MIGRATION FROM CRM 4.0 TO DYNAMICS CRM 2013

Migration from CRM 4.0 to Dynamics CRM 2013 is not a single step procedure, but it is nevertheless not difficult either. The steps involved would be to first move to CRM 2011 and then progressively upgrade to Dynamics CRM 2013. There exists no direct upgrade option from CRM 4.0 to Dynamics CRM 2013.

When migrating from CRM 4.0 to Dynamics CRM 2011, there are no changes in customizations required, as CRM 2011 supports all CRM 4.0 javascripts, plugins and DLLs. Dynamics CRM 2013 does not support some CRM 4 DLLs, SDKs, javascrips and plugins. These are to be checked prior to start of migration process and disabled to ensure a successful migration. The Legacy feature check tool from Microsoft helps to check all customizations which are unsupported by Dynamics CRM 2013. The Legacy feature check tool can be obtained from here and this document provides more inputs on these customizations.

After running the legacy feature check tool and the plugins and javascript issues are dealt with, the migration process to Dynamics CRM 2013 from CRM 2011 can be started. The customizations from CRM 2011 are supported by Dynamics CRM 2013, hence only the CRM 4 plugins need to be re-written for CRM 2011. The other option is to remove all CRM 4.0 customizations, migrate it to CRM 2011, and then to Dynamics CRM 2013, following which the customizations can be implemented in Dynamics CRM 2013 itself.

A Broad Outline Of Steps To Be Followed Are

1. Software requirements and support to be checked on the server
2. Plugins, workflows and java scripts to be checked using legacy feature check tool
3. Remove all CRM 4.0 customizations prior to start of migration to CRM 2011
4. Enable customizations in CRM 2011 if required
5. Continue migration to Dynamics CRM 2013
6. Add all the removed customizations to Dynamics CRM 2013, if not added earlier to CRM 2011

Some Issues That We Faced

• The database table field length differences affected usability after migration. This has to be checked as there are differences in allowed field lengths between CRM 4.0, CRM 2011 and Dynamics CRM 2013
• CRM 4.0 web services API were not removed prior to migration to Dynamics CRM 2013 which disrupted the upgrade. This customization was required to be removed and re-implemented in Dynamics CRM 2013

When migrating from CRM 2011 to Dynamics CRM 2013, the server can not be rolled back to CRM 2011. And to proceed with the migration, there are predominantly two different methodologies to follow, based on availability of resources. For a detailed document on migration from CRM 2011 to Dynamics CRM 2013.

Reference Link: http://www.nalashaa.com/migration-crm-4-0-dynamics-crm-2013/