In every CRM, the real power is not just in the data you store but also in how those pieces of data connect.
Accounts link to Contacts. Contacts link to Opportunities. Opportunities loop back to Partners. Before you know it, you’ve got a web of relationships that’s too valuable to stay hidden behind grids and subgrids.
And yet, for most Dynamics 365 users, that’s exactly what happens.
They scroll through lists, click into forms, open related records, over and over again, to piece together the bigger picture.
That’s where Map My Relationships, a productivity app from Inogic, steps in. It turns the dense, text-heavy world of Dynamics 365 into something visual, intuitive, and compelling.
This isn’t just another dashboard. It’s a visual relationship engine that lets you see how your CRM entities talk to each other. It gives you the tools to act on them instantly.
From Static Data to Live Networks
Think about your CRM as a neural network of entities like Accounts, Contacts, Opportunities, Cases, and Custom Entities. Each has relationships defined by Dataverse — 1: N, N:1, or N: N. But natively, Dynamics 365 only lets you view one level at a time.
Map My Relationships changes that equation. It taps into the Dataverse metadata layer, pulls in entity connections, and renders them on an interactive, node-based canvas.
Each node represents a record, and each line represents a relationship. Click, zoom, drag, and suddenly you’re not looking at tables anymore but navigating relationships in real time.
Behind the scenes, it’s powered by:
- Microsoft Dataverse APIs for metadata and relationship discovery
- Secure role-based access that respects CRM privileges
- Client-side rendering for fast, dynamic visualization
- PCF (Power Apps Component Framework) controls for seamless embedding
The result? A real-time, visual layer that sits natively inside Dynamics 365 and transforms how users experience data.
Context Without Clicking
Every Dynamics 365 admin knows the pain. Users lose time switching forms just to check how a Contact relates to an Opportunity or which Partner ties back to a Case.
With Map My Relationships, you don’t need to open ten tabs. Hover over a node, and you get a full context card containing the owner, type, revenue, status, or any field you configure. Click it, and you can open, edit, or create new related records without leaving the visualization.
You’re not just seeing the data but working with it visually.
Under the Hood technicalities
Technically speaking, the app is a metadata-driven visualization layer. Here’s what happens when you load a map.
- The control reads the entity configuration defined by the admin.
- It fetches related records via the Web API, respecting the user’s permissions.
- Data nodes and links are rendered dynamically on an HTML5 canvas.
- User actions (create, edit, connect) trigger standard Dynamics commands. No custom APIs, no unsanctioned data access.
This means that performance remains stable, data integrity remains intact, and compliance remains native to your Dynamics 365 environment.
From a deployment standpoint, it’s a managed solution that plugs directly into your existing environment, requiring no additional infrastructure.
One View, Endless Possibilities
So, what can you actually do with it?
- Account Hierarchies: Visualize parent–child relationships across regions and subsidiaries.
- Sales Insights: See how Opportunities and Contacts cluster around key Accounts.
- Case Escalations: Trace related Cases, escalations, and assigned agents in seconds.
- Custom Solutions: Plot any custom entities or N: N relationships you’ve built in Dataverse.
You can even visualize connection roles, like “Consultant,” “Vendor,” or “Partner”, using color-coded bidirectional links. This is a huge advantage over Dynamics 365’s limited native hierarchy view.
Admins can configure how deep the relationships go (two levels, five levels, infinite), apply filters, and define which attributes display on each node.
The control also supports lazy loading, so large datasets load progressively as you expand nodes, keeping performance smooth even on heavy records.
Smarter Administration & Configuration
For Dynamics 365 architects, Map My Relationships feels like a low-code dream.
Configuration is metadata-based:
- Choose the primary entity (say, Account).
- Add related entities (Contacts, Opportunities, Cases).
- Define color, icon, and field labels for each node.
- Publish the configuration — and it’s ready for all users.
You can create multiple configurations per entity, embed them on forms, and even export/import configurations across environments.
For advanced users, the app supports JavaScript events and Power Automate integration, letting you trigger flows or custom actions directly from map interactions.
Why It’s a Game-Changer for Developers & Admins
Developers often build custom Power BI visuals or PCF components just to display entity relationships. That’s time-consuming, complex, and hard to maintain.
Map My Relationships offers all of that out of the box with:
- Real-time interactivity
- Metadata-driven configuration
- Secure integration with Dynamics 365 APIs
- Support for custom entities and relationships
It’s also solution-aware, meaning it can be packaged and version-controlled like any other Dynamics 365 customization.
For admins, that means no external dashboards, no data duplication, and no maintenance nightmares.
A Day in the Life
Imagine you’re a sales manager preparing for a quarterly review.
Instead of pulling reports, opening five related records, and piecing together context manually, you open the Map My Relationships tab on the Account record.
There it is, your entire customer ecosystem. You can see the Account at the center, connected to all its Opportunities, key Contacts, and active Cases. Click an Opportunity node, and the details panel slides open. You notice one Case linked to the same Contact, a red flag worth addressing before the call.
You didn’t just save time, you gained context, insight, and clarity in one glance.
That’s the difference between managing data and understanding relationships.
The Future of CRM Visualization
As Microsoft continues to integrate AI and Copilot features into Dynamics 365, tools like Map My Relationships will become essential complements, giving those AI insights a visual context.
To sum up
If your CRM feels like a maze of tabs and subgrids, Map My Relationships gives you a map, literally.
And once you’ve seen your data this way, there’s no going back.
Try it yourself with a 15-day free trial of Map My Relationships, the best relationship mapping tool for Dynamics 365 CRM from our website or Microsoft Appsource.
Prefer a guided walkthrough? Book a personalized demo and watch the difference unfold in real time.
Have questions? Reach out to us at crm@inogic.com – our team is always happy to help.
The post Why your Dynamics 365 CRM needs a Mind Mapping tool appeared first on CRM Software Blog | Dynamics 365.
