Recovering CRM Ownership Architecture Without Rebuilding the Existing Solution

How Sky Soft Connections Unblocked User/Team-Based CRM Security Without Rebuilding a Mature Dynamics 365 Implementation

Recovering CRM Ownership Architecture Without Rebuilding the Existing Solution

Client & Business Context

The client is an established engineering organisation operating in the electrical engineering and power distribution industry, with an existing Microsoft Dynamics 365 CRM implementation.

The CRM had already gone through an initial development phase and contained a significant amount of custom functionality, including entities, relationships, forms, views, Business Process Flows, Power Automate flows, security roles, plugins, web resources, and other business logic.

Sky Soft Connections was engaged to continue development and deliver the next phase of the CRM implementation.

Industry: Electrical Engineering / Power Distribution
Platform: Microsoft Dynamics 365 CRM
Requirement: User/Team-Based Security
Challenge: Existing Organization-Owned Entities
Project: CRM Architecture Remediation

The existing entities had been created using Organization ownership, while the new security requirements depended on User/Team ownership.

The Business Problem

The CRM Security Requirement Was Blocked by the Existing Architecture

The client had completed the first phase of a customized CRM implementation with another team. When SkySoft joined for Phase Two, the client wanted security roles that would give users and teams access to the appropriate records.

During our assessment, we found that several important entities had been created with organization ownership. The planned security design depended on individual records being owned by users or teams. This was an architectural constraint, not a setting that could simply be switched in a security role.

The entities also supported existing forms, views, relationships, business process flows, Power Automate flows, plugins, web resources and other components. Recreating everything manually would have added development and regression testing to a project already underway.

Business Impact of the Existing Architecture

Security Implementation Could Not Move Forward

The ownership issue was directly blocking the Phase Two security implementation.

Without resolving the ownership architecture, the client could not properly implement the required user/team-based record access model.

Additional Development Effort

Existing entities and their dependent components would need to be recreated and reconfigured.

Security implementation would remain blocked while the CRM architecture was rebuilt and tested.

Risk to Existing Functionality

Rebuilding interconnected CRM components could introduce configuration differences or regression issues.

Risk to Existing Investment

The client had already invested significantly in the Phase One implementation.

The Sky Soft Connections Solution

We first preserved the existing configuration and established a recovery path. Then we exported the solution and reproduced the relevant customizations in a separate environment, where we could inspect dependencies and test the migration without experimenting in the client’s primary environment.

Our team mapped the components connected to the affected entities and addressed those dependencies in sequence. In the working environment, we removed the affected entities, adjusted their definitions in the exported solution, and imported the corrected solution to recreate them with user or team ownership. This was a carefully tested approach for this implementation, not a standard ownership setting that can be changed on an existing entity.

After import, we checked ownership and record access alongside relationships, forms, views, automations, business processes and custom code. The objective was to make the new security model possible while retaining the functionality the client already relied on.

improving Existing crm Architecture

How We Solved the CRM Ownership Problem

01. Back Up the Existing Environment
We backed up the CRM configuration to create a reliable recovery point before making structural changes.
02. Export the CRM Solution
The existing customizations were exported as a solution package, giving the team access to the underlying CRM configuration.
03. Create a Safe Working Environment
The solution was deployed into a separate environment for analysis, modification, testing, and validation without affecting the live system.
04. Identify Entities and Dependencies
We identified the affected entities and reviewed dependencies across forms, views, relationships, flows, plugins, web resources, and security components.
05. Remove the Affected Entities
The corrected solution was re-imported, recreating the entities with the required user/team-based ownership model.
06. Modify the Solution Definition
The exported solution XML was examined and the ownership model was changed from Organization Ownership to User/Team Ownership, while preserving the existing configuration wherever possible.
07. Re-Import the Solution
The corrected solution was re-imported, recreating the entities with the required user/team-based ownership model.
08. Validate the CRM Architecture
The updated environment was tested across entity configuration, security, relationships, business processes, automation, custom development, forms, views, and user access.
The objective was to correct the ownership architecture while preserving the existing CRM functionality and business processes.
01. Back Up the Existing Environment
We backed up the CRM configuration to create a reliable recovery point before making structural changes.
02. Export the CRM Solution
The existing customizations were exported as a solution package, giving the team access to the underlying CRM configuration.
03. Create a Safe Working Environment
The solution was deployed into a separate environment for analysis, modification, testing, and validation without affecting the live system.
04. Identify Entities and Dependencies
We identified the affected entities and reviewed dependencies across forms, views, relationships, flows, plugins, web resources, and security components.
05. Remove the Affected Entities
After resolving dependencies, the affected entities were removed from the working environment using a controlled, dependency-aware process.
06. Modify the Solution Definition
The exported solution XML was examined and the ownership model was changed from Organization Ownership to User/Team Ownership, while preserving the existing configuration wherever possible.
07. Re-Import the Solution
The corrected solution was re-imported, recreating the entities with the required user/team-based ownership model.
08. Validate the CRM Architecture
The updated environment was tested across entity configuration, security, relationships, business processes, automation, custom development, forms, views, and user access.
The objective was to correct the ownership architecture while preserving the existing CRM functionality and business processes.

The solution combines Microsoft technologies into a single automated workflow.

Technology & Integration Architecture

Technology & CRM Architecture Microsoft Dynamics 365 CRM Provided the core CRM platform and existing business application architecture. Microsoft Dataverse / CRM Entities Provided the underlying entity and record structure requiring ownership remediation. Security Roles Used as part of the required user/team-based access-control model. Power Automate Existing automation and business process dependencies were reviewed and preserved where applicable. Business Process Flows Validated as part of the post-migration CRM functionality. Plugins & Web Resources Existing custom development was reviewed as part of dependency and regression validation. CRM Solution XML Used to modify the underlying ownership configuration during the controlled migration process.

Microsoft Dynamics 365 CRM

Provided the core CRM platform and existing business application architecture.

Microsoft Dataverse / CRM Entities

Provided the underlying entity and record structure requiring ownership remediation.

Security Roles

Used as part of the required user/team-based access-control model.

Plugins & Web Resources

Existing custom development was reviewed as part of dependency and regression validation.

Power Automate

Existing automation and business process dependencies were reviewed and preserved where applicable.

CRM Solution XML

Used to modify the underlying ownership configuration during the controlled migration process.

Reusability Across Industries & Departments

The corrected ownership architecture provides a reusable foundation for CRM processes where records need to be managed by specific users or teams.

Potential applications include:

Sales & Customer Management

  • Customer and account ownership
  • Opportunity management
  • Sales activity tracking
  • Record-level access

Service & Support

  • Customer case ownership
  • Support team assignment
  • Issue and request management
  • Controlled record access

Project Management

  • Project ownership
  • Team-based record management
  • Task and activity assignment
  • Project-related access controls

Operations & Internal Processes

  • Department-based record ownership
  • Team responsibilities
  • Business process records
  • Role-based data visibility

Business Outcomes

Security Implementation Unblocked

The ownership limitation was resolved, allowing the Phase Two security implementation to continue.

Reduced Development Effort

The client avoided rebuilding a significant number of existing CRM components from scratch.

Reduced Project Cost

By transforming the existing configuration rather than rebuilding it, the amount of new development and testing required was reduced.

Reduced Project Risk

The work was performed through backups, an isolated environment, controlled migration, and extensive validation.

Existing Functionality Preserved

The existing CRM solution and its dependent components were reused wherever possible.

Existing CRM Investment Protected

The approach allowed the client to build on its existing Phase One investment instead of starting the affected architecture again.

Stronger Foundation for Future Security

The corrected ownership model created a better foundation for user/team-based record security and future CRM scalability

Need Help With a Complex Dynamics 365 CRM Environment?

Planning a new security model or inheriting a heavily customized Dynamics 365 environment? SkySoft Connections can assess the architecture and help you identify a practical migration plan.