5 ways to import data
Published: March 10, 2006
Every organization has data stored online about customers, products, leads, contacts, contracts, sales literature, competitors, and more. Perhaps you transferred this data to Microsoft Dynamics CRM 3.0 as part of your initial implementation or found or purchased data after everyone was already using Microsoft CRM. However you got the data, you can automate the process of importing it into Microsoft CRM so that no one has to manually re-enter the data.
Microsoft CRM includes five tools for importing data, each of which is designed for specific source data:
| • | Bulk Import Wizard |
| • | Data Migration Framework |
| • | Data Migration Wizard for Microsoft Office Outlook with Business Contact Manager |
| • | Microsoft Dynamics CRM Connector for Microsoft Dynamics GP |
| • | Microsoft CRM SDK |
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Import data using the Bulk Import Wizard
The Bulk Import Wizard imports your leads, contacts, accounts, campaign responses, and marketing list data. It is built into Microsoft CRM and can be used easily on an ongoing basis by a sales or marketing representative. All imported data is owned by the user who imports it.
The Bulk Import Wizard is useful for importing lists of names you have purchased or collected by other means. The data to import must be stored in a comma-delimited values (CSV) file or in a text file delimited with semicolons, colons, or tabs. The Wizard can be used only to import data into the Lead, Account, Contact, and Campaign Response areas of Microsoft CRM, including importing any custom attributes for these areas. Leads, accounts, and contacts can be imported directly to a marketing list. For example, one common use of the Bulk Import Wizard is to import contacts that have been exported from Microsoft Outlook into a CSV file. Another common use is to import data from a marketing list you purchased.
The Bulk Import Wizard cannot import notes and attachments. Although it is possible to use the Wizard to import related records, such as a contact record that is associated with a specific account, tracking the relationship requires looking up the unique identifier for the parent record in Microsoft CRM before importing the related record. If you have many related records to import, or need to import notes and attachments, using the Data Migration Framework to import related records is recommended.
Migrate data from any data source
The Data Migration Framework, part of the Microsoft Dynamics CRM 3.0 Data Migration Pack, is typically used when you first implement Microsoft CRM to bring all data from all your legacy databases and systems into Microsoft CRM. Common reasons for using the Data Migration Framework include:
| • | The source data was not created with Microsoft Outlook with Business Contact Manager or Microsoft Dynamics GP. |
| • | Records need to be assigned to different Microsoft CRM users. |
| • | The data includes notes and attachments. |
| • | The data includes many related records. |
| • | The data comes from multiple sources. |
| • | The data needs to be migrated into an entity other than Lead, Account, Contact, or Campaign Response. |
You can use the Data Migration Framework to import data into the following entities in Microsoft CRM, including into any custom fields in the following entities.
Account | Discount | Note | Product |
Address | Discount List | Opportunity | Quote |
Annotation (including attachments) | E-mail | Opportunity Product | Quote Product |
Case | Fax | Order | Sales Literature |
Competitor | Invoice | Order Product | Subject |
Contact | Invoice Product | Phone Call | Task |
Contract | Lead | Price List | Unit |
Contract Line | Letter | Price List Item | Unit Group |
The Data Migration Framework uses a staging database, called the Common Data Format (CDF) database. You collect all the data to be migrated from a variety of sources in the CDF database, and then migrate it. The Data Migration Framework includes a wizard for mapping your source data to Microsoft CRM.
The Data Migration Framework can be used to migrate one file per note or sales literature item that is migrated. If you have multiple files for each record, or if you store your files separately on a server, consider not adding the files to Microsoft CRM. Instead, in the appropriate entity, create an attribute for the file name that is a link to the file. This way the file is accessible from both Microsoft CRM and from your network. When you create an attribute for a URL, in order to make the link work, select the nvarchar type, and the URL format.
Migrate data from Microsoft Office Outlook with Business Contact Manager
If you’re switching from using Microsoft Outlook with Business Contact Manager to using Microsoft CRM, you can use the Data Migration Wizard for Microsoft Office Outlook with Business Contact Manager, part of the Data Migration Pack. The wizard guides you through mapping data from Outlook with Business Contact Manager to Microsoft CRM. It must be run by a person with the Microsoft CRM System Administrator security role and is designed to be run only once.
Migrate data to Microsoft Dynamics GP and keep it synchronized
If you need to migrate data from Microsoft Dynamics Great Plains 8.0 or Microsoft Dynamics GP 9.0 to Microsoft CRM, and then keep the data synchronized between the two applications, you can use the Microsoft Dynamics CRM Connector for Microsoft Dynamics GP. This tool provides ongoing synchronization of data, as well as data migration and correlation between the two applications.
Use custom migration tools for custom entities
If you need to migrate data into a custom entity, use the Microsoft CRM SDK to create a custom program to migrate your data.
