Migrating Microsoft Dynamics to the cloud and, on that basis, integrating it with your e-commerce platform is not “just another project”: it’s the lever to standardize data, accelerate operations, and gain resilience.
Order matters. First, make Dynamics 365 cloud-ready; then connect your store (Shopify, WooCommerce, Adobe Commerce, BigCommerce) with clear processes and metrics. This way, you’ll avoid technical debt, production surprises, and unnecessary downtime.
Why migrate Dynamics to the cloud before integrating your store
Microsoft is clear: if you’re coming from on-premises, evaluate compatibility, security, authentication, and integration so your solution is cloud-ready.
The migration requires validations and prerequisites, and may involve reviewing or replacing outdated or unsupported customizations.
In addition, when moving to the cloud, you must anticipate changes in latency, service protection limits, and license capacity. All of this affects how integrations with your online channel are designed and operated.
Operational translation: migrating first saves rework. You prepare the data model, the authentication scheme, and confirm that extensions and patterns are cloud-ready.
Only then should you connect the e-commerce platform using a connector or hub that abstracts protocols and provides observability.
What to integrate between Dynamics and e-commerce (and in what order)
Not all synchronizations carry the same risk/return ratio. A typical order for retail/distribution in LATAM:
- Inventory and orders. The heart of the online business: prevent overselling and trigger fulfillment/finance processes. The ecosystem documents real-time integrations between Dynamics 365 ↔ e-commerce for inventory and orders.
- Customers and addresses. For consistent recognition and service across all channels.
- Catalog, pricing, and taxes. Once deltas and mappings are stable, synchronize SKUs/attributes and pricing rules.
- RMA and shipment statuses. For post-sale processes, with events that feed notifications and dashboards.
Common platforms include Shopify, Adobe Commerce (Magento), BigCommerce, and WooCommerce, all integrated with Dynamics in market implementations.
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Reference Architecture (in words)
iPaaS layer as a hub: connectors to Dynamics 365 (Business Central/Finance), your e-commerce platform, and — if applicable — WMS/CRM; field transformation and mapping; queues and retries; observability (logs, metrics, alerts).
Reliable endpoints:
- Dynamics 365 as the financial and operational source of truth.
- E-commerce for catalog, cart, checkout, promotions, and customer experience.
Security and access management: centralize authentication/authorization and review encryption in transit/at rest according to your policies. Microsoft recommends identifying data categories, flows, locations, and encryption before and after migration, and adapting authentication/integrations for the cloud.
Migration and Integration Plan in 10 Steps (Practical Guide)
- Data and compatibility assessment: Before moving anything, verify data quality and model design; evaluate extensions, integrations, and deprecated/unsupported components that could impact cloud security or performance.
- Cloud-ready authentication and integration strategy: Adapt how peripheral apps authenticate and connect to operate in the cloud (Entra ID/OAuth2, API policies, limits).
- Check prerequisites: In Business Central, Microsoft requires verifying prerequisites before running the migration wizard.
- Do not migrate over an active production environment: Microsoft warns this could overwrite critical business data; prepare a controlled environment.
- Approval and licensing: If a delegated admin runs the setup, it requires approval from a licensed user with appropriate permissions.
- Cloud Migration Setup (assisted): Sign in to Microsoft 365/Entra ID and Business Central online; run the wizard, choose the source product, define the SQL connection (on-premises or Azure SQL), and follow the steps until selecting companies to migrate.
- Self-Hosted Integration Runtime (if applicable): Install/register the integration runtime to replicate data from on-prem SQL Server; the connection string is encrypted and passed via Azure Data Factory.
- Table/field mappings: Define table mappings to rename tables or move subsets of fields during migration; this helps align structures with what your e-commerce expects to receive.
- Capacity and performance: Consider tenant storage capacity and plan for latency and service protection limits that will affect your workflows.
- Phased cutover + observability: Run a pilot (limited companies), measure latency and errors, activate retries, and move to production with runbooks and alerts.
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Specific Best Practices for E-commerce Integration
- Real-time inventory and orders. Integrations with Dynamics 365 Business Central synchronize inventory, orders, customers, and prices in real time — preventing duplication and reducing errors.
- Consistent catalog and pricing. Ensure a single source of attributes, variants, and price lists; apply mappings in the hub to maintain rules by country/region without duplicating logic. (Microsoft documents these mappings in the migration process.)
- Frequent platforms. Shopify, Adobe Commerce (Magento), BigCommerce, and WooCommerce appear as integration-ready options in industry sources.
- Third-party reference cases. WebSell describes scenarios of data centralization, real-time inventory, and order processing when integrating e-commerce with Dynamics 365 Business Central.
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Security and Compliance: Non-Negotiable Minimums
- Data governance before and after migration: Microsoft recommends knowing categories, flows, locations, and encryption to comply with policies and plan the cutover. Adjust authentication/integration to be cloud-ready.
- Standards: The Plans page lists security standards such as ISO 27001, ISO 27018, SOC 1/2/3, FedRAMP, HITRUST, MTCS, IRAP, and ENS — align your configurations with these frameworks.
- Technology base: Weavee states “iPaaS platform certified on Microsoft Azure”; if your policy requires that infrastructure, validate compatibility with your requirements.
- Do not run migrations in active production: Avoid data overwrite risks. Build test environments and follow the Cloud Migration Setup with approvals.
Want to take the first step?
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Metrics to Demonstrate Value (and Govern Operations)
Measure continuously and set realistic goals:
- Synchronized orders without error per 1,000 + integration incident MTTR.
- Average latency per flow (catalog, inventory, orders).
- Inventory discrepancies detected per month.
- % of “touchless” orders (end-to-end without intervention).
- Integration uptime.
These metrics align with what the Plans page describes as real-time execution/monitoring and analytics.
Quick Checklist for a Safe Kickoff
- Confirm compatibility/extensions and migration prerequisites (Microsoft).
- Define authentication method and acceptable service limits.
- Configure Cloud Migration Setup with approval if delegated and runtime when applicable.
- Map critical tables/fields for e-commerce (SKU, stock, orders).
- Plan pilot + phased cutover with observability from day 0 (see Plans).
Migrate first, integrate better. Preparing Dynamics 365 for the cloud lets you connect your online store with less friction, stronger security, and more reliable data.
With an iPaaS layer that standardizes flows and gives you real-time visibility, you’ll accelerate time-to-value without the “hidden costs” of maintenance.
Want to take the first step?
Request a demo.
