The increasing use of cloud software has been a blessing to many companies, but their seamless integration can become a curse if you want to change vendors. Recently we successfully migrated more than 1200 records from our old customer relations management software to our new one – without having to do it manually.

Here’s how we pulled it off.

Step 1: Exporting the data

The initial plan was simple enough: export the records from our old CRM and import them to the new one. Exporting went well, but that’s when the first issues arose.

• Data Format: Our new solution didn’t categorize data the same way as the old one, requiring the records to be changed to the new format.
• Import Method: The new CRM didn’t have a way to import the information we needed to bring in, requiring the records to be created manually instead.

Step 2: Reformatting the records

While they may have organized it differently, both systems used the same information. With this in mind, we realized that we could create a Python script to convert the data to the format of the new CRM. This let us get the records organized much faster than could have been done by hand.

Step 3: Getting it imported

With everything ready, that just left getting it into the new CRM. While there wasn’t a way to import the data directly, we did discover they had a system to let developers add data using code. Leveraging this, we were able to write our own importer that got everything moved over quickly.

The Outcome

Even without ready-made tools, careful planning and ingenuity let us make our own. As a result, we get everything imported several times faster than we could have managed manually.

Are you also facing an overwhelming migration problem or seemingly inescapable vendor lock in? We’d love to help you escape! Let’s talk about how we can make your transition as quick and easy as possible.