Switching from SoftMouse.NET to Colony.care: A Migration Guide

Summary

If your facility uses SoftMouse.NET and you are considering a move to Colony.care, this guide covers the migration path: exporting your data from SoftMouse to CSV, or to a spreadsheet you save as CSV, importing it into Colony.care, checking the result, and going live. The import works from CSV files, so plan time to review the column mapping.

Computer screen showing organized data in a modern lab setting

Step 1: Export from SoftMouse.NET

Export the data you want to migrate from SoftMouse.NET, starting with your animal records. If the export is a CSV file, you are ready for step 2. If it is a spreadsheet, open it and save it as CSV.

Step 2: Upload to Colony.care

Upload a CSV file to Colony.care's import wizard. The wizard detects your column headers and suggests which Colony.care field each column maps to. Nothing is written at this stage.

Step 3: Review the Mapping

Check that every column is mapped to the correct Colony.care field, and correct the suggestions by hand where needed. Custom fields and free-text notes may need to be mapped manually. You can skip columns you do not need.

Step 4: Dry Run and Commit

Run the dry-run preview. It shows what the import will create before anything is written. Verify a sample of records, then commit the import. If anything is off afterwards, you can roll back the entire import and try again.

Step 5: Parallel Run (Recommended)

For a transition period of 1-4 weeks, run Colony.care in parallel with SoftMouse.NET. Enter new data in Colony.care while keeping SoftMouse as a read-only reference. This gives your team time to adjust and confirms that Colony.care covers all your workflows before you decommission the old system.

FAQ

Will all my historical SoftMouse data transfer?

It depends on what your export contains. The import brings in the columns you map to Colony.care fields. Custom fields and module-specific data may need manual mapping, and some may have no equivalent. The dry-run preview shows what will be created before you commit.

How long does a SoftMouse migration take?

The import itself fits in one working session: upload the file, check the column mapping, preview the result, commit. Most of that time goes into reviewing the mapping. After that, we recommend running both systems in parallel for 1 to 4 weeks, so your team can confirm that Colony.care covers every workflow before you retire SoftMouse.