Microsoft Dynamics CRM On-Premise To Microsoft Dynamics
365 In The Cloud
Introduction
Steel in the Air provides services related to cellular lease negotiations, valuation, and brokerage. They develop, procure, own, and operate broadcast and cellular towers. Steel in the Air maintains one of the most comprehensive privately available tower location databases, along with a database of cell tower lease rates for ground leases, collocation leases, and tenant improvement leases across the country.
Our client had previously used Microsoft Dynamics CRM to manage their vast databases and customer relationships – and it had perfectly met their needs – but they wanted to explore the benefits of moving to the cloud and accessing the latest features and functionality of Microsoft Dynamics 365.
They needed a team of D365 consultants and developers who could deliver a seamless data migration and support their move to the cloud.
They wanted a strategic migration approach to ensure they make the best use of the features and enhancements available in the cloud.
After consulting with Solutionade’s team on various aspects of the data migration process and execution, STA chose Solutionade as their data migration partner to help them seamlessly move to Microsoft Dynamics 365 Online.
Why have they not moved to the cloud yet?
Reporting Capabilities
Our client wanted to overcome the challenges with reporting in Dynamics 365 in the cloud, and was not aware of the full reporting capabilities that Dynamics 365 currently has. The Solutionade team helped them migrate the reports from their Microsoft Dynamics CRM to Dynamics 365 online by recreating their SQL reports using a FetchXML connection.
Integrating Data From Multiple External Databases
Another challenge the client was facing as they were contemplating their move to the cloud was the integration of data from multiple external databases. They needed to integrate important data from various external sources, and we helped the client integrate all the necessary data with Dynamics 365 by using SSIS KingswaySoft and Azure Logic Apps.
Why did they move to the cloud?
Eliminate Downtime & Cost of IT Infrastructure
One of the biggest concerns our client had with their on-premise CRM was the monthly server cost, constant issues with the server vendor, memory leaks, updates, and the overall system maintenance. By moving to the cloud, they eliminate this cost while maximizing performance through the security and scalability the cloud provides.
Security, Compliance & Regulations
Moving to the cloud enabled our client to fully control who can access their systems or data over the network. With the Microsoft Trusted Cloud and Dynamics 365 business applications, they can now comply with GDPR and deploy cloud-based solutions for scenarios with unique compliance and security requirements.
Approach
Solutionade had two dedicated consultants working remotely to upgrade the solution and make the code compatible with the new version. We completed the migration and ensured a secure and seamless move to the cloud within a couple of weeks.
Not only did we help our client move and embrace the functionality of the cloud – but we ensured the migration was well planned without causing any disruption throughout the process. We responded quickly to challenges and maintained steady communication with the client.
The Solutionade team took an Agile approach to manage the migration and assigned a dedicated Project Manager to oversee the end-to-end process and ensure comprehensive and quality testing.
The team delivered detailed progress reports, highlighting completed work and potential setbacks, helping the client anticipate changes and factors that might impact their day-to-day operations.
Conclusion
Solutionade’s team prepared the cloud environment by setting up the Dynamics 365 Online organization and creating Users and Teams. We helped the client upgrade to the latest version of Outlook, as the version they were using was soon to be deprecated.
When preparing the on-premise solution for migration, our team reviewed all Entities, managed and unmanaged solutions, web resources, system workflows, and plugins to refactor or recreate components compatible with the latest SDK and UCI requirements.
To address the reporting concerns in Dynamics 365 online, we migrated reports to use FetchXML instead of SQL queries for a seamless cloud reporting experience.
Using SSIS KingswaySoft, we built the data packages and prepared them for migration. We used the same tool to import data from external databases into their cloud environment. Finally, we helped migrate their external web applications using direct SQL access to the Azure Cloud, enabling the client to host critical applications without managing infrastructure while ensuring scalable performance.