Enterprise Integration

Dynamics 365 + ArcGIS Online.
Connected.

We built the integration that neither vendor offers. Governed bidirectional synchronization between Microsoft Dynamics 365 CE and ESRI ArcGIS Online. Running in production for five years.

The Problem

Two Platforms. No Bridge.

Organizations that run both Dynamics 365 and ArcGIS Online face the same problem. Office teams manage operations, scheduling, and program records in Dynamics 365. Field teams execute work orders, capture inspections, and update asset conditions in ArcGIS tools like Workforce, Survey123, and Field Maps. The two systems do not talk to each other.

The result is predictable. Someone spends hours every day copying data between systems by hand. Records drift out of sync. Failed updates disappear without a trace. Field activity never makes it back to the business system, and office decisions never reach the people doing the work.

Neither Microsoft nor ESRI offers an off-the-shelf connector that solves this. There is no product you can buy and install. If you want these platforms to operate as one system, someone has to build it.

We did.

The Solution

Governed Bidirectional Synchronization

Not a simple field mirror. A controlled integration layer that translates, validates, sequences, and recovers across both platforms.

Office Side
Dynamics 365 CE
  • Program Management
  • Work Orders & Scheduling
  • Asset Records
  • Status Tracking
  • Reporting & KPIs
Integration Layer
Direct Writes
Queue / Controller
Retry · Media
Status Cascade
Field Side
ArcGIS Online
  • Workforce Assignments
  • Survey123 Inspections
  • Field Maps Capture
  • Geospatial Features
  • Photo & Evidence

Outbound changes from Dynamics 365 are written directly to ArcGIS feature layers in real time. Inbound updates from ArcGIS are staged through a queue and processed by a controller every 15 minutes, with full retry and error recovery. The split architecture was designed after an earlier approach proved unreliable under real operating conditions.

Data in Motion

What Flows Between Platforms

Work Orders & Tasks
Field Assignments
Asset Inspections
Location & Geospatial Data
Status Updates & Cascading
Images & Evidence
Engineering Challenges

The Hard Problems Nobody Warns You About

01
What happens when ArcGIS writes data before Dynamics 365 has finished processing?

Timing and sequencing failures are invisible until they corrupt your data. An earlier outbound design queued records for ArcGIS processing, but real-world latency meant transactions were recorded before they were available. We replaced the queue-based outbound model with direct writes and built the inbound path around a controlled queue/controller pattern that respects processing order.

02
How do you keep two systems in sync when neither was designed to talk to the other?

This is not a field-to-field copy. Every record that crosses the boundary requires option-set translation, relationship binding, parent-child sequencing, and identifier propagation back to the source system. A new value added to a dropdown in one system will break the integration if the mapping logic is not updated. We built the translation layer that handles all of it.

03
What happens when a sync fails at 2am?

The previous state had no retry mechanism and no error log. Failed transmissions were simply lost, and the two systems would drift apart with no way to know what was missing. We built automatic retry scheduling, failure resubmission flows, and monitoring so that transient failures recover on their own and persistent failures are surfaced before anyone notices the data is wrong.

Results

Five Years. Zero Downtime.

Built for a state Department of Transportation's directional signing and asset management program.

5+
Years in Production
34
Runtime Components
1 FTE
Manual Resource Eliminated
15 min
Sync Cycle

The integration replaced a full-time staff resource that was manually copying data between systems every day. It has operated continuously through platform updates, tenant migrations, and organizational changes without requiring a rebuild.

The Bigger Picture

This Is the Depth Behind Everything We Build

Whether it is a vibe-coded platform shipped in days or a complex multi-system integration running for years, the same architectural discipline applies. We understand enterprise platforms, government compliance, field operations, and the messy reality of keeping production systems running. That experience is what makes the speed possible.

Running Dynamics 365 and ArcGIS?

We should talk. Tell us what your teams need connected and we will tell you what it takes.


Or call us directly: 703.996.3037