Explore the key steps for seamless Dynamics 365 migrations and maximize ROI
While making a well-executed data migration plan is tricky, keeping up with the latest CRM software advancements that can enhance your team’s productivity is crucial. If you are not well-prepared, challenges associated with the migration process can become incredibly stressful. If you’re preparing for a Dynamics 365 migration, read this comprehensive guide to Dynamic 365 migration to facilitate a seamless transition.
Preparing Team For Dynamics 365 Data Migration
Gaining stakeholders’ support is essential, especially when implementing a CRM platform. A CRM system that lacks the right data can lead to project failure, hindering end-users from conducting their job functions effectively. Identifying the technical and business owners responsible for the data is crucial before including the data mapping process in this step.
- Establish effective communication with teams and a single point of contact.
- Determine the estimated time stakeholders require to define their use cases, workflows, and business processes related to the data mapping process.
- Evaluate the end-user readiness for the Dynamics 365 migration and their familiarity with the platform throughout this process.
Feature Selection
- Collaborate with your vendor and key stakeholders to choose the features used on the new platform. This step requires consideration, particularly if you are migrating from an older CRM that lacks modern cloud-based functionalities.
Therefore, it is crucial to understand the inter-departmental workflows during the Dynamics 365 data migration process. In addition, your sales, marketing, and customer service teams must evaluate and adjust their workflows accordingly as you introduce automation. This will enhance overall productivity within these teams.
Data Cleansing And Mapping
- While transferring old data directly into the new platform may be tempting, reviewing the data quality is crucial. This will help avoid the garbage in/garbage out scenario. Additionally, investing time and effort at the beginning of the process will result in significant benefits in the long run. Moreover, you can determine the modules required in your new CRM system by identifying and mapping the data. This will also help choose the appropriate tool to facilitate data migration.
Migration Tool Selection
- Directly writing data to Microsoft Dynamics 365 CRM is not recommended. However, to simplify the migration process, utilize Microsoft’s Import Wizard. This will help you move data in increments. The data from the source CRM must be transformed into a flattened file format, which can then be mapped to the fields within Dynamics 365.
In addition to the Import Wizard, Microsoft offers other supported tools to assist with complex data migration. These tools include the Dynamics to CRM Adapter, Scribe, SQL Server Integration Services, and others. Leveraging these tools can facilitate the data migration process and make it more manageable.
Develop Scripts For Migration Integration
- The next step is to create migration integration scripts. Index all tables and optimize queries for speed and runtime performance. Additionally, define unique identifiers for all source data and store them in the target data set that will be migrated to ensure a smooth migration.
Data Transfer Testing And Deployment
Testing migration integration scripting and the actual data transfer process is crucial for ensuring all data is included and in the correct format. In addition, this test will filter out data quality issues that could prove disastrous in a live environment.
Once the test team has approved the Dynamics 365 data migration, it is time to proceed with the go-live phase. During this process, it is important to establish a specific timeframe for when end-users will be locked out of the legacy platform.
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