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Data Migration Overview

Updated

Data migration moves historical information from an external source into SmartSimple during initial implementation. The process involves extracting, transforming, and loading data from the previous system into the new SmartSimple instance.

IMPORTANT  Data migration may be subject to additional fees for professional services or licensing. Contact the account manager for more information.

Who: Global administrator

How to Use Data Migration

Use data migration to:

  • Load historical records, such as companies, users, or associations, from an external database (Microsoft Access, Microsoft SQL Server, or Oracle) into SmartSimple during initial implementation.
  • Import historical activity, such as grant or transaction history, from Excel or plain text files into SmartSimple.
  • Transition from a legacy grants management system to SmartSimple.
NOTE  Migrating historical information is not required for a successful SmartSimple implementation and is not recommended for clients without the resources described in Prerequisites for Data Migration below.

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Prerequisites for Data Migration

A successful migration requires the following resources:

  • Authority and expertise to determine which historical data need to be migrated.
  • Ability to review and ensure the data integrity of historical data.
  • Ability to extract and transform historical data into formats accepted by SmartSimple.
NOTE  Clients transitioning from a MicroEdge GIFTS offline system may provide the full GIFTS database without performing any of the migration tasks listed below. SmartSimple has a standard procedure for directly transforming a GIFTS database into an appropriate format for import.

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Client Responsibility

Review of Current System

Before migration, the client determines which information to migrate into SmartSimple. Reviewing existing data carefully, rather than transferring everything, produces better requirement specifications for the new SmartSimple system and supports a more successful implementation.

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Review of Data Integrity

The client is responsible for the data integrity and quality of information imported into SmartSimple. It is recommended that data issues be corrected directly in the previous system before export, which improves the repeatability of the data extraction process.

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Supported Data Formats

Data may be provided to SmartSimple in any of the following formats:

  • Plain text files (CSV, XML, or JSON formatted)
  • Microsoft Excel
  • Microsoft Access database
  • Microsoft SQL Server database (under 10,200 MB)
  • MySQL database
  • Oracle database

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Data Schema

Historical data must be organized by record type across separate tables or files, such as organizations, contacts, and grants.

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File Attachments

Migrating file attachments requires a zipped file of the attachments and a mapping file that matches each file to its corresponding record, record type, and field.

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SmartSimple Responsibility

Data Transform

During system design, the SmartSimple project team works with the client to define the data transformation mapping. SmartSimple creates the mapping and reviews it with the client before migration.

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Data Load

Two data loads occur during a project implementation. The first load happens early in the project so the client can verify the information loaded into SmartSimple, supported by a summary report. The second and final data load happens at the end of the project during a three to five day maintenance window, during which updates to the previous system are frozen to complete the cutover to SmartSimple.

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Resources

For more information about data migration, see:

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Helpful Links