Background
We were upgrading our ClickDimensions solution from v.9.6 to 9.10 on a Dynamics 365 On-Premise v.8.2.1. Looking at the release notes from ClickDimensions, it did not seem like a burdensome task. Mostly improvements to the existing functionality and of course a bug fix that we have been waiting for a long time: The Email field also changed to “Do not allow” when a contact/account/lead opted-out to our newsletters.
This meant that suddenly we were not able to send any e-mails to those people at all. This took a few releases to get fixed, but finally the day had come where that was fixed.
Process
For updating the ClickDimensions solution we always choose the semi-automatic method. This means that we decide ourselves when we upgrade to a newer version, but at the same time just click on a button to set things in motion. Then the upgrade runs on the background and it sends an email to the chosen email address when the upgrade is done. Simple as that! 🙂
There are also 2 other methods you can choose to upgrade your solution with: Manual and Automatic.
Problem
Upgrade went smoothly and within 10 minutes our new and improved solution was ready to use. Thereafter we tested the system to see if everything also worked as it did before or better. This did not go that smoothly. Although all primary functions were in place and working as should, we found out that when qualifying a lead that had ClickDimensions data on it, did not transfer the data to the newly created contact. That is a big issue!
In the start, the issue seemed to affect all users also the System Administrators, but after a bit more testing it gave us constant problems with only regular users. By regular users I mean all users that don’t have a System Administrator or similar role.
Solution
Trying to Google for a solution did not give many answers, but it did point me to the right track. I found a support feed on ClickDmensions webpage where there was another user with the same issue. Unfortunately, there was never reported a real fix to the problem. It did give me the idea of looking deeper into the plugins triggered by ClickDimensions, when creating a new contact record in CRM.
To see how the plugins are triggered, I looked into the Plugin Registration Tool, found either in the XrmToolBox or under tools when downloading the Dynamics 365 SDK file.
I opened the Create Contact plugin and saw that it is running as the Current user logged into the CRM system. This also makes sense and is all-good, but clearly also causing the trouble for us.
First, I followed the advice I saw from the ClickDimensions feed and changed the plugin to run Asynchronously. This did not have any affect. Thereafter, I changed the plugin to always run as the System Administrator. Heureka!
This made the data come over to the newly created contact record for all users. And at the same time, not give them more privileges to things they should not play with. I do know that this is more a quick fix, rather than a solution to the issue we were having, but this does give me more time to figure out the issue, while users can still use the system.
Conclusion
In the start, running the plugin as System Administrator, was just a temporary fix for us. But after consulting with ClickDimensions we figured out that all users qualifying leads should have ClickDimensions privileges, to make sure all data follows correctly.
We have a lot of salespeople that have never worked with ClickDimensions before and instead of giving them privileges to something they won’t use, we just keep running the plugin as system admin. So far so good!