Introduction

One of the strengths of the Microsoft Dynamics 365 platform is its server-side extensibility. The out-of-the-box functionality of Dynamics CRM is great, but most enterprise implementations require further logic to validate, automate, or integrate.

At the time of writing this book, Dynamics 365 provides three different kinds of server-side extensibility: plugins, custom workflow activities, and custom actions. Each of them fits a specific set of scenarios.

Plugins

Plugins are typically used for custom logic that executes on the server before or after specific events, such as create, update, delete, assign, and more. Post-event plugins can also trigger synchronously or asynchronously.

Custom workflow activities

Custom workflow activities are reusable activities that can be added to a configured workflow business process. If a custom logic is to be reused multiple times and needs to be configured by power users, then custom workflow activities is the way to go.

Note

Power users are Dynamics...