What you need to do with your ClickDimensions solution if you are upgrading CRM or moving your CRM deployment
Introduction
Migrating or upgrading a CRM organization that includes ClickDimensions requires careful consideration. This is because each ClickDimensions account is integrated deeply with a single CRM organization database by means of an embedded Account Key that is unique to the CRM organization. This Account Key is used throughout the ClickDimensions customizations and is used to make the connection between your CRM system and your ClickDimensions account in the cloud. If you have multiple installations of ClickDimensions (for example, in a test CRM as well as in your production CRM), then each installation has a separate, unique Account Key.
In addition to the Account Key, many records that are integrated between CRM and ClickDimensions contain identifiers that maintain the correlation between the CRM record and its counterpart in the ClickDimensions cloud. For example, Email Templates use a combination of the Account Key and the record’s ID in the CRM database to link it to the corresponding HTML content and template designer in the cloud:
There are also other types of identifiers called Row Keys and Partition Keys that are stored in CRM for some ClickDimensions records, such as Domain and Form Field records. All of these records in your CRM system are integrated with a specific account in the cloud, and that specific account is identified by the Account Key.
Migration and Upgrade Scenarios: Which one are you planning?
Migrating between environments requires understanding the environment you're migrating from as well as the environment you're migrating to. Below are a series of options and by choosing the option that most closely matches your setup, you will be able to determine which scenario best fits your organization. If you're are unsure of your environments' settings or other options shared below, you may wish to consult with your CRM Admin. Our support team is also available if you have ClickDimensions related questions during this process.
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Which Scenario Best Fits?
Begin by selecting the radio button for which type of CRM you are migrating from and to.
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Online to Online Scenario
Please let our support team know what the new URL/Orgname is after the change has been made. You should also include if the service username/password has changed as well as the URL and Orgname for the old environment.
The ClickDimensions support team will then update your account to connect to the new online environment. While the change to the CRM's location is in progress, should there be any downtime, ClickDimensions will queue and retry to synchronize any pending data every hour for up to two weeks, until the connection is restored.
It is not necessary to install a new solution file.
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CRM On-Premise to CRM Online - Will you be migrating data?
Select which option most closely matches how you intend to migrate your data.
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On-Premise to Online - Scenario 3 (FastTrack)
After your migration is complete, ask ClickDimensions support to update your account with the new CRM Version, URL, Organization Name, and User/Password.
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On-Premise to Online - Scenario 1 (SSIS)
You may ask ClickDimensions support for a updated version of the solution for the target environment.
When you migrate your data, be sure to include the record IDs (GUIDs) as well as the data from all fields in ClickDimensions Entities. You should also disable plugins in the target CRM system prior to migrating data, but do not migrate records for the entity named cdi_executesend.
After your migration is complete, ask ClickDimensions support to update your account with the new URL, Organization Name, and User/Password.
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On-Premise to Online - Scenario 2
Since you are starting from scratch with ClickDimensions on CRM online, it is best to register the new environment separately.
Please contact your Success Manager and let them know you will be registering the new environment and that the old environment can be deactivated on a certain date.
While both environments are active you can use the ClickDimensions Import/Export to move certain ClickDimensions records such as Email Templates.
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CRM On-Premise to CRM On-Premise - What type of upgrade are you doing?
Select which option most closely matches the type of upgrade you're performing.
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On-Premise to On-Premise - Scenario 1 (No Upgrade)
Please let our support team know what the new URL/Organization Name is after the change has been made. You should also let them know if the Service User/Password has changed.
The ClickDimensions support team will then update your account to connect to the new online URL/org name. While the change to CRM's location is in progress, if your CRM server is unavailable, ClickDimensions will queue data and retry to synchronize it every hour for up to two weeks until CRM is available again.
It is not necessary to install a new solution file unless you wish to update it at this time.
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On-Premise to On-Premise - Scenario 2 (SSIS)
You may ask ClickDimensions Support for an updated version of the solution for the target environment.
When you migrate your data, be sure to include the record IDs (GUIDs), as well as the data from all fields in ClickDimensions entities. Disable plugins in the target CRM system prior to migrating data. Do not migrate records for the entity named cdi_executesend.
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On-Premise to On-Premise - Scenario 3 (Import Upgrade)
After your migration is complete, ask ClickDimensions support to update your account with the new CRM Version, URL, Organization Name, and User/Password.
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On-Premise to On-Premise - Scenario 4 (In-Place)
Contact ClickDimensions support after your upgrade is complete. They can provide a solution with your existing Account Key but for the current version of CRM that you have upgraded to.
While your upgrade is in progress, if your CRM server is unavailable, ClickDimensions will queue data and retry to synchronize it every hour for up to two weeks until CRM is available again.
After your upgrade is complete, it is not necessary to have the new solution file installed right away—data should synchronize shortly after the upgraded CRM is available again.
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On-Premise to On-Premise - Scenario 5
Since you are starting from scratch with ClickDimensions on the new CRM, it is best to register the new environment separately.
Please contact you Success Manager and let them know you will be registering the new environment and the old environment can be deactivated on a certain date.
While both environments are active you can use the ClickDimensions Import/export to move certain ClickDimensions record types such as Email Templates.
Entity Migration Order
Below is our recommendation for the order of migrating entities:
CAUTION: Please proceed with caution as we are unable to validate this order for your environments.
| Order | Schema |
| 1 | account |
| 1 | contact |
| 1 | lead |
| 1 | list |
| 1 | campaign |
| 1 | cdi_category |
| 1 | cdi_domain |
| 1 | cdi_emailcname |
| 1 | cdi_import |
| 1 | cdi_iporganization |
| 1 | cdi_profile |
| 1 | cdi_subscriptionlist |
| 2 | cdi_anonymousvisitor |
| 2 | cdi_automation |
| 2 | cdi_bulktxtmessage |
| 2 | cdi_emailtemplate |
| 2 | cdi_formfield |
| 2 | cdi_socialpost |
| 2 | cdi_surveyquestion |
| 2 | listmember |
| 3 | cdi_emailsend |
| 3 | cdi_formcapture |
| 3 | cdi_txtmessage |
| 3 | cdi_webcontent |
| 4 | cdi_sentemail |
| 4 | cdi_visit |
| 5 | cdi_postedform |
| 5 | cdi_postedsubscription |
| 5 | cdi_postedsurvey |
| 6 | cdi_event |
| 6 | cdi_eventparticipation |
| 7 | campaignresponse |
| 7 | cdi_emailevent |
| 7 | cdi_excludedemail |
| 7 | cdi_executesend |
| 7 | cdi_executesocialpost |
| 7 | cdi_formcapturefield |
| 7 | cdi_importlog |
| 7 | cdi_pageview |
| 7 | cdi_postedfield |
| 7 | cdi_sendemail |
| 7 | cdi_socialclick |
| 7 | cdi_subscriptionpreference |
| 7 | cdi_surveyanswer |
| 7 | cdi_unsubscribe |
| 8 | cdi_emailsend_account (M:M) |
| 8 | cdi_emailsend_cdi_webcontent (M:M) |
| 8 | cdi_emailsend_contact (M:M) |
| 8 | cdi_emailsend_lead (M:M) |
| 8 | cdi_emailsend_suppressed_list (M:M) |
| 8 | cdi_emailsend_list (M:M) |
| 8 | cdi_event_cdi_automation (M:M) |
| 8 | cdi_unsubscribe_cdi_subscriptionlist (M:M) |
Any remaining entities can be imported at the end of this order.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: Can I use the same ClickDimensions solution in two different CRM organizations?
A: No, each solution has a unique account key to support the integration of a specific CRM organization.
Q: Will ClickDimensions stop working after I upgrade my CRM if I do not install a new solution right away?
A: No. If you are upgrading from CRM 2011 to a newer version, ClickDimensions will still be able to connect to your upgraded CRM and synchronize data (as long as the URL and org name have not changed). Your users will be able to use most functions of ClickDimensions without updating to a new solution, although they may encounter some minor issues in the UI such as iframes rendering incorrectly or script errors.
Q: Will I lose data during my upgrade if CRM is not available for a period of time?
A: No, ClickDimensions automatically queues data for a later synchronization if your CRM is unavailable for any reason. ClickDimensions will retry to synchronize the data every hour for up to two weeks until your CRM is available again.
Q: I want to run some tests in our upgraded environment before we turn off our current production CRM. Can I use the same ClickDimensions solution?
A: No, you cannot have two concurrent CRM systems using the same Account Key. You will need to register the upgraded environment separately, conduct your tests, and then, when you are ready to cut over to your new CRM, you can import the ClickDimensions solution with the original Account Key and ask ClickDimensions to update your production account to connect to your new, upgraded CRM.
Q: We are just changing the URL and/or organization name of our CRM system (perhaps moving it to new servers). We are not upgrading. Do we need a new solution file?
A: No, you do not need a new solution file. Please let our support team know the new URL and/or organization name, and they can update your account to point to your CRM’s new location.
Q: We are migrating our data using a migration tool to a new CRM deployment (ie, on new servers or in CRM Online). Do we need a new ClickDimensions solution?
A: If you plan to conduct testing on the new CRM prior to disabling the old CRM, then you will need to register for a new solution file to use temporarily during your testing. If you are just going to migrate the data and start using ClickDimensions in the new CRM once the data migration is complete, then you can use the same solution file you already have installed.
Q: What if we have Custom DKIM setup in our previous environment?
A: If Custom DKIM has been set up on the previous environment prior to migration, please see either our DKIM article or Email Sending Domains article in order to have this re-implemented.
Q: Can we merge image manager data from one environment into another?
A: Yes, but merging image manager data from one environment to another will overwrite any existing data in the target environment with the data from the source environment.
PLEASE NOTE: You will not be able to move over those records that are dependent on integration with our system unless you also re-create the record GUIDs in the new CRM org. For example, Email Template records have a record in CRM but also a counterpart on our cloud application (the HTML for the body of the email itself). The record in our cloud application uses the CRM record’s GUID to match it for integration purposes. If you simply migrate the data from the CRM record, but not the GUID, the template will no longer be integrated from our cloud to your new CRM. Likewise, for those records that have Row Key and Partition Key fields, these values must also be migrated to the new environment if you wish to maintain the integration.