I’m a big fan of the Dynamics 365 mobile apps. I’ve written a book about it, I present CRMUG summit sessions about it, and I fight the misguided app reviewers about it. However, there are several scenarios where it may not be the best fit, and a good third party mobile app (like Resco) is a better choice.

The following are some of the primary scenarios where Resco may be a better fit than the standard Dynamics 365 mobile app:

• You want a different form for mobile. Dynamics 365 mobile is based on the strategy “design once, deploy anywhere.” This means that users on mobile see the same form that users in the web client see. There is not a “mobile only” form (the one you see that says “mobile” is for the old Mobile Express). For many users, this works great, but in some scenarios, having a form that is radically different on mobile makes sense.
• You are on premises but don’t want to turn on ADFS. Dynamics 365 mobile assumes that you are running claims based authentication with IFD. If you can’t get your information security team to approve ADFS, Resco is an option to have mobile CRM without IFD.
• You want to use entities that are not available on Dynamics 365 mobile. As we have covered in numerous tips, the list of system entities that are not available on mobile has shrunk in recent years, but if you have to have campaigns, campaign responses, letters, or some of the other entities that don’t work on Dynamics 365 mobile, Resco is a great option. It can even send email activities directly from the app.
• You want document integration from mobile but don’t yet have server-side SharePoint. As we have covered here, the client-side SharePoint grid control is deprecated in version 9, but say you still have SharePoint 2010 integrated with CRM 2016? The only option to see documents in Dynamics 365 mobile is server-side SharePoint integration, which requires SharePoint 2013 or later. Instead of waiting until SharePoint is upgraded to see documents on mobile, Resco can work with the grid control based SharePoint document integration and display CRM documents in mobile.
• Mobile mapping: Bing maps are available with the Windows version of Dynamics 365 mobile; however, you do not have maps with the iOS or Android versions of the standard Dynamics 365 mobile apps. Resco includes mapping on all versions, and it integrates with the device GPS and geocoding (lat/long) on records to not only display the address of a record, but also show the location of the user/device. So it not only can show you where a customer is, but also help you get there.

What’s the point?

The point is not Dynamics mobile bad, Resco good. Dynamics 365 mobile provides a very fully featured experience that will meet the needs of many Dynamics users. But my motto is “use the right tool for the job.” Keep in mind that it’s not either/or. You can easily have some users using standard Dynamics 365 mobile while others are using Resco.

What do you think? Leave a comment letting us know what you use, and why.