Data migration for Salesforce is more than just moving records from one system to another. It is, in fact, a challenging and time-consuming task that demands loads of planning along with a good understanding of the previous system. Poor data mapping can lead to the eventual loss of important data and critical functionality. There can also be other, more unexpected effects of a careless migration on existing data and rules. All of this can become even more troublesome when you are migrating into a running instance that is already in use as opposed to a new one. Therefore, even when importing thousands of records, you have to be sure that each and every one of your records has been transferred.
The factors that need to be considered during data migration may vary depending on the complexity of your source data. However, for any data set, you can avoid having to go back and forth. Make sure all data is imported by following the standard protocol of:
- Planning
- Migrating
- Testing
While these steps are essential, it is important to avoid the following mistakes.
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Salesforce Data Migration Checklist
1 – Planning without involving stakeholders
You might know how to go about a salesforce data migration but stakeholders are the ones who are familiar with the structure and flow of the data. Only they can tell exactly what kind of issues the data may run into during migration. You might need to make modifications in the fields or validation rules or even your approach.
2 – Importing related Custom Objects in Random Order
You might be used to always importing accounts before contacts or opportunities as a standard. But, taking care of the ordering of custom objects under the relationships they have with each other is also important. Along with the ordering, you will also need to include the fields of each object into other objects to make sure that all the relationships are set up.
3 – Importing large data in the Production Environment in the first go
Even if you have planned the data migration for your salesforce beforehand, importing all your data in one go is not recommended. It is preferable to migrate a small subset of your data in a sandbox so that all issues are exposed at an early stage. This will allow you to make any required fixes easily. You might have to repeat this step several times until all issues have been resolved.
4 – Mapping irrelevant data fields
It is necessary to add fields such as Legacy ID or User ID in your source data. But getting rid of unnecessary fields that are used by only very few records is an important step in the mapping process for your salesforce data migration.
5 – Forgetting to review active workflows and triggers.
Prior to a data import, you must check if you need to disable any active workflows or triggers that affect the objects in your data migration. It is possible that you end up sending hundreds or thousands of unwanted emails to customers during the process if workflows or triggers are still active. You should also check to see if any validation rules need to be added, modified or deleted.
6 – Not testing in the end.
The successful execution of the data loader without errors is not a guarantee that all your data has migrated properly. A good way to test is by running reports or using the developer console to check the record counts. You can apply filters or perform SOQL queries to check the number of records for various objects.
Salesforce Data Migration: Conclusion
Data migration for salesforce can be a delicate process. This is especially true if your existing CRM solution has custom data fields. The best plan of action for your salesforce data migration is to get help from salesforce experts. You can get in touch with our team to learn more about how to migrate to salesforce in a hassle-manner.
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