If you're giving some serious thought to switching from Salesforce.com to Microsoft Dynamics CRM, one of the areas you'll want to plan for is how you want to move your data out of your current system and into Dynamics CRM. In our eBook on making the switch, this is one of the areas of planning we cover.

Here's an excerpt on this subject:

"…Planning ahead for how you will move data out of Salesforce.com will save you angst down the line. Think of these as the "how and when" questions.

How do you want to move data out of Salesforce.com?

Moving data out of Salesforce.com can be one of the most challenging aspects of switching to Microsoft Dynamics CRM. There are two options for moving data out of Salesforce.com:

• Option 1: Extract the data using Salesforce.com web services.
  
• Option 2: Contact Salesforce.com to request an extraction of all data in .csv format. In this case, each entity will be a separate .csv file for each of your data entities, including Accounts, Leads and other market data.
  

One of the big challenges in completing a Salesforce.com export is that, in many cases, not all of the backup files make it through the export process. Special care must be taken to ensure that your .CSV downloads contain all of the data that is actually there. Ensure that all files are included in the export by knowing exactly how many files you'll be moving ahead of time and comparing that with the actual number of files exported. It's also a good idea to have business owners validate the data based on the timestamp. If you find any discrepancies, you may need to contact Salesforce.com for assistance…."

In other words...it all boils down to planning ahead and knowing what you think through before you flip the switch. Forming a plan for how you handle data is something you'll want to figure out ahead of time.

We've got more on this and other areas of consideration in the guide, so download the eBook today. (It's free!)

If you've got additional questions about making the switch, PowerObjects has helped others through the transition. Contact us for more information.

Happy CRM'ing!