Migrate from Skyward CRM to Nutshell

Discovery and deployment path confirmation

We conduct a scoping call to confirm whether the Skyward CRM instance is cloud-hosted or on-premise, which determines the extraction mechanism. We audit the source portal across objects in scope (Contacts, Leads, Companies, Deals, Activities, Products, Partner Records, Custom Fields), enumerate the pipeline stage names, and review the user roster. For cloud deployments, we explore available export features and confirm row limits. For on-premise deployments, we request read-only database credentials to prepare the extraction queries. We deliver a written migration scope document that confirms the extraction path, record counts per object, and any constraints identified during discovery.

Custom field enumeration and pipeline mapping

Because Skyward CRM exposes no public metadata API, we enumerate custom fields for each object by reviewing the Skyward admin panel during a shared-screen scoping session. We document each custom field's name, type, and picklist values in the field-mapping spreadsheet. Simultaneously, we capture the full deal pipeline stage configuration and produce a stage-mapping table that maps each Skyward stage name to the equivalent Nutshell stage value. This stage mapping is validated against the deal volume per stage to catch any low-volume edge cases before production import.

Nutshell schema preparation

We configure the destination Nutshell workspace before any data moves. This includes creating all discovered custom fields with matching types, setting up the Nutshell deal pipeline with stages mapped from the Skyward stage-mapping table, configuring any custom fields on Companies, People, and Leads, and verifying the Nutshell user roster against the Skyward owner list. If the customer plans to use Nutshell's Import2 white-glove service, we coordinate the import file format and mapping spreadsheet with Import2 before the production import window.

Sample import and mapping validation

We run a sample import of 25-50 records per object type into a test Nutshell workspace or use Nutshell's built-in preview import to validate the mapping. This catches field-type mismatches, missing custom fields, and dedupe conflicts before the full production import. For custom fields, we test that text fields do not receive date data without conversion, and that picklist values match Nutshell's allowed values exactly. The customer reviews the sample output and signs off the mapping before production migration begins.

Production import in dependency order

We run the production migration in the correct record-dependency order: Companies first (parent for People), then People and Leads (with lifecycle stage preserved in custom fields), then Deals (with Company and Owner references resolved), then Products (with Price Book entries), then Activity records (with contact and deal lookups resolved). Partner records from Skyward's staging table are imported last, mapped to Companies or People per the agreed strategy. Each phase emits a row-count reconciliation report before the next phase begins. Nutshell's Import2 service or JSON-RPC API handles the physical import, with our staging layer managing transformation, dedupe, and lookup resolution.

Cutover, delta migration, and handoff

We freeze writes to Skyward CRM during the cutover window, run a final delta import of any records modified during the migration, then set Nutshell as the system of record. We deliver a reconciliation report comparing record counts in Skyward at freeze against Nutshell post-import, plus a spot-check validation of 30-50 randomly selected records across objects. We provide a written inventory of Reports (configuration artifacts not migrated) and any partner record mapping decisions made during scoping. We support a one-week post-cutover window to resolve any data issues raised by the customer's team.