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At CloudKettle, Salesforce org mergers and Salesforce org migrations are a daily a part of our enterprise.
There may be one query that’s continuously raised by purchasers:
“Ought to we create a brand new clear org from scratch and migrate all the pieces to it?”
This isn’t solely the case for org mergers and org migrations, but in addition for purchasers coping with older orgs which have a big quantity of technical debt and unhealthy knowledge.
The reply to this query, with few exceptions, is: DO NOT DO THIS.
OverviewWhy shouldn’t you rebuild your Salesforce org from scratch?When do you have to contemplate a brand new Salesforce org?What do you have to do as an alternative?What to think about throughout a Salesforce org mergerRecap
Take into consideration your org (or orgs because the case could also be) as an residence or home that is filled with stuff. The sink drips, perhaps some door handles are just a little free, however it’s a roof over your head to maintain your issues in. Apologies if I stretch this analogy too far, however right here goes.
Why shouldn’t you rebuild your org from scratch?
For many organizations, the rationale their org is in unhealthy form is due to a scarcity of inner or exterior upkeep, a scarcity of knowledge governance, a scarcity of total org governance and fairly merely, launching a brand new org gained’t repair these issues. In case your sinks are overflowing with soiled dishes, the toilet is filthy and there’s a loud celebration each evening so you possibly can’t sleep – you possibly can transfer to a brand new home with the identical roommates, but when the foundations aren’t tightened and folks aren’t pressured to vary conduct – you’re going to be in the identical spot in two months.
While you determine to maneuver to a brand new org, it’s important to freeze what you might be doing within the present org for an extended time frame (usually the whole necessities, architectural and construct course of). It’s a lot much less while you merge one org into one other. So primarily your roadmap hits pause for 6-12 months. Even minor enhancements – changing the leaky faucet, or repainting the baseboards – must cease. In Salesforce phrases, meaning not implementing a brand new territory plan, not including new integrations, not deploying new automations – that freeze must be in place so the brand new world will be constructed and the information migrated. This may be devastating to the enterprise, usually far outweighs the advantages of “beginning clear” and rarely makes followers amongst stakeholders who can’t perceive why their “one little factor” can’t be performed.
While you transfer to a brand new org, it doesn’t imply your knowledge magically will get higher. There may be nonetheless a large train that has to occur to wash and rework the information to maneuver it to the brand new org (or merge knowledge from two orgs into a brand new one). It is advisable take a tough take a look at your metaphorical closet, channel your internal Marie Kondo, and ask “does this spark pleasure”? Previous processes, historic knowledge, and so forth. – these are issues that should be cleaned up and in some circumstances, thrown out, earlier than you progress. You don’t get to skip this step since you are beginning recent, actually it’s usually extra of an onerous course of as a result of you possibly can’t do it in waves – it must be tied to the main migration.
Some integrations can’t be migrated from org to org. Very similar to customized counter tops in a bespoke kitchen, in some circumstances an integration (like a Advertising and marketing Automation platform and its Salesforce org) mate for all times. Which means that if you’re migrating to a brand new Salesforce org, you additionally should deploy a totally new integration as nicely – considerably growing the danger and scope of the mission.
Time to Worth: Your customers and stakeholders won’t begin seeing enhancements till the top of a multi-stage mission emigrate to a brand new org. You’ve bought a brand new house, however shifting day isn’t for six months. That may be a lengthy wait. While you start to wash up the prevailing org and transfer new customers in, the time to worth is far quicker. It would solely be one launch earlier than the customers within the “surviving org” start to have an improved expertise.
When do you have to contemplate a brand new org?
No rule in enterprise is steadfast, there are at all times exceptions, however on this case they’re few and much between. Listed below are some distinctive circumstances the place migrating to a brand new recent org is likely to be needed:
You’re a particularly massive multi-national enterprise doing a world migration of your ERP software that’s closely built-in with Salesforce. You probably have determined to undertake arguably one of the crucial complicated system implementations doable and migrate and probably merge an ERP system, then a web new org could make sense for you. Sometimes these tasks take years and have complete groups devoted solely to them. There are the assets (human and monetary) to make this succeed.
You don’t have important urgency and are okay to have a time horizon that begins at a minimal of 12 months to 2 years (relying on complexity) earlier than the mission will be accomplished. In case you meet the factors for the primary bullet level, you’re going to be nearer to the two 12 months mark than the 6 month at the least place to begin.
You’re migrating down in your Salesforce license sort. It usually isn’t doable to downgrade from say Limitless to Enterprise. Doing so often requires that the org be migrated to a brand new recent occasion.
You’re upgrading from a Gross sales or Service Cloud occasion to a Salesforce Industries (Communications Cloud, Media Cloud, Monetary Providers Cloud, Vitality and Utilities Cloud and so forth) occasion. On this case you might be adopting a brand new trade standardized knowledge mannequin and will profit from changing a big quantity of customized objects and different metadata with these new standardized, out of the field options of the brand new org.
What do you have to do as an alternative?For org mergers, the place two or extra orgs are going to be merged collectively, we advocate an Org Merge Audit and Roadmap with the intention to decide which org ought to be stored (grow to be the surviving org), which ought to be decommissioned so {that a} plan and timeline will be constructed out earlier than the mission begins. An engagement like that is greatest performed by specialists who’re skilled in migrations and can take about 6 weeks, however it considerably reduces the danger, modifications there will likely be timeline and value overruns and permits the group to correctly put together for the migration. Take into account 6 weeks a small value to pay for a roadmap that may forestall months of delays and sudden scope creep.
After the audit and roadmap, usually, tasks like this are greatest performed in a phased method. If greater than two orgs are being merged, they’re performed one by one – once more, de risking the mission and lowering the scope creep and value overruns. Additionally the mission ought to give attention to the migration first and high quality of life enhancements and new options being added as a followup section as soon as the migration is accomplished.
What to think about throughout a Salesforce org merger:
Have somebody with important expertise with org mergers and migrations audit what you’ve gotten at the moment and supply recommendation on scope, but in addition on which org ought to act because the surviving org and which will likely be retired. This wants to incorporate the org itself, but in addition the automation and integrations. Within the case of acquisitions, it’s usually the case that the smaller, youthful org of the acquired firm is operated at a extra refined degree and is the higher choice to maintain. In our expertise at CloudKettle, that is the case virtually 50% of the time.
As a part of the migration mission, be certain that new insurance policies for Org and Knowledge Governance and DevOps are instituted, together with automation, duplicate detection and protections to implement them. In case you’re bored with muddy footprints all around the ground, step one to success is making the youngsters take off their boots on the door earlier than you begin to mop up the mess.
After you have some higher knowledge and org governance in place, then begin the information cleanup course of. That features eradicating duplicates, enriching information to enhance subject inhabitants, enhancing metadata (eradicating fields and objects not in use) and tightening up how and the standard of knowledge entered by integrations.
Start the change administration course of early. Commit and price range for a closing section of the mission that features important high quality of life enhancements for finish customers, however be clear and blunt that there will likely be some non permanent ache throughout the merger course of. Being sincere that these modifications will take time, however promoting the opposite enhancements which can be coming goes an extended technique to retaining stakeholders affected person throughout the first phases of the mission.
RecapBeginning recent and rebuilding your org from scratch could seem to be a tempting choice, however in our expertise, the prices far outweigh the advantages. Whereas every merger/migration is exclusive and there could also be sure circumstances the place a greenfield deployment is sensible, it’s not a choice that ought to be taken evenly. Do your analysis. Discuss to individuals who have performed it earlier than. Examine precisely what must be performed, and if doable – usher in some knowledgeable help so that you simply’ve acquired a transparent method earlier than you make any main strikes. These tasks usually are not for the faint of coronary heart – however with the right planning and execution, may also help you understand actual efficiencies in your income operations.
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