A Consultant’s Advice on Migrating from SalesForce to Dynamics 365

If you’re considering moving from SalesForce to Microsoft Dynamics 365, you probably have a few questions. Sit down with our Marketing Consultant, Cassandra, and our expert on SalesForce Migrations (and Business Analyst), Aline.

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Cassandra: So I’ve been told that you are our resident expert for SalesForce to Dynamics 365 migrations. How many projects have you been involved with that involved migrating from SalesForce to Dynamics 365 in at CRM Dynamics?

Aline: Actually, I’ve been involved with all of the SalesForce migrations!  Over 10 in the last six months alone.

Cassandra: You’re the best person to talk to then! Why do people choose to migrate from SalesForce to Dynamics 365?

Aline: The main reason seems to be the additional functionality that the current SalesForce does not offer. There is also the integration with existing Microsoft products that many businesses are already using, like Office 365. Most of our clients have Office 365 and with SalesForce you need an additional integration. When you have your CRM and Office 365 working together it automatically tracks your appointments, calendar and activities.

Cassandra: So, Dynamics 365 makes everything connected really easily and SalesForce would require an additional integration. I know that they have the SalesForce AppExchange where third-party suppliers can provide you with integrations at a cost.

Aline: You might not have to pay for one of those apps, but it requires at least configuration to get everything working together. It’s an additional step and complexity not required with Microsoft.

Cassandra: How long does it normally take for a migration to happen? Or how long does it take once the project has started?

Aline: This really depends on the client and what they would like to migrate. We have one client that is just migrating 4 entities: Contacts, Account, Opportunities and Leads. Another client is migrating over 40 entities, with specific customizations. The time it takes for migrations really depends on what is being migrated.

Cassandra: Projects really vary by how much data you have then. Is there anything that a client can do to prepare their data for migration to make things easier?

Aline: We always recommend a cleanup. All systems will end up having “garbage”, like inactive accounts that they don’t use. Even if it’s active you can also find a lot of duplicate data.

Cassandra: How can a company prepare their employees for the migration?

Aline: Our projects usually include a form of training. Whether it’s an on-site traditional training or a train-the-trainer model. We want to be sure that our clients fully understand Dynamics 365 so that there is a higher rate of adoption. Since we have experience migrating clients from SalesForce to Dynamics 365 we know that there are some significant differences.

Cassandra: What are the main difference that have people saying ‘oh that’s different’?

Aline: The way that views are built on Dynamics 365 is awesome compared to SalesForce. When we show them how easy it is to create their own views and dashboards they’re always so excited.

Cassandra: These are the dashboards that each user can create for themselves? So if I wanted to create a view to see my KPIs I can create a view so that I can easily track myself, versus having someone else decide what I should see.

Aline: Exactly! Dynamics 365 is even introducing a multi pick list option in the next version, expected in July, that will make creating charts and dashboards even easier.

Cassandra: What are clients most excited about when they migrate to Dynamics 365 from SalesForce?

Aline: The new functionality that users get in Dynamics 365 makes things easier for each user to configure. They’re always asking “can I do this?”, and with Dynamics 365 they can.

Cassandra: How does CRM Dynamics ensure that data is properly migrated?

Aline: We check every single field and compare SalesForce to Dynamics to make sure everything is correct. Usually we will get some sample data from the client to test with. This makes things simpler since we do not need to go through thousands of records. When we do the full migration we make sure that if there were 100 records in SalesForce, there are those same 100 in Dynamics 365. We use a unique process we developed to make this easy and charge the customer much less.

Cassandra: What is most important for management to know when they’re moving from SalesForce to Dynamics 365?

Aline: The KPIs. It’s easy for you to report on everything you want. With Power BI it makes reporting even easier.

Cassandra: Our sales department has heard from many prospects that reporting is a huge hurdle with SalesForce.

Aline: With Dynamics 365 you don’t depend on another person to do your reporting. SalesForce reports often need a developer to create and manage their reports. If you need a new field you would have to ask your developer to add that information to the report for you. With Dynamics 365 and Power BI you can do complex reporting without having to engage a developer.