Merge two Salesforce instances into one

If your company has been acquired or merged with another, and there are now 2 Salesforce instances where one or both are connected to NetSuite through an Integration App, you can combine them into a single instance.

Maintain your data’s integrity before you merge

• Check that each Salesforce object has the NetSuite internal ID for the corresponding NetSuite record.
  • Note: All Salesforce objects, like account or contact, have a Salesforce ID. But, this ID changes when the object gets moved from one instance to another.
• Check that each NetSuite record has the 18-digit internal ID for the corresponding Salesforce object.
  • Note: Any time there’s a NetSuite record that references a Salesforce object ID, and that ID gets changed in the migration, you will need to update the NetSuite record with the new ID.  
• If the merge will create new records in NetSuite, load them into NetSuite as necessary.
• Be aware of any duplicate records that need to be merged. For the record from the instance that will be deprecated, check if it’s linked to a record in the master system by an ID. Make sure you save the data and the ID.

Find out more about ID mapping between Salesforce and NetSuite.

Step 1: Choose your master Salesforce instance & migrate your data

Note: This process could vary based on how you use Salesforce and have it configured.

1. Identify the master instance. If there could be more than one master, use the one that’s already linked to the NetSuite master, or has the most objects linked to NetSuite.
   • Note: The instance that will not be the master will be deprecated after the merge.
2. Go to theSalesforce data loader. Tip: You can find out moreabout the Salesforce data loader.
3. Put the Salesforce data loader in export mode.
4. From the Salesforce instance that will be deprecated, use the Salesforce data loader to export the objects into a csv file.
   • Note: Include all fields that need to be migrated. If any of them include NetSuite IDs, you should also export those fields for reference.
5. Use the Salesforce data loader to load the objects into the master instance.

Before you move to “Step 2: Load data pairs,” make sure there is a one to one relationship between your data in both systems. Example: One Salesforce account to one NetSuite customer.

Step 2: Load the new data pairs into the Integration App

1. For any object that has been imported to the master instance, export those objects into a spreadsheet with 2 columns.Example object: Account.
   • Note: The columns should be “Name,” and “Internal ID.” Filter your export to pull just the objects that were imported.
2. Export the corresponding records from NetSuite, with name and NetSuite internal ID.Example: Customer records.
3. Sort each export by the account or customer name.
4. Combine the lists into 4 columns.
5. Line up the rows by name. The end result should be 2-columns: One for the Salesforce ID and one for the NetSuite ID. Each row should represent a mapping pair of IDs.
6. Use the Salesforce ID as the key to load the NetSuite IDs into Salesforce.
   • Note: Make sure the ID fields for the Celigo Integration App is right.
7. Use the NetSuite internal ID as the key to load the NetSuite IDs into Salesforce.
   • Note: Make sure the ID fields for the Celigo Integration App is right.
8. Repeat the above steps for all other Salesforce object types as necessary.

If any of the objects from the deprecated instance were referenced by objects in other places, like lookups or lists, those will also be transferred. If those references are based on the Salesforce ID, you will have to update the IDs after the instances have been merged.