Master data can be defined as information key to the operation of a business that is often non-transactional but supports transactional processes and operations.
Customers are a good example of master data. Data about customers (their names, addresses, phone numbers, and so on) is not transactional data but will support a transactional operation, for example, a sales order for a customer.
Microsoft Dynamics NAV has several master data tables, namely, Customer, Vendor, Item, Contact, Resource, Fixed Asset, and so on. Each master data table is the primary table in an application area. The Customer table is the main table in the sales application area, while the Vendor table is the main table in the Purchases application area.
Secondary tables, such as Sales Prices, also support transactions just as the master tables do. You will also need to take the secondary tables into account while migrating the master data.
The master and secondary tables that will be used in Microsoft Dynamics NAV have to be identified and a migration plan has to be defined in order to get all this information into the system.
The migration plan for the master data tables includes:
- The table name and number
- The list of fields that will be migrated and their possible values (if applicable)
- The format in which the data will be presented
- The possible requirement of data manipulation before importing it to Dynamics NAV
- The tool that will be used to import the data
- The date on which a migration test will be done
- The go-live migration date
- The person responsible for providing the data
- The person responsible for importing the data into Microsoft Dynamics NAV
- The person responsible for testing and validating the migrated data
To import the master data into Microsoft Dynamics NAV, use the tool that best meets your requirements for importing the master data into the Dynamics NAV database.