This is a suggestion to the load process for the snapshot of CRM feature that was released in SP11. Since the Data Warehouse represents a point in time snapshot of CRM data we find that when troubleshooting it would be advantageous to be able to query the snapshot rather than CRM when diagnosing data anomalies in the CRM_RPT_BBDW data warehouse. This is an issue in that the snapshot is automatically deleted upon completion of the load and also if the load process fails.

Our suggestion is that the snapshot be left in place until the next scheduled CRM_RPT_BBDW load rather than dropped. At the point of the next load it would be dropped and rebuilt which is currently supported in the load script. This temporary retention of the snapshot would allow staff to do a point in time analysis of data anomalies for that time frame between scheduled loads. We utilize numerous custom add on SSIS packages/tables within the data warehouse which are evolving over time.

In addition if possible the snapshot should be left in a restricted state between loads assuming that snapshots can be set to restricted.