Migrating From Zendesk to Zoho Desk

Zwitch Data Migration: Export from Zendesk

When transitioning from a Zendesk account to Zoho Desk, the challenge lies in efficiently migrating critical data, such as customer information, ticket histories, agent interactions, referenced articles, and comments. A structured approach is crucial to maintaining data integrity and ensuring a seamless transfer.

Data migration provides a solution for the orderly migration or export of data from Zendesk to Zoho Desk. This facilitates the organized transfer of modules, including customer details, tickets, agent interactions, and attachments for a smooth transition between Zendesk to Zoho Desk.
Info Permission Required
Only the primary contact or support administrator can initiate migration and must have permission in all departments.

Modules that can be migrated from Zendesk to Zoho Desk

The Zoho Desk migration tool extracts data from three main modules exported from Zendesk:
  1. Tickets
  2. Users
  3. Organizations
During migration, data for the respective modules are extracted from Zendesk. The table below lists how the data modules in Zendesk need to be mapped in Zoho Desk.

Zendesk Data Module
Zoho Desk Module Mapping
Ticket
  1. Tickets
  2. Ticket comments
  3. Threads
  4. Attachments
User
  1. Agents
  2. Contacts (End Users)
Organization
  1. Accounts
Additionally, the Zoho Desk migration tool uses Zendesk’s API to import custom fields and the following Knowledge Base (KB) modules:
  1. KB Sections
  2. KB Root Categories
  3. Article Translations

Key Considerations

  1. Ticket Migration

    1. Tickets can be filtered using Zendesk groups and brands to migrate only relevant ones to Zoho Desk.
    2. Users can skip irrelevant tickets and only migrate the selected ticket to Desk. Zendesk ticket IDs are stored in the custom field 'Zendesk-ID' for easy reference.
    3. If a ticket's assignee is not available in Zoho Desk, the ticket will be assigned to the admin who initiated the migration request.
    4. Tickets will be imported successfully only based on the available contact (end user). Make sure the contact exists in Zoho Desk before migration to avoid import failures.
    5. Tags, groups, teams, and collaborators cannot be migrated.
    6. Inline images are not migrated. They will remain visible only while the Zendesk account is active. Once the Zendesk account is deactivated, inline images will no longer be accessible.

  2. Ticket Comments

    1. If the agent who added a comment in Zendesk is not present in Zoho Desk, the comment will be attributed to the admin who submitted the Zwitch request.
    2. Inline images are not supported and will not be migrated.

  3. Thread Replies

    1. All thread replies from Zendesk tickets are marked as "Incoming."
    2. Threads without 'from' and/or 'to' addresses will be assigned to the organization admin (primary contact) and mapped to the Help Center channel.
    3. The ticket source will be either Email or Help Center.

  4. Custom Fields

    1. If a custom field from Zendesk does not match in Zoho Desk, the Zwitch Migration Tool will automatically create the field in Zoho Desk and transfer the values. No manual setup is required.
    2. Field types will be identified by Zoho Desk and a similar field will be created. For example, if the sample data has picklist then a picklist field will be created in Desk. Field names may vary, but their types and values remain unchanged.
    3. All custom fields are migrated except Nested Custom Fields.

  5. Agents

    1. Custom fields are not supported for agent migration.
    2. Proper department permissions must be added manually.
    3. Agent email addresses must match between Zendesk and Zoho Desk.
    4. Migrated agents will be listed under the Imported tab. They will not be needed to accept the invitation or confirm. They can use their email address (provided during migration) to access the Desk account.
    5. Light Agent will not be assigned any tickets.
Notes
Notes:
  1. Migrated records are permanently removed 30 days after completion of importing to maintain data security.
  2. The Zendesk account must remain active throughout the migration process and have sufficient API rate limits to prevent interruptions or data loss during transfer.
  3. Follow the steps as provided by Zendesk - Exporting ticket, user, or organization data from your account to proceed with data export.
  4. Upload the exported zip file in Zoho Desk > Data Administration > Zwitch.
  5. To import Zendesk data into Zoho Desk, submit all three exported ZIP files (Organizations, Users, and Tickets) in the Zwitch request for migration.
  6. Read more on how to migrate data to Zoho Desk.