Integrate Two Seperate CRM Implementations Into One
Question
Answers
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It sounds like you want to combine the two Organizations into one rather than share data across the two Organizations. If that is true, then you have some planning to do.
If possible, the approach I would take is to build out a new server. This will allow you to take the customizations from each Organization and combine them into the new one. This approach will also better accommodate testing the customizations that you add to the server in the event that something doesn't work as expected. My thought is that it will be import to have a clean server for testing plugins and other types of customization to ensure your end product works as expected. Of course, you can also do this in your existing deployment if needed. I mention the new server to to try and keep things clean.
With regard to the data migration, if you have some of the same data in both systems like same Accounts, Contacts, Opportunities, etc. then I think you will want to use a program like Scribe to manage the data import. This will help you assign the correct user to each record and add logic to avoid duplicates. If you try some other approach, you might end up with a significant amount of cleanup effort to purge the duplicates, which will negatively impact you in several ways
- Proposed as answer by Donna EdwardsMVP Monday, April 11, 2011 8:05 PM
- Marked as answer by Testing CRM 365 Wednesday, May 11, 2011 3:49 PM
All replies
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It sounds like you want to combine the two Organizations into one rather than share data across the two Organizations. If that is true, then you have some planning to do.
If possible, the approach I would take is to build out a new server. This will allow you to take the customizations from each Organization and combine them into the new one. This approach will also better accommodate testing the customizations that you add to the server in the event that something doesn't work as expected. My thought is that it will be import to have a clean server for testing plugins and other types of customization to ensure your end product works as expected. Of course, you can also do this in your existing deployment if needed. I mention the new server to to try and keep things clean.
With regard to the data migration, if you have some of the same data in both systems like same Accounts, Contacts, Opportunities, etc. then I think you will want to use a program like Scribe to manage the data import. This will help you assign the correct user to each record and add logic to avoid duplicates. If you try some other approach, you might end up with a significant amount of cleanup effort to purge the duplicates, which will negatively impact you in several ways
- Proposed as answer by Donna EdwardsMVP Monday, April 11, 2011 8:05 PM
- Marked as answer by Testing CRM 365 Wednesday, May 11, 2011 3:49 PM
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I haven't come across any whitepapers or blog articles. Having said that, it would make a great article so please consider writing one as you work through the process then ping me on Twitter when you are done and I will spread the word.
You're welcome and best of luck with the merge! I'm sure you'll conquer this successfully as you are taking the time upfront to develop your plan and that is one of the most important steps.
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