Importing

Sheila and her colleagues often have to process large amounts of data. To do this effectively, they can import the data.

Sheila can create and update investment plans as well as POs and actuals through an import. This is explained in detail in the following chapters:

Over time, Sheila finds a file structure and import settings for the import of POs and actuals that she uses again and again and that optimally supports her in data management. To avoid having to enter these settings manually each import again, Sheila records these settings in templates. For more details see Import Templates.

During import, amounts are transferred from the file without specifying a currency. When manually entering amounts into import files, for example, consider the following interpretation:

  • When importing data into an investment plan, amounts are interpreted in the local currency of the investment plan.

  • When importing amounts for POs and actuals, it is set centrally in the system for all users whether amounts are interpreted in the local currency of the investment plan or in the master currency.
    If you have any questions, please contact your system administrator.

When importing you can use unique and static rules to map imported records with investments.

Unique rules directly tie the POs/actuals to an investment. For example: each investment has an associated ID number. If we include the ID number in the POs/actuals when importing, we can use this same ID to directly connect the PO/actual record to the investment.

You can also use regular expressions to determine the direct identifier. A regular expression is a search pattern and is used to identify a string of characters from within a larger string.

Example

The ID has been input into a description field on the PO, at the end of a description. The original string may read ‘Registration for XYZ Event 7658159’.

The regular expression \d{7} can be used to identify the 7-digit number as ID from the description, and use it to map to the associated ID in the investment plan.

In case you need more information on regular expression please contact your system administrator.

Static rules are broad, not investment-specific. Static rules utilize specific columns in the import flat file to identify what area of the marketing organization that the PO or actual record belongs to.
For example: Finance tracks the business unit and region on all spends. In the import flat file these will be columns. Using Static rules import would identify the business unit in the flat file and would connect the PO/actual to that business unit in the marketing organization hierarchy.

Note

Static rules are applied after the unique rules as they are only required if the PO/actual does not fit the unique rule.

Scheduled imports may have been set up in your system. This means that data from a third-party system will be imported automatically on a regular basis and therefore the PO and actual data will update accordingly.

Scheduled imports are managed by administrators. Therefore, contact your administrator if you have any questions or if irregularities occur.