![\"Synchronous](\"https:\/\/www.inogic.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Synchronous-vs-Asynchronous-Workflows-in-Dynamics-365-CRM-Best-Practices-for-Large-Data-Sets-\u2013-Part-1.png\")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Every CRM professional has faced this at some point: a workflow that performs flawlessly in testing but slows everything down when deployed at scale. You must have encountered this while handling a bulk update of 10,000 account records during a data migration in Dynamics 365 CRM.<\/p>\n
Although triggering a synchronous workflow in Dynamics 365 CRM may seem straightforward, it is not ideal for large-scale operations. When handling bulk record updates, the system may experience performance issues, including frozen screens, delayed processes, and timeout errors that flood the logs. This highlights a key best practice: synchronous workflows are not designed for high-volume or resource-intensive tasks.<\/p>\n
To overcome this, you can consider using Background Operations \u2014 a Dynamics 365 capability that allows time-consuming processes to run asynchronously without blocking user actions.<\/p>\n
In Dynamics 365 CRM, a Background Operation refers to a process or task that runs asynchronously in the system, meaning it executes in the background without blocking user interactions. These operations are designed to handle long-running, resource-intensive, or bulk processes that could otherwise slow down the system if run synchronously.<\/p>\n
Imagine a CRM administrator responsible for reassigning thousands of leads or updating thousands of account records after a territory restructure.<\/p>\n
If you run this as a synchronous workflow, the system processes each record sequentially \u2014 waiting for one to finish before moving to the next. This results in:<\/p>\n
The synchronous process creates a bottleneck, forcing the entire organization to wait for a single workflow to complete.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s where Background Operations comes into the picture!<\/p>\n
Background Operations in Dynamics 365 CRM are designed to handle long-running and resource-intensive processes asynchronously, meaning they run in the background while users continue working without interruption.<\/p>\n
Below are the practical steps to implement and monitor Background Operations effectively.<\/p>\n
Go to Advanced Settings \u2192 Settings \u2192 System Jobs \u2192 Background Operations.
\nHere, you can view and manage all ongoing and completed background jobs.<\/p>\n
When creating a process (e.g., workflow or Power Automate flow), choose the asynchronous execution mode.
\nThis ensures your logic runs in the background instead of in real-time.<\/p>\n
Once the operation starts, you can track its progress under the Background Operations log. To get notified when a background operation completes, use Callback URLs. You can configure a webhook, API endpoint, or a flow in Power Automate to handle these callbacks. This helps you:<\/p>\n Large-scale or long-running workflows can easily overwhelm Dynamics 365 when executed synchronously. Background Operations solve this by executing tasks asynchronously, ensuring the system remains responsive and users can continue working without interruption.<\/p>\n In Part 2<\/strong>, we\u2019ll walk you through the technical setup \u2014 including examples of configuring asynchronous processes, integrating call backs, and optimizing performance for enterprise-scale workflows.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Every CRM professional has faced this at some point: a workflow that performs flawlessly in testing but slows everything down when deployed at scale. You must have encountered this while handling a bulk update of 10,000 account records during a data migration in Dynamics 365 CRM. Although triggering a synchronous workflow in Dynamics 365 CRM\u2026 Read More »<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[16,2361],"tags":[3239],"class_list":["post-42513","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-dynamics-365","category-technical","tag-synchronous-vs-asynchronous-workflows-in-dynamics-365-crm"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.inogic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42513","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.inogic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.inogic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.inogic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.inogic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=42513"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.inogic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42513\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.inogic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=42513"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.inogic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=42513"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.inogic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=42513"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nIt displays the job\u2019s status, In Progress<\/em>, Completed, <\/em>or Failed<\/em> and helps you identify if any records encountered issue.<\/p>\n![\"Synchronous](\"https:\/\/www.inogic.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/1Synchronous-vs-Asynchronous-Workflows-in-Dynamics-365-CRM.png\")
<\/p>\nStep 4: Use Callback URLs for Notifications<\/strong><\/h3>\n
\nThese URLs act as endpoints that Dynamics 365 calls once the operation finishes.<\/p>\n\n
public void Execute(IServiceProvider serviceProvider)\r\n\r\n{\r\n\r\n\/\/ Services\r\n\r\nIPluginExecutionContext context = (IPluginExecutionContext)serviceProvider.GetService(typeof(IPluginExecutionContext));\r\n\r\nITracingService tracingService = (ITracingService)serviceProvider.GetService(typeof(ITracingService));\r\n\r\nIOrganizationServiceFactory serviceFactory = (IOrganizationServiceFactory)serviceProvider.GetService(typeof(IOrganizationServiceFactory));\r\n\r\nIOrganizationService service = serviceFactory.CreateOrganizationService(context.UserId);\r\n\r\n\u00a0\r\n\r\ntry\r\n\r\n{\r\n\r\n\u00a0\r\n\r\n\/\/Create a request for message defined as a custom API to run in the background\r\n\r\nvar asyncRequest = new OrganizationRequest(\"sample_ExportDataUsingFetchXmlToAnnotation\")\r\n\r\n{\r\n\r\nParameters =\r\n\r\n{\r\n\r\n{\"FetchXml\",\u00a0 @\"<fetch>\r\n\r\n<entity name='account'>\r\n\r\n<attribute name='accountid'\/>\r\n\r\n<attribute name='name'\/>\r\n\r\n<\/entity>\r\n\r\n<\/fetch>\" }\r\n\r\n}\r\n\r\n};\r\n\r\n\u00a0\r\n\r\n\/\/Create a request to execute the message in the background\r\n\r\nvar request = new OrganizationRequest(\"ExecuteBackgroundOperation\")\r\n\r\n{\r\n\r\nParameters =\r\n\r\n{\r\n\r\n{\"Request\", asyncRequest },\r\n\r\n\/\/ Request a callback\r\n\r\n{\"CallbackUri\", \"YOUR CALLBACKURL\" }\r\n\r\n}\r\n\r\n};\r\n\r\n\u00a0\r\n\r\n\/\/Execute the background operation request\r\n\r\nvar response = service.Execute(request);\r\n\r\n\u00a0\r\n\r\nConsole.WriteLine($\"BackgroundOperationId: {response[\"BackgroundOperationId\"]}\");\r\n\r\nConsole.WriteLine($\"Location: {response[\"Location\"]}\");\r\n\r\n}\r\n\r\n\u00a0\r\n\r\ncatch (Exception ex)\r\n\r\n{\r\n\r\ntracingService.Trace($\"Exception: {ex.Message}\");\r\n\r\ncontext.OutputParameters[\"SuccessResponse\"] = false;\r\n\r\ncontext.OutputParameters[\"message\"] = $\"Plugin execution failed: {ex.Message}\";\r\n\r\ncontext.OutputParameters[\"SuccessCount\"] = 0;\r\n\r\ncontext.OutputParameters[\"FailureCount\"] = 0;\r\n\r\nthrow new InvalidPluginExecutionException(\"Bulk assignment failed.\", ex);\r\n\r\n}\r\n\r\n}<\/pre>\nConclusion<\/strong><\/h3>\n
Key takeaways:<\/strong><\/h3>\n
\n