Multitenancy for ExactTarget for Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0

Installing in a Multitenant Environment

The ExactTarget installer allows you to choose an initial organization to install to.  However, you have the ability to enable ExactTarget for Microsoft Dynamics CRM on additional Dynamics CRM organizations using the Configuration Editor. 

The initial install of the ExactTarget integration for Dynamics CRM will present you with a window that allows you to pick the CRM organization that receives the initial installation.

After selecting the initial organization, ExactTarget for Microsoft Dynamics CRM is enabled for that organization only.  The CRM customizations are deployed only to that organization as well.  The connector service and custom web files needed for the integration are available on the web server, but they actively run only for the initially specified organization.

After installation, use the ExactTarget Configuration Editor to enable the integration on additional organizations:

1. Click Start.
2. Select All Programs.
3. Select ExactTarget.
4. Select ExactTarget Configuration to open the editor.
5. Choose an organization from the list of available organizations on the left.
6. Activate the ExactTarget for Microsoft Dynamics CRM by clicking the Enable button at the bottom of the utility.

If you want to stop using ExactTarget for Microsoft Dynamics CRM for a particular organization, select that organization and click Disable.

Sharing Service Users Across Organizations

The same Active Directory User needs to be used when enabling the ExactTarget integration on additional organizations.  However, in order to keep the tracking data returned to Dynamics CRM correct across organizations, you need to use a different ExactTarget API user per organization.

If you forgot which Active Directory user you used to install the integration on the initial organization, you can find this out by going to Windows Services, opening up the ExactTargetMSCRMConnector service, and navigating to the Log On tab.

This Active Directory user must exist in the additional Dynamics CRM organizations with the appropriate security role and privileges needed for the integration.

Installing Multiple ExactTarget Connectors

ExactTarget allows you to install the integration connector service on multiple servers.  This allows you to spread the workload for sending and receiving data between Dynamics CRM and ExactTarget and thus makes the solution very scalable.

First, run the ExactTarget installer on the additional servers.  The server does not need to have Dynamics CRM installed on it.  However, if Dynamics CRM is not installed, you'll need to provide additional information to the installer in order to successfully complete the install.  This includes the Dynamics CRM server name and the database server name.

When selecting what components to install, choose Connector Only and click Next to proceed.

After installing the connector service once on the additional server, go into the ExactTarget Configuration Editor and enable additional organizations on this server.  This action directs sends and tracking data through the connector service installed on the server for those enabled organizations.