The Magic of Tidying Up Your CRM Before Migrating to the Cloud

Time to channel Marie Kondo and do some tidying up: migrating your customer relationship management system to a cloud-based solution like Microsoft Dynamics 365 Customer Engagement is the perfect occasion to clean up your database.

As mentioned in our article What to Consider Before Migrating Your CRM, database volume and disk space are important considerations before migrating any system to the cloud. Although it is possible to purchase additional space if necessary, JOVACO recommends cleaning up your current CRM to reduce the amount of data to migrate.

As with any spring cleaning, you should take the opportunity to sort your data to remove outdated or unnecessary files. For example, do you need to keep all of your historical data? We doubt it sparks much joy, and besides, you only need to keep the past 7 years for auditing and tax purposes. Here are some things to consider in regards to disk space and database size before migrating your CRM to the cloud:

• Any customer relationship management solution eventually accumulates double (or even triple!) entries and other redundant or useless records. If your users are having a hard time finding information in the current CRM, migrating to a new solution will not fix this problem. As such, it’s important to clean up your database before the migration. Speaking from experience, this cleanup rarely takes place if it’s pushed back until after! You can ask your representatives to delete or merge double entries to declutter your CRM and reduce the amount of data to migrate, and deduplication rules can be used to avoid this issue in the future.
• To save on disk space, Azure Blob, a cloud-based storage service offered by Microsoft, can be used. An attachment management tool installed into the CRM transfers attachments from emails and notes to data containers called “blobs”, which are stored on the Microsoft Azure platform. This means that attachments are not stored into the CRM database itself but remain accessible with a link. The user experience remains essentially the same, but allows you to save on space. Different pricing options are available based on your needs.
• Be aware that the method used to migrate your solution will also affect the quantity of data that can be migrated. JOVACO recommends using a tool such as Cobalt’s Migration Dynamics, which transfers the entirety of your data to the cloud and even lets you keep using your CRM during the migration. Otherwise, the migration process can become very long and complex: in this case, decisions have to be made regarding the data to migrate as it will have to be extracted manually. For example, you could choose to migrate only accounts and contacts, as well as opportunities and activities after a certain date.

These are a few things to keep in mind while planning the migration of your CRM to the cloud. By knowing the size of your current database, JOVACO can make recommendations as to the best method for the transition of your systems to the cloud, while also minimizing the impact on your operations. Contact us if you wish to know more about the migration of your current CRM to a cloud-based solution such as Microsoft Dynamics 365 Customer Engagement.