A Dynamics 365 partner can access its clients Dynamics 365 online without consuming a customer’s Dynamics 365 license. In theory, this is expected, but in reality, it takes a few steps to see it in action. Microsoft is still working out the multiple tenant access capability, especially for Dynamics 365 as it can get complicated with its use of browser cookies.
A Dynamics 365 partner can have delegated admin access to a company in 3 ways:
- A Partner sends a link to the customer with the delegated admin offer; the customer will need to accept and sign in with their Office 365 credentials.
- A Partner sends the customer a purchase offer link with delegated admin selected as part of the offer; the customer will need to sign up for the offer and accept being a delegated admin.
- A Partner sends a Dynamics 365 trial option link; the trial link includes the delegated admin offer which would need to the accepted by the prospect.
The steps involved are:
The delegated admin offer/trial link can be sent from the partner admin center:
The link will take you to partner center where the unique URL will be generated for you to send to your customer:
Once the customer accepts the permissions for their Office 365 tenant then you, as a partner, can administer and login into the customers Office 365 services. You can access all your customers and their delegated admin links from your partner center page. In the Partner Center, you can see a list of all your clients, see the services for which you can administer, their product usage, and billing information.
The Administer services link for CRM Online/Dynamics 365 will take you the customer’s Dynamics 365 admin page, and from there you can open the CRM URL. It will log in as the delegated admin user. The Delegated Admin user already has the System Administrator CRM role, so you will have complete access without using up a license key. You can also use external tools like XrmToolBox with the customers CRM URL and log in with your partner credentials.
As a user in the partner organization, you will also need the appropriate privilege to be able to administer customer tenants. Your user permission in Office 365 will also need to be enabled for administrative access to companies you support and full administration along with it.
The only issue I have found is that within the same browser session you are unable to access multiple customer Dynamics 365 tenants. Also, if you log into your Dynamics 365 tenant, then you will not be able to login into your customer’s Dynamics 365. I hope Microsoft is working to resolve this issue.
This Delegated Admin Access is the ideal way for partners to access their customers Dynamics 365 instance without using up customer licenses.
DAVE VORA | Senior Business Software Consultant/ CRM Lead
Dave is responsible for leading KTL’s CRM consultants, assuring that our solution scoping, architecting and delivery meet and exceed customer expectations. Dave has built lasting relationships with clients by understanding their business needs and providing value by leveraging their existing resources. Along with his consulting team, he has delivered effective solutions beyond traditional CRM constraints. Dave has more than eight years of experience in implementing business software for a variety of industries, including service, government, distribution, not-for-profit and manufacturing. He graduated with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Computer Science and also a specialization in Management from University of California at Irvine. His experience includes helping companies embrace technology to fulfill their organizational needs and creating innovative solutions using CRM, GP, Scribe and other Microsoft products.
