Sample Contact A
2 linked enquiries
- R-001: Website proposal
- R-002: Maintenance enquiry
All services
Business Data Migration Services in Pakistan
Moving business records is more than copying a spreadsheet into a new application. The source may mix people, companies, enquiries and orders in the same rows. We scope the records, relationships and checks that must survive a move, then plan a trial before the live switch.
Discuss your record migration →Decide what each source row represents
A repeated phone number might be the same person asking about two services, a shared office number or an accidental duplicate. Do not merge rows simply because one field matches. Identify the business objects first: contact, company, enquiry, order or payment record. Keep a stable source reference for each row and record the matching decision. The business owner should approve how ambiguous cases are handled before records are combined.
Map fields and meanings before importing
For each source column, name the destination field, expected format, required status and any transformation. A date such as 04/05 needs an agreed interpretation; an empty value is different from zero or an intentionally removed value. Preserve meaningful leading zeros in identifiers and phone text. Map status meanings explicitly: a sales enquiry marked complete does not necessarily mean an order was paid. Unsupported fields and attachments need a visible decision rather than silently disappearing.
Review duplicates without losing history
Agree whether a match should create a new record, update a particular existing record or enter a review queue. Customer names alone are usually insufficient for a reliable decision. Preserve separate enquiries where the work is separate, and keep their relationship to the same contact where appropriate. Define which source wins when values conflict and whether the old value needs to remain in an agreed history. Use a representative anonymised sample to review these rules with staff.
Run a trial and reconcile the exceptions
A trial should report source rows, accepted rows, rejected rows and the reason for each rejection. Compare representative records and relationships, not only the final total. Check dates, status mappings, linked companies, amounts where relevant, notes and attachments included in scope. Re-running an import should follow an agreed duplicate policy. A successful file upload is not proof that every required record arrived correctly. Keep an exception list with an assigned decision owner.
Agree the live switch and recovery plan
Name the authoritative system during the transition and decide how to handle records created while the migration is running. A short editing pause may suit one team; another may need a controlled final-change import. Agree backups, access, a go/no-go decision, a recovery window and who can authorise a return to the earlier process. An old export is useful only if the responsible people know how it will be restored and which later changes would need reconciliation.
Prepare a useful migration brief
Share a column list, record types, approximate counts, source systems and a small synthetic or anonymised sample. Explain which history, documents and relationships matter and which records should be excluded. Do not send passwords or full customer exports through a public enquiry form. The proposal should name supported extraction access, mapping, trial imports, reconciliation, staff review and handover. Charges for third-party access, cleanup, storage and ongoing synchronisation need separate confirmation; a one-time move is different from a continuing integration.
Interactive synthetic example
Four source rows, three matching decisions
Contact A has two separate requests. Contact B is a different person sharing the office phone. Contact C has no phone or email in the source. Compare how a matching decision changes the proposed contact records while preserving the enquiry references.
All names and phone labels are fictional. This demonstration uses fixed sample rows; the destination's fields and relationship rules still need review.
| Source | Contact alias | Phone alias | Request |
|---|---|---|---|
| R-001 | Sample Contact A | Office phone X | Website proposal |
| R-002 | Sample Contact A | Office phone X | Maintenance enquiry |
| R-003 | Sample Contact B | Office phone X | Service enquiry |
| R-004 | Sample Contact C | Missing | Request awaiting review |
Use the reviewed person matches
The reviewed plan matches Contact A's two rows to one contact and keeps Contact B separate. It retains three enquiries and leaves R-004 for an agreed exception decision.
- Source rows
- 4
- Proposed contacts
- 2
- Retained enquiries
- 3
- Rows for review
- 1
Proposed contact groups and enquiry references
Sample Contact B
1 linked enquiry
- R-003: Service enquiry
Keep the exception visible
R-004 remains a source row for review in every choice. Agree how missing contact details should be handled before creating a destination record. The three retained enquiries and one pending row account for all four source references.
The reviewed identities are supplied for this example. Real matching requires approved rules, supported destination fields and staff decisions on uncertain records. Use the migration brief worksheet to record those decisions.
Questions before you start
Can every field from our old system be moved?
That depends on extraction access, destination capabilities and the agreed scope. Inventory the fields, attachments and relationships first. Record any excluded or unsupported item and the approved alternative before the live move.
Will our team need to stop using the old system?
The transition needs a defined source of truth. Agree an editing pause or a controlled process for later changes, then confirm the trial and recovery checks before switching staff. There is no universal zero-downtime promise.
Can you clean a spreadsheet before a CRM import?
Cleanup and mapping can be scoped, but staff must decide business meanings and ambiguous duplicates. Start with a column list and representative synthetic rows. A demonstration sample is not proof that the full source has been corrected.