CRM - October 2008 - (Page SF4)

4 October 2008 Sponsored Content DATA REPLICATION CASE STUDY A data security solutions company wanted to create an on-demand dashboard for sales information. The data needed to be reliable and available in a timely manner. The company wanted to avoid a solution that was difficult to run and configure or involved custom coding. After considering available options, the company implemented the On Demand Data Replication Service from Informatica. The service is AppExchange-certified and requires no hardware or software. It replicates data in both full and CDC (changed data capture) extract mode. The Informatica solution was able to replicate Salesforce data through the corporate firewall with just a Web browser. A full copy of sales data was available within minutes of signing up for the service and executive dashboards were in full production in less than one month of the start of the project. CRM system, consolidating information across various back-office systems and databases, as well as a myriad of spreadsheets, mapping the data, the field names, data types, and field lengths between the old system and the new Salesforce system may seem overwhelming. Migration is something administrators only do once, and they need to get it right the first time. With the right tools and services, a properly executed data migration project can make all the difference in the success and adoption of the new CRM system. Informatica’s On Demand Data Loader Service, a data migration and import tool, streamlines complex mapping processes, decreasing the risk and minimizing the errors inherent in data migration projects. At the same time, the solution reduces the costs of data migration projects by streamlining data discovery and information review, improving business-IT collaboration, and incorporating proven best practices. In addition, direct integration with popular SQL databases, file systems and Excel spreadsheets simplifies data importing from legacy corporate databases. The Informatica Data Loader Service makes it easy to map source and destination through a wizard-based visual interface. And existing maps from Salesforce Apex Data Loader can be imported and reused accelerating time to results. It also has the ability to apply expressions to the process, such as concatenating separate first and last name fields or separating city, state and zip codes into seprate fields, avoiding the need to massage data in Excel or another database before importing. See Migration case study sidebar. EXTRACTING DATA FROM SALESFORCE Managing Salesforce CRM data can be a complex, labor- and time-intensive process, yet it’s a necessary effort because that data drives the rest of the organization. Whether transferring new orders from Salesforce to Accounting or ERP systems, moving new opportunity data to the data warehouse for analysis, or archiving Salesforce data for compliance and security purposes, replicating Salesforce data is crucial to the overall success and adoption of Salesforce by the enterprise. What most Salesforce administrators need is a simple, intuitive way to replicate Salesforce data to import into the systems inside their firewall. Informatica’s Data Replication Service streamlines the often complex tasks of mapping Salesforce account, contact, opportunity, and lead data to the structures of SQL databases, file systems, or even Google Spreadsheets. Once mapped, the Data Replication Service automatically transfers Salesforce data to those backoffice databases inside the firewall—a simple, set and forget approach to an oftentimes repetitive task. The Data Replication Service frees business users from reliance on the IT organization to copy or archive Salesforce data. The simple Web-based interface allows users to transfer Salesforce data into a local file or database for reporting, forecasting, and scorecarding; archive data, including custom objects and fields; and back up data to comply with internal or regulatory requirements—all from their Web browser. Users never have to worry whether their data was captured for archive and backup. Changes to the Salesforce schema are automatically detected and incorporated, ensuring that information is always up to date. Business analysts and CRM administrators can create as many separate replication groups as they want and run them on whatever schedule they prefer. For example, new customer orders can be replicated to the manufacturing system hourly, new opportunities can be replicated to the BI data warehouse every four hours, and the entire Salesforce database can be archived daily. Because the Data Replication Service is on demand, there is no software or hardware or cumbersome appliance to install, maintain and manage, easing the administrative burden by avoiding upgrade, platform support, and compatibility issues. New fields can be quickly and easily added without reconfiguring the service, saving time and effort. Handling large data volumes can be reduced by limiting capture and transfer to changed records, further easing administrative burdens. See Data Replication case study sidebar.

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of CRM - October 2008

CRM - October 2008 Contents Front Office Feedback Reality�Check Customer Centricity The Tipping Point Sprinting Toward Disaster? SAP�Retains Market-Share Lead in�CRM A�Week of Strong Customer�Service CRM�on Twitter Build a Good Event and They Will Come Required Reading There's No Place Like Home The New Breed of CRM�Consultant The Price is Right...You Hope How Much Marketing is Too�Much? The�Sweet Smell of High-Quality�Service The Next Act! For An Acquisition Some Stories Never Get Old CRM�Eases the Pressure For WIKA�Instruments Secret of My Success Re:Tooling Scouting Report Pint of View

CRM - October 2008

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