The Flex Connection feature set offers another level of relationship options to enable complex business scenarios to be addressed within the Flex product.
To identify the differences in these relationship options we use the terminology of a “related” item to describe the basic relationship that exists between items such as an Account and Contact or an Interaction for an Opportunity, and we use the terminology of a “connected” item to describe dynamic relationships such as when an Opportunity may involve a number of contractors that can come and go throughout the term of the Opportunity.
To further manage these dynamic relationships we have enabled the Flex Connection feature to also manage these “dynamic” relationships automatically. An example of this is where a branch office or Business Unit (BU) should be connected to their head office automatically based on a key field or parent/child designation that can tie them together.
Another example of the Flex Connection functionality is to address a business situation where all Contacts for an Account will display for a Project or Opportunity.
Within a Sub-Grid both “related” and “connected” items can exist as shown in the Contacts Sub-Grid below. The Connected items can be spotted due to the connection icons circled in the screen shot.