Business Data Glossary

API
An API stands for Application Programming Interface. API is a protocol that defines interactions between apps to exchange data and functionalities it allows two applications to "talk" to each other. Watch a video to get a better idea.

An import that is setup to run automatically, triggered by a specific action, such as sending an email or uploading a file to a file sharing app. The import is setup once, with the mappings and other criteria set. When the new file is received, it kicks off the import to add the data into your app.

The generation of suggestion of field mappings for an import, rather than manually mapping fields from scratch. A tool uses the information collected from user history and/or from artificial intelligence to suggest mappings that make sense for the import the user has setup.

The process of creating a copy of the data on your system that you use for recovery in case your original data is lost or corrupted. You can also use backup to recover copies of older files if you have deleted them from your system.

Every detail about your business - the people and companies you do business with, transactions, performance metrics, customer support information, employee details and everything in between. This data that you store is the biggest asset to your business, and should be owned and controlled by you.

Custom mapping is used to designate where data will be imported to, in cases where field(s) have been created by the user. Custom fields are in addition to those fields provided by default by the software.

A CSV (or comma separated values) is simply data stored in a text file. It is the most universally accepted format, and the one most often used for exports and imports from various software.

Bringing data into a software or tool, from a CSV file.

Taking data out of a software or tool, and saving it to a CSV file. Your data remains intact in your software, but now you have a copy in CSV file format that you can work with in Excel, Numbers, Google Sheets and more.

A property on a record. These properties, or data fields, store the values on the records in your database. For example, a data field can store the value of a company's "Name". Data fields can appear in various types, including text, picklists, checkboxes, numeric fields and more.

This is an ongoing movement or transfer of data from one system to another.

The process of moving data from one system to another - whether it be CRM, helpdesk, marketing tools or other software. Data will be exported from one place and imported into another. The data remains intact in the source database, and will be copied into the new database.

A record type - such as company, contact, opportunity, task, note, ticket, etc. These types (or, objects) are what your database uses to group and structure data, so that you can use them to capture specific information. Data objects are typically structured in a hierarchy, and are linked together like a ladder. For example, you may have an account with contacts, those contacts may have opportunities, and those opportunities may have tasks, notes and attachments linked to them.

The state or condition of your dataset. This can mean how clean, complete and useful it is. To have good data quality means that you have a database that works as you intend and expect it to.

The classification of a data field, for the purpose of defining the conditions how it can be used, as well as its limitations. For example, a field with a picklist data type has a pre-set list of values that can be selected.

A value is the information stored in a data field on a record. For example, if you have a field "Name", the value stored there would be the actual name, i.e. "John Smith". Values may be text, numbers, dates, picklists, etc.

The process of identifying and removing or merging duplicate records in a database.

This refers to the structure used to store data in a file. Common examples are CSV, JPEG, XML, PDF.

A data field used to link to another data object in your database. This may be to create a relationship between different records, such as contact-opportunity relationships. Or, it can be used to link to a user object, in the case of assigning an owner to your record

Mapping is used to designate where data from the source software will go to in the destination software. During data migration, you can map objects, data fields, and data field values.

The data field that is used to determine whether a record exists in your database, or not, when performing an import. When you select a match field, this field will be scanned on every record in the database you are importing to, looking for an exact match. If one is found, it is determined to be a match and the import will not create a duplicate record. If there is no match, then the imported data will be treated as new.

A single item in your database, or row in a CSV file. The single record is composed of various data fields and their values. Any contact, note, account, lead, opportunity, task, activity, attachment, etc.

For example, if you have 1 contact, with 10 notes - this would be 11 records.

An export that is automated to run at a specific time. The export is set up one-time, to include the records and fields that you wish to download. A frequency is selected (i.e. daily, weekly, monthly), so that you receive the export results at the desired time.