Summary

In this case study, Logan Consulting successfully guides a benefits consulting firm from Microsoft Dynamics CRM on-premise to the cloud.

 

The Client

Our client, a benefits consulting firm, handles corporate benefits plans, including health care insurance, life insurance, and individual insurance of all types.  Our client has been offering these services since 1963. This client originally installed an on-premises version of Microsoft Dynamics CRM in 2015 with a local Microsoft partner.

 

The Opportunity

As many companies are doing today, a benefits consulting firm did not want to have to deal with on-site or co-located servers- the licensing, equipment replacement, and the security hassles. Furthermore, they were interested in extending the productivity of their team that was spread out among two physical offices, working remotely from home, or at clients by allowing a system that easily provided access to CRM anywhere anytime and with high security. Additionally, they had a need to consolidate commission processing from a separate legacy system into CRM, so they required a Microsoft CRM Partner that had extensive experience with other clients in the Insurance and Investment Industries and understood future system requirements.

In early 2018, they began to look for a new Partner with both Insurance Industry experience, and ability to get their on-premise CRM installation to the Dynamics 365 cloud.

The company had extensively customized their CRM solution with over 30 custom entities. The system had about 40 users, with multiple teams and business units, and complex security role requirements. The database was about 90 GB, so the solution to move this data had to be done in a timely and error-free manner, and without disrupting daily operations of the firm. And one more thing – The current CRM system was on a co-located server with the old partner that Logan Consulting would not have any direct access to during the migration process.

 

The Logan Consulting Solution

After initially contacting Logan Consulting, and deciding Microsoft Dynamics 365 online was the preferred option, we conducted a thorough review of the current CRM system to understand the structure, and the size of the database to move. Microsoft does not provide any direct method for moving an on-premise installation of CRM to the Cloud version. The system must be “migrated” to the cloud and requires an experienced partner to manage and execute this process.

This review included:

  • Review of system version to insure proper match to online version
  • Analyze custom JavaScript to insure it would work in the latest Cloud version of CRM
  • Users, Teams, Business Units and Security Settings
  • Handling of Disabled Users data
  • Total Number of CRM Entitles that will be migrated and size of database
  • Custom report conversion to work in CRM online
  • Handling of Email and Notes attachments
  • Client Timeline for Go-live

 

The Results

Using our time-tested Logan Consulting methodology, we came up with a plan that addressed issues that are involved with migration of a Microsoft Dynamics CRM on-premise installation to the cloud. The firm has been live on the Dynamics 365 online since late May 2018.

The project results included the following:

  • Migration of Users, Teams, Business Units and Security Roles
  • Successful Migration of the actual system structure known as a solution to the cloud version
  • Conversion of on-premise SQL based reports to fetch-xml format required for CRM online use.
  • Migration of actual data in a timely fashion in a manner that did not disrupt daily operations or destroy current CRM data.
  • Maintained data integrity regarding original record created on dates
  • Integration with their Office 365 email system, and new Outlook 2016 clients
  • Mitigation post-migration of email and note attachments to minimize online storage costs
  • Conference Room Pilot to ensure client acceptance of CRM data and system operation prior to going live.
  • Minimized transition time to minimize risk.
  • Project Completion time – about 6 weeks from start of migration to Go-Live online.

 

Next Steps

Replace your old ways of doing business with a modern, secure, and customizable system that already works with the Microsoft Office tools that your team is familiar with – Teams, Outlook, Excel & Word. Choose Microsoft Dynamics 365 for managing Sales and Customer Service interactions, and Marketing Outreach programs.

Logan Consulting, your Chicago-based consulting firm, has helped clients across the nation find their full potential every day. Stop losing revenue opportunities and start managing your company efficiently. Talk to us and watch your digital transformation begin.