User Migration Guide

When integrating a new service, it is advisable to migrate current users to UNIDY to alleviate the burden of creating new accounts and minimize the risk of losing their existing data and track records within the integrated service. Further, the migration presents an opportunity to convert these users to other services and explore cross-selling possibilities. The subsequent guide outlines crucial steps for transferring users to UNIDY and provides best practices for communicating and inviting existing and potential UNIDY users.

The user migration process consists of six steps including the identification of relevant users and data points as well as ensuring high data quality, the import process of the user data into UNIDY and the integrated service.

Depending on the specific service and local regulations, such as the DSGVO/GDPR, there may be legal obligations regarding the storage of user data that must be considered when transferring users to UNIDY or other systems and services.

If the integrated service is not subject to the aforementioned regulations, it is advisable to migrate all users to UNIDY to ensure a seamless migration experience for them. However, user migration also presents an opportunity to enhance data quality and eliminate inactive users from the database. The duration of user inactivity is context-dependent and difficult to generalize since it depends on the use cases covered by the service. Our Customer Success Team is happy to assist in identifying such users.

Additionally, the UNIDY data structure mandates a 1:1 correspondence between IDs and email addresses, preventing one email address from being linked to multiple IDs/users. As such, it is imperative to check for duplicates in the data and merge relevant information under the leading contact. In many cases, it is recommended to designate the contact with the highest user rights as the leading contact to ensure the user retains the same entitlements post-migration. Importing a user with multiple email addresses will result in the creation of multiple IDs, which is generally not problematic for our system. However, it may be beneficial to perform duplicate tests on other fields, such as the street name or first and last names, to improve data quality.

The aim of data analysis is to obtain an overview of current data fields, determine which ones should be managed in UNIDY or shared with other services, and create a mapping to existing and tailored data fields within UNIDY. Based on this information, the synchronization process and scope of data import should be defined.

When it comes to defining relevant data fields three factors need to be taken into consideration:

1.2.1. Which data fields should be synced between UNIDY and the integrated service: To avoid data overwriting in the integrated service, it is essential to import all data fields synchronized between UNIDY and the integrated service before going live. The majority of standard integrations involve importing the following data fields into UNIDY:

1.2.2. Which of the data fields should be synced between UNIDY and other integrated services: There are numerous situations where data fields offered by Service A can be important for Services B and C. For example, a user may be a member of a football club and manage their membership through Service A. As a member, the user receives discounts in the club's store (Service B) and the ticketing system (Service C), which is why the membership flag must be provided when the user logs into Services B and C. When determining pertinent data fields for the migration, these use cases should be considered.

1.2.3. Which data fields are required by the service for user identification: All integrated services require a unique identifier for each user to identify them after login. The most common identifier is the user's email address, while others use a unique ID. If the service identifies the user via email, no additional identifier is required. However, if the service requires a unique ID, it is recommended to use the UNIDY ID as the identifier to avoid synchronization complexities and errors that arise from additional IDs stored in UNIDY. If the service requires its own identifier, please contact the Customer Success Team for a suitable solution.

After identifying the relevant data fields, the next step is to map them to the corresponding fields in UNIDY and define respective sync rules. This mapping process is essential to ensure that the data is accurately imported without any loss of information during the migration.

To streamline and simplify this process, UNIDY provides a standardized table. Our Customer Success Team is available to assist you.

After completing the mapping step, any relevant data fields that are not provided by UNIDY by default should be created as custom attributes within the platform. Please contact our Customer Success Team for guidance on this step.

The goal of data hygiene is to ensure that the data being transferred is accurate, complete, and consistent. This involves identifying and resolving any data quality issues such as duplicates, incorrect formatting, incomplete records, or outdated information. By addressing these issues, the integrity of the data is improved, reducing the risk of errors and ensuring that the migrated data is reliable and usable in UNIDY and the service.

To facilitate this process, we are providing a checklist for data hygiene, which can be found in our Data Quality Checklist

After completing the previous steps, an import file with all the relevant user data fields should be generated. Before importing the data, it is recommended to cross-check the final file with the existing users in UNIDY. This can be done by exporting the users from UNIDY and checking for duplicates using a tool such as Excel.

Generally, the data in UNIDY is up to date and should not be overwritten, so it is advisable to not import any data for existing users. However, the decision may vary based on the integrated service, and it cannot be generalized.

Depending on the decision made, four different scenarios should be considered:

a. No existing users: No further tasks before the import.

b. Existing users' data should be overwritten: No further tasks before the import.

c. Existing users' data should not be overwritten: Extract these users from the import file before starting the import.

d. Existing users' data should not be overwritten, but some additional data should be added: Extract these users from the import file and create a separate one which only contains the additional fields, to upload it separately.

For the import of the user data, please contact our Customer Success Team. We are happy to assist you.

This step is solely required if the integrated service utilizes an external identifier such as the UNIDY ID to identify users in the login process.

During step 5, UNIDY generates users and their corresponding UNIDY IDs. To guarantee that the service can identify the users, the UNIDY ID needs to be imported into the respective system. UNIDY can supply an export file containing all relevant users and their respective UNIDY IDs for that purpose.