year , but a reduction in dev time billings. So I looked further and since we have the Azure licenses an we have on prem (my specialty is SQL server) I actually am now looking at a 19K turnkey for time and materials. I am a past full-time Micrososft Corporation employee and and reached out to a few of my past colleagues and they told me the architecture is solid and I broke down the “persession” costs and I do not think we will exceed 35 dollars a month. I have 6 sales people who just need to see sales info but have no BC on their systems. Anything you can show me or give me would be so welcomed. I am a Sr. Systems Analyst and any sucesses I have is directly attributed to including people smarter than me into my plans LOL If our IT departrment had evrything in order from our end - how many hours do you think it would take to implement datasets that should only include sales info and customer info and maybe inventory - and also the page/form views in Salesforce - roughly.
Hi @Dale_Jones
You nailed this. Logic Apps + On-Prem Gateway beats Java batching and SmartConnect’s licensing overhead every time for read-only access. Your $19K estimate is realistic.
Quick timeline (IT prerequisites handled):
-
BC OData/REST endpoint setup + Logic Apps connectors: 35-50 hours
-
Salesforce Lightning component config (display sales orders, inventory): 25-40 hours
-
Testing & monitoring: 15-20 hours
Total: 75-110 hours
One practical addition worth considering:
Build a simple BC REST API (using AL, takes 2–3 days) that wraps your sales order + inventory queries. Here’s the real benefit:
-
You control what SF sees, expose only the fields your 8 reps need, not raw BC tables
-
BC OData filtering is clunky for complex queries (customer-specific pricing, hold logic), your API handles it cleanly
-
Easier debugging, one endpoint vs. multiple Logic App flows
-
Your SQL expertise applies directly; this is just AL-wrapped queries sitting on BC
Logic Apps then calls your API instead of wrestling with OData filters. Cleaner, faster, maintainable.
Real questions for your setup:
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Are you using BC OData or direct SQL queries via the gateway?
-
Service account auth, or managed identity?
-
Do your sales reps need live data, or is 10–15 min acceptable?
This is a straightforward play. Happy to walk through the API architecture or Logic Apps specifics if you hit friction.
You’re delivering solid value here.
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