Data Migration: Moving Into Your New Digital Home

We’ve all be there - it’s time to move into a new home. There’s excitement, anticipation, and, let’s be real, a bit of chaos. Maybe you’ve outgrown your old space, and it’s time for something bigger and better. But like any big move, the key to success isn’t in simply packing up and hauling everything to a new location. It’s about ensuring your belongings—your data—fit, function, and thrive in their new home. Without the right preparation, strategy, and care, what should be an exciting transition can quickly become a frustrating ordeal.

Data migration is no different.

When businesses migrate their data, they are essentially moving from one system to another—just like relocating to a new home. If you're transitioning to Salesforce, ensuring a smooth migration is key to unlocking its full potential. While the goal is to improve efficiency, the process requires careful planning and a strategy to ensure everything functions as it should.

In this article, one of SETGO’s expert consultants, Lindsay Stevens, shares key insights to make your data migration a success.

Packing Up: Organizing Your Data for the Move

Just like you wouldn't toss all your belongings into random boxes before a big move, your data shouldn’t be thrown into a new system without careful organization. To set your business up for success, you need to prepare your data before migrating it.

Start by assessing what you're bringing along. Data integrity is crucial—irrelevant, outdated, or corrupt data should be left behind. After all, you wouldn’t unpack broken items in your new home, so don’t bring faulty data into your new system.

What happens when data isn’t properly cleaned before migration? One publishing company learned the hard way.

They had over 40,000 customer records stored in a third-party database, filled with inconsistencies—duplicate records, missing parent-child relationships, and unstructured data. Critical fields were mismatched: phone numbers sat in email fields, multiple contacts were crammed into one, and addresses weren’t standardized. Instead of investing time in cleaning and formatting their data, they chose to migrate everything "as-is." The impact?

• Mis-shipments and errors in customer deliveries

• Email deliverability issues, leading to lost communication

• Ineffective customer service due to fragmented records

• Automations failed, as records didn’t meet necessary criteria
  

Skipping the cleanup directly impacted their ability to do business effectively—a costly mistake that could have been avoided with proper preparation.

To prevent this, Lindsay highlights three key actions to take before migration:

• Export all data into a single, organized folder to avoid missing anything.

• Centralize everything in one location to improve collaboration and simplify the cleaning process.

• Review data relationships to ensure proper structure and hierarchy, preventing issues with missing or disconnected records.
  

Pro Tip: Just as you'd carefully label boxes, make sure your data is tagged and categorized correctly before moving. Go through everything thoroughly to separate what’s essential from what’s outdated or unnecessary.

The Move: Transporting Your Data Safely

The actual move is the most critical part of the process. You need a solid plan to ensure that everything makes it across the threshold of your new home safely and intact. In the data migration world, this means using reliable tools and expertise to transfer your data into the new system.

Migrating data into Salesforce—or any new CRM—requires the right expertise and tools to ensure seamless functionality. Just like hiring professional movers to handle delicate items, skilled consultants ensure data is migrated seamlessly. Poor handling can lead to data loss, corruption, or misalignment—similar to a sofa being damaged during a move. A poorly executed migration can cause delays, errors, or system malfunctions, disrupting business operations.

A clear, step-by-step approach is essential, from assessing your data to executing the migration.

Pro Tip: Have a trusted partner, like SETGO, manage the complexities of migration to ensure everything transfers safely and accurately.

Unpacking: Settling In and Making It Work

Once the moving truck pulls away, the real work begins—unpacking. Similarly, data migration doesn’t stop when the data is transferred; the real work begins once everything is in place.

In the new system, your data needs to be integrated, organized, and optimized. Think of it as rearranging furniture for maximum efficiency. Everything should work as expected, with no mismatched items or broken processes.

Importing the correct data streamlines the transition, allowing systems to function smoothly from the start. On the flip side, importing incomplete or incorrect data can lead to inefficiencies, frustration, and costly errors. Lindsay emphasizes, “Taking the time to validate your data before finalizing the migration will save you from headaches later.”

Pro Tip: Testing your data and setting up ongoing support systems is crucial during this phase. Make sure everything is functional and aligned with your business needs before settling in permanently.

Enjoying Your New Home: Long-Term Care and Upkeep

Just like home maintenance, data migration isn’t a one-time event. Regular upkeep ensures your system remains in top condition as your business evolves. Over time, you’ll add new data and make adjustments to optimize your setup.

A strong strategy for ongoing management ensures your system continues to serve your business effectively. Neglecting it can lead to clutter, inefficiencies, and future complications.

Pro Tip: Build in regular audits and updates to your data migration strategy to maintain the health of your new system over time.

A Future-Proof Foundation

Successful data migration is about more than just transferring information—it’s about ensuring your business is positioned for future growth. Start by importing as much relevant data as possible to build a strong foundation. Consider the long-term impact of missing data, and always prioritize relevance and quality over quantity. With careful planning and execution, your migration will not only support your current goals but set the stage for success moving forward. Whether you're migrating to Salesforce for the first time or optimizing an existing setup, our team at SETGO ensures a smooth transition.

Ready to make your data migration a success? Get in touch with our team for a personalized consultation.