Kaizen 228 - Process Large-Scale Migrated Data Using Catalyst Solutions

Kaizen 228 - Process Large-Scale Migrated Data Using Catalyst Solutions



Howdy, tech wizards!

This week’s Kaizen explores how Catalyst Solutions in the Zoho CRM Developer Hub help import large volumes of data into Zoho CRM while improving data quality and simplifying the migration process.

Why Catalyst Solutions?

Catalyst Solutions provide a library of independent, ready-to-use backend solutions called CodeLibs. The CRM Bulk Data Processor CodeLib helps handle complex data operations on large datasets. Following are the key benefits:
  1. Highly Scalable: Processes large datasets efficiently, supporting up to 200,000 records per API call.
  2. Automation Made Simple: Automate complex tasks like segmentation, data cleansing and lead scoring with minimal effort.  
  3. Effortless Integration: Comes with pre-configured Catalyst resources such as serverless functions and data stores that integrate directly with Zoho CRM.

Business Scenario

Zylker, a manufacturing company, migrated over 3 lakh Lead records into Zoho CRM from spreadsheets. 



Post-migration, the Lead data showed the following inconsistencies and challenges:
  1. Phone number field did not include country codes, or contained incorrect country codes. This inconsistency made it difficult for sales teams to contact Leads reliably.
  2. Identifying potential Leads for follow-up required manual effort and marketing team has to run generic campaigns without lead segmentation. 
Using workflows before record creation to fix phone numbers for this volume would result in 3 lakh individual workflow executions, which can slow imports and cause partial failures.

Solution Overview

Zylker can use the CRM Bulk Data Processor available in Catalyst Solutions to address these challenges at scale.

The solution works as follows:
  1. Lead records are fetched in bulk from Zoho CRM using the Bulk Read API.
  2. The fetched data is temporarily stored to evaluate the priority and quality of each record. Based on this evaluation, the records are also segmented accordingly.
  3. The Country field value is used to identify and append the correct country code to the phone number.
  4. The processed records are updated back into Zoho CRM using Bulk Write API.
All operations are executed using pre-configured Catalyst resources provided by the CodeLib. You can explore the Bulk Data Flow in Catalyst help page to understand how each resource participates in the processing pipeline.

Prerequisites

Before you begin, ensure the following:

1. Log into your Zoho CRM and navigate to Setup > Customization > Modules and Fields > Leads.

Create the following custom Single Line fields to map existing record data in Zoho CRM. 
  1. Last Activity Days
  2. Web Engagement Score
Refer to the Working with Custom Fields help page for detailed guide. 


2. Create the following custom Single Line fields to store the calculated values during bulk processing:
  1. Lead Score Value
  2. Lead Segment
  3. Sales Priority
  4. Data Quality Status
3. Go to Setup > Developer Hub > Catalyst Solutions > Zoho CRM Bulk Data Processor. 

4. Click Go to Catalyst and create a Catalyst account if required.



5. Refer to the Catalyst CLI Installation Guide and install it on your local system.

6. Create a new folder on your local system, which will act as a local project directory. Use the following command:

mkdir -p <folder_name>


7. Navigate to the project folder in your terminal and execute the following command: 

catalyst init

8. Follow the prompts to select and initialize your desired project from the Catalyst console. 

When prompted to choose a feature, press Enter and proceed without choosing any feature.


9. Run the following command to install the CRM Bulk Data Processor CodeLib.



Step 1: Create a Cron Job

1. Open the Catalyst Console and navigate to the same project in which you have installed the CRM Bulk Data Processor CodeLib.

2. Go to Cloud Scale > Triggers > Cron and click Create Cron.

3. Fill in the following details:
  1. Provide a Name and Description for the cron job. 
  2. Select Function and choose BulkJobScheduler from the dropdown in the Target Function field.
  3. Enter the following parameters and values:

    MODULES -> Leads
    FIELDS_TO_BE_PROCESSED -> Last_Name, Company, Mobile, Country, Designation, No_of_Employees, Web_Engagement_Score, Lead_Score_Value, Lead_Segment, Sales_Priority, Data_Quality_Status

    Use GET Modules Metadata API and GET Fields Metadata API to get the API names of the required module and fields.
     
  4. Choose the Schedule Type as One Time for our use case.
Refer to the Implementing Cron Jobs Help Guide for more details.

Step 2: Configure Zoho CRM API Credentials 

1. Create a self-client application in Zoho's API Console.

2. Generate a Grant Token with the following scopes:
  1. ZohoFiles.files.ALL
  2. ZohoCRM.bulk.ALL
  3. ZohoCRM.modules.ALL
  4. ZohoCRM.settings.ALL
  5. ZohoCRM.org.ALL


3. Follow the OAuth Help Section for a step-by-step guide to generate Access and Refresh tokens for your Zoho CRM organization.


Store all the API credentials securely for later use.

4. To allow Catalyst to access Zoho CRM data, configure the stored API credentials as environment variables in the catalyst-config.json file within the BulkDataProcessor function.

For detailed guidance, refer to the Configure Function Components help guide in CRM Bulk Data Processor. 



Notes
These environment variables are used by Catalyst Connectors to create access tokens for establishing secure connection between Zoho CRM and Catalyst.

Step 3: Add Business Logic

1. Go to com.processor.record.ZCRMRecordsProcessorImpl.java file of the BulkDataProcessor in the functions directory.

2. Override the ZCRMRecordsProcessor method with the business logic.


The complete code sample for this use case is available on GitHub for reference.

Following is the major custom logic used here:

Notes
Use the GET Fields Metadata API to fetch the API names of the fields required throughout the custom logic.

Phone Number Normalization:

This can be implemented in two stages, Country standardization and Phone Number formatting. 

For country standardization, CountryStandardizerUtil maps different variations of the Country field in records to a single standardized country identifier. These variations may include, 
  1. Country Names (India, Unites States, United Kingdom)
  2. Abbreviations (Ind, IN, USA, US, UK)
  3. Calling Codes (+91, +1, +44)
With this, we can ensure different interpretations of the same country are interpreted consistently during the process. 


Once the country is standardized, Phone Numbers are formatted to E.164 format in the PhoneNormalizerUtil. 

It removes all non-numeric characters and converts the Phone input to E.164 format with the respective country codes. 

public class PhoneNormalizerUtil {
    private static final Pattern NON_DIGIT = Pattern.compile("[^0-9]");
    public static Optional<String> normalizeToE164(String rawPhone, String countryCode) {
        if (rawPhone == null || rawPhone.trim().isEmpty()) {
            return Optional.empty();
        }
        String digits = NON_DIGIT.matcher(rawPhone).replaceAll("");
        if (rawPhone.startsWith("+") && digits.length() >= 10) {
            return Optional.of("+" + digits);
        }
        switch (countryCode) {
            case "IN":
                return normalizeIndia(digits);
            case "US":
                return normalizeUS(digits);
            case "UK":
                return normalizeUK(digits);
            default:
                return Optional.empty();
        }
    }
    private static Optional<String> normalizeIndia(String digits) {
        if (digits.length() == 10) {
            return Optional.of("+91" + digits);
        }
        if (digits.startsWith("91") && digits.length() == 12) {
            return Optional.of("+" + digits);
        }
        return Optional.empty();
    }
    private static Optional<String> normalizeUS(String digits) {
        if (digits.length() == 10) {
            return Optional.of("+1" + digits);
        }
        if (digits.startsWith("1") && digits.length() == 11) {
            return Optional.of("+" + digits);
        }
        return Optional.empty();
    }
    private static Optional<String> normalizeUK(String digits) {
        if (digits.startsWith("44") && digits.length() == 12) {
            return Optional.of("+" + digits);
        }
        if (digits.length() == 10) {
            return Optional.of("+44" + digits);
        }
        return Optional.empty();
    }

}

Lead Priority and Segmentation

The lead priority is calculated using the Title, No of employees, Last Activity Days and Web Engagement Score fields in the record.  

Each field value contributes a predefined number of points:
  1. If the job title indicates a senior role such as CEO, CTO, Director, or VP, 25 points are added.
  2. If the company size is 200 employees or more, 20 points are added.
  3. If the Lead has been active within the last 7 days, 15 points are added.
  4. If the web engagement score is 70 or higher, 10 points are added.
The sum of all applicable factors is returned as an integer and based on this score the lead's priority and segmentation is assigned as follows:
  1. High (Hot): score ≥ 70
  2. Medium (Warm): score ≥ 40
  3. Low (Cold): score < 40
public static int calculateLeadScore(
            String jobTitle,
            Integer companySize,
            Integer lastActivityDays,
            Integer webEngagementScore) {
        int score = 0;
        // Decision Maker
        if (jobTitle != null) {
            String title = jobTitle.toLowerCase();
            if (title.contains("ceo") || title.contains("cto")
                    || title.contains("director") || title.contains("vp")) {
                score += 25;
            }
        }
        // Company Size
        if (companySize != null && companySize >= 200) {
            score += 20;
        }
        // Recency
        if (lastActivityDays != null && lastActivityDays <= 7) {
            score += 15;
        }
        // Engagement
        if (webEngagementScore != null && webEngagementScore >= 70) {
            score += 10;
        }
        return score;
    }
    public static String deriveSegment(int score) {
        if (score >= 70) return "Hot";
        if (score >= 40) return "Warm";
        return "Cold";
    }
    public static String derivePriority(String segment) {
        switch (segment) {
            case "Hot":
                return "High";
            case "Warm":
                return "Medium";
            default:
                return "Low";
        }
    }

Lead Quality:

Lead quality is evaluated based on the validity of the Mobile and Country fields in the records.
  1. Clean: Both field values are valid.
  2. Critical: Both field values are invalid.
  3. Needs Review: Only one of the field values is invalid.

Write Back to Records:

The processed data is written back to Zoho CRM as follows:
  1. Mobile: Formatted phone numbers.
  2. Lead Score: Total score calculated from all applicable fields.
  3. Lead Segment: Segment derived from the lead score.
  4. Sales Priority: Priority assigned based on the lead segment.
  5. Data Quality Status: Overall quality of the Lead record.
if (normalizedMobile.isPresent()) {
data.put("Mobile", normalizedMobile.get());
}
data.put("Lead_Score", leadScore);
data.put("Lead_Segment", leadSegment);
data.put("Sales_Priority", salesPriority);
data.put("Data_Quality_Status", dataQualityStatus);
}

Step 4: Deploy to Development

Run the following command to deploy your local customizations to the Development Environment of Catalyst.

catalyst deploy

Info
You can find the complete code sample on GitHub for reference.

Try it Out!

With the changes deployed to the Development environment, let us now test the solution.



We hope this Kaizen helps you import large volumes of data into Zoho CRM while improving data quality and lead intelligence using the CRM Bulk Data Processor.

Have questions or suggestions? Drop them in the comments or write to us at  support@zohocrm.com. 

We will circle back to you next Friday with another interesting topic. 

On to Better Building!

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Idea
Previous Kaizen: Client Script Support for List Page (Canvas) | Kaizen Collection: Directory

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

      Zoho Campaigns Resources


        • Desk Community Learning Series


        • Digest


        • Functions


        • Meetups


        • Kbase


        • Resources


        • Glossary


        • Desk Marketplace


        • MVP Corner


        • Word of the Day


        • Ask the Experts


          • Sticky Posts

          • Kaizen #198: Using Client Script for Custom Validation in Blueprint

            Nearing 200th Kaizen Post – 1 More to the Big Two-Oh-Oh! Do you have any questions, suggestions, or topics you would like us to cover in future posts? Your insights and suggestions help us shape future content and make this series better for everyone.

          • Kaizen #226: Using ZRC in Client Script

            Hello everyone! Welcome to another week of Kaizen. In today's post, lets see what is ZRC (Zoho Request Client) and how we can use ZRC methods in Client Script to get inputs from a Salesperson and update the Lead status with a single button click. In this

          • Kaizen #222 - Client Script Support for Notes Related List

            Hello everyone! Welcome to another week of Kaizen. The final Kaizen post of the year 2025 is here! With the new Client Script support for the Notes Related List, you can validate, enrich, and manage notes across modules. In this post, we’ll explore how

          • Kaizen #217 - Actions APIs : Tasks

            Welcome to another week of Kaizen! In last week's post we discussed Email Notifications APIs which act as the link between your Workflow automations and you. We have discussed how Zylker Cloud Services uses Email Notifications API in their custom dashboard.

          • Kaizen #216 - Actions APIs : Email Notifications

            Welcome to another week of Kaizen! For the last three weeks, we have been discussing Zylker's workflows. We successfully updated a dormant workflow, built a new one from the ground up and more. But our work is not finished—these automated processes are

          Zoho CRM Plus Resources

            Zoho Books Resources


              Zoho Subscriptions Resources

                Zoho Projects Resources


                  Zoho Sprints Resources


                    Zoho Orchestly Resources


                      Zoho Creator Resources


                        Zoho WorkDrive Resources



                          Zoho CRM Resources

                          • CRM Community Learning Series

                            CRM Community Learning Series


                          • Tips

                            Tips

                          • Functions

                            Functions

                          • Meetups

                            Meetups

                          • Kbase

                            Kbase

                          • Resources

                            Resources

                          • Digest

                            Digest

                          • CRM Marketplace

                            CRM Marketplace

                          • MVP Corner

                            MVP Corner




                            Zoho Writer Writer

                            Get Started. Write Away!

                            Writer is a powerful online word processor, designed for collaborative work.

                              Zoho CRM コンテンツ




                                ご検討中の方

                                  • Recent Topics

                                  • Open Activities view.

                                    I really like the new views for the open and closed activities inside the deals. But when you are in the tab view instead of the column view you can only complete and edit the open activity there isn't the 3 dot option to be able to delete the activ

                                  • Potentially Outdated and Vulnerable Chromium Engine Installed by Ulaa Browser Installer

                                    I just installed Ulaa Browser a few minutes ago. Whats My Browser page shows I am using an outdated Chromium engine meaning I might be vulnerable for security exploits that might have got fixed in the new version.

                                  • Potentially hardcoded list of Browsers to import from (after Ulaa Setup)

                                    I have just installed Ulaa Browser and found that the list of browser to import data is potentially hardcoded ones rather than looking at the system. I do not have FF, IE and Edge is not my default itself. I would appreciated if Ulaa detected my browsers

                                  • From Layout to Code: Finding Custom Field IDs in Zoho Projects.

                                    Hello everyone! Ever found yourself wondering how to get the API names and IDs of custom fields in Zoho Projects while working on custom functions? Here’s a simple and effective way to do it! This method makes it super easy to locate the right field details

                                  • Can I create multiple Zoho mail accounts?

                                    Hey there I've searched the FAQ for this but didn't find the answer I was looking for. I like to have a different e-mail address for personal stuff, for creating account on websites, and for online banking / e-commerce. Is it allowed to create three accounts for one person on Zoho? I already have one personal e-mail address, can I sign up two more times from the homepage? Thanks

                                  • Employee type and source translation

                                    In Zoho People, when I fill in the employee’s information, there is the option to determine the type of employment (employee type) and the hiring source. Both options ALWAYS appear in English. It is extremely inconvenient to deal with poorly translated

                                  • Sync Issue Between Zoho Notebook Web App on Firefox (PC) and Android App

                                    Hi Zoho Notebook Community, I'm facing a sync problem with Zoho Notebook. When I use the web version on Mozilla Firefox browser on my PC, I create and save new notes, and I've synced them successfully. However, these new notes aren't showing up in my

                                  • Request for Clarity on Timeline for True GPT/Zia Auto-Response Capabilities

                                    I appreciate Zoho’s steady innovation, but I’m concerned that Desk and Zia remain well behind modern AI capabilities. For years, GPT-based tools have been able to generate and send contextual responses, yet Zoho Desk only supports summarization or suggested

                                  • Notebook audio recordings disappearing

                                    I have recently been experiencing issues where some of my attached audio recordings are disappearing. I am referring specifically to ones made within a Note card in Notebook on mobile, made by pressing the "+" button and choosing "Record audio" (or similar),

                                  • Has anyone built a ticket export that allows Help Center users to export the tickets shown in the My Area list they are looking at?

                                    Hi, We are moving to Zoho Desk soon. Our current support system displays an option in our help center allowing customers to export their Open, Closed, or all tickets based on which list they are looking at. We need to offer the same in Zoho Desk help

                                  • Zoho Desk: Q2 2025 | What's New

                                    Hello everyone, We are excited to announce Zoho Desk's 2025 Autumn updates. This release brings new features and enhancements that improve work management and enable businesses to provide a better overall support experience. Spanning from Zia Agents to

                                  • Checkboxes not adhering to any policy in mail merge - data from CRM

                                    I want checkboxes to appear depending on whether the checkbox in the CRM module is ticked or not. However, the tickboxes that appear are either ticked or not, but don't correlate to the actual selections in the CRM module. This is is despite updating

                                  • Items Landed Cost and Profit?

                                    Hello, we recently went live with Zoho Inventory, and I have a question about the Landed Cost feature. The FAQ reads: "Tracking the landed cost helps determine the overall cost incurred in procuring the product. This, in turn, helps you to decide the

                                  • CC and/or BCC users in email templates

                                    I would like the ability to automatically assign a CC and BCC "User (company employee)" into email templates. Specifically, I would like to be able to add the "User who owns the client" as a CC automatically on any interview scheduled or candidate submitted

                                  • Create Contract API Endpoint Unclear "inputfields" Requirements

                                    Hello, I'm trying to create a Deluge function that accepts inputs from a form in Zoho Creator and creates a barebones contract of a given type. See below for the current code, cleaned of authentication information. // Fetch form data // Hidden field client_name

                                  • Kaizen #46 - Handling Notes through Zoho CRM API (Part 1/2)

                                    Hello everyone! Welcome back to another week of Kaizen! This week, we will discuss Handling Notes through Zoho CRM API. What will you learn from this post? Notes in Zoho CRM Working with Notes through Notes APIs 1. Notes in Zoho CRM 1a. Why add Notes to records? Notes are a great way to summarize your observations on customer and prospect interactions and outcomes. By saving notes as CRM data, a sales rep will always be able to keep track of how a sale is progressing. To know more about notes in

                                  • Marketer's Space - Why email marketing matters in ecommerce (and how to get started with Zoho Campaigns)

                                    Hello Marketers, Welcome to this week's Marketer's space post. Today, we'll discus why email marketing matters in ecommerce businesses. Running an online store is exciting but challenging. If you're running an online store, you've probably experienced

                                  • Zoho Campaigns Event timestamps do not propagate to Zoho CRM

                                    We have integrated Zoho CRM and Zoho Campaigns. But when looking at Contact records, the Campaign event data is missing the actual timestamps: especially when a particular email was sent. They're not in the Campaigns related list, and the cannot be found

                                  • Kaizen #121 : Customize List Views using Client Script

                                    Hello everyone! Welcome back to another interesting Kaizen post. In this post, we can discuss how to customize List Views using Client Script. This post will answer the questions Ability to remove public views by the super admin in the Zoho CRM and Is

                                  • Setting default From address when replying to request

                                    At the moment, if I want to reply to a request, the From field has three options, company@zohosupport.com, support@company.zohosupport.com, and support@company.com.  The first two are really internal address that should never be seen by the customer and

                                  • Tip #45 - Explore Your Support Reach with Zoho Assist’s Geo Insights - 'Insider Insights'

                                    Understanding where your remote support sessions are happening can help you make smarter decisions, allocate resources effectively, and improve overall customer satisfaction. In this week's Zoho Assist's community post we will be exploring Geo Insights

                                  • Formatting of text pasted into Zoho documents

                                    Howdy, I'm a newbie and finding Zoho an improvement to MS Word. Consider yourself hugged. High on my wish list would be plain text cut-and-paste. When pasting text from the web to Zoho, presently Zoho imports the formatting along with the text. This means that every cut-and-paste operation brings in text in a different font, size, or style. Can we have at least the option of importing plain text without formatting (or better yet, is this option already out there?) ... Thanks Helen

                                  • Add additional features to Zoho Tables

                                    Zoho Tables is a really great tool, why not add features like diagramming capability into the tool from applications like Draw.io which I believe is open source, you should be able to do wireframes, process flow diagrams, network design, etc. Please note

                                  • The Social Wall: August 2025

                                    Hello everyone, As summer ends, Zoho Social is gearing up for some exciting, bigger updates lined up for the months ahead. While those are in the works, we rolled out a few handy feature updates in August to keep your social media management running smoothly.

                                  • The Social Wall: July 2025

                                    Hello everyone! July has brought some exciting new updates to Zoho Social. From powerful enhancements in the Social Toolkit to new capabilities in the mobile app, we’ve packed this month with features designed to help you level up your social media presence.

                                  • Use Zoho Creator as a source for merge templates in Zoho Writer

                                    Hello all! We're excited to share that we've enhanced Zoho Creator's integration with Zoho Writer to make this combination even more powerful. You can now use Zoho Creator as a data source for mail merge templates in Zoho Writer. Making more data from

                                  • Tagged problem !!!

                                    Damn it, we're one of dozens of construction companies in Africa, but we can't link purchasing invoices to projects. Why isn't this feature available?

                                  • Syntax for URLs in HTML Snippets

                                    What are some best practices for inserting a URL in an HTML snippet? I've looked at Zoho Help articles on navigation-based and functional-based URLs, but I'm still unclear on how to incorporate them in an HTML snippet. For example, 1. How do I link to

                                  • The Social Wall: June 2025

                                    Hello everyone, We’re back with June Zoho Social highlights. This month brought some exciting feature updates—especially within the Social Toolkit—to enhance your social media presence. We engaged with several MSME companies through community meet-ups

                                  • Tip 7: How to fetch data from another application?

                                    Hi everyone, Following our Zoho Creator - Tips and Tricks series every fortnight, we are back today with a tip based on one of the most popular questions asked in our forum. This tip would help you fetch data from another application(App B) and use it

                                  • The Social Wall: May 2025

                                    Hey everyone, We're excited to share some powerful updates for the month of May! Let's take a look! Reply to your Instagram and Facebook comments privately through direct messages Are you tired of cluttered comment threads or exposing customer queries

                                  • Sub-Form Fields as Filters for Reports

                                    Hi, I would like to use the Sub-Form Fields as Filters in Reports just like we do for Main Page Fields. Thanks Dan

                                  • Zoho CRM Formula - Current Time minus Date/Time field

                                    Hello, I am trying to prevent duplicate emails going to clients when more than 1 deal is being updated. To do this, I would like to create a formula to identify if a date/time field is >= 2 hours ago. Can someone please help me write this formula? Example:

                                  • Billing Management: #7 Usage Billing in Telecom & Internet Service Provider

                                    Telecom and Internet Service Providers operate in markets where usage varies drastically from one customer to another. While flexible, usage-based models align revenue directly with consumption, they also introduce operational challenges like real-time

                                  • Zoho Sprints - Q3 updates for 2025

                                    The updates for the third quarter of 2025 are out. A few significant features and enhancements have been rolled out to improve user experience and product capabilities. The following are the updates: Manage tags and cluster tags Record and maintain project

                                  • Kaizen #208 - Answering your Questions | Functions, AI and Extensions

                                    Hello Developers! Welcome back to a fresh week of Kaizen! We are grateful for your active participation in sharing feedback and queries for our 200th milestone. This week, we will answer the queries related to Functions and Extensions in Zoho CRM. 1.

                                  • Zoho CRM still doesn't let you manage timezones (yearly reminder)

                                    This is something I have asked repeatedly. I'll ask once again. Suppose that you work in France. Next month you have a trip to Guatemala. You call a contact there, close a meeting, record that meeting in CRM. On the phone, your contact said: "meet me

                                  • Creating Restaurant Inventory Management on Zoho

                                    Hi,  We run a small cloud kitchen and are interested to use Zoho for Inventory and Composite Item tracking for our food served and supplied procured to make food items.  Our model is basically like subway where the customer can choose breads, veggies,

                                  • To Zoho customers and partners: how do you use Linked Workspaces?

                                    Hello, I'm exploring how we can set up and use Linked Workspaces and would like to hear from customers and partners about your use cases and experience with them. I have a Zoho ticket open, because my workspace creation fails. In the meantime, how is

                                  • Zoho Forms to Zoho CRM : First/Last Name to just Name ?

                                    When integrating a Zoho Form into the Accounts menu of the CRM I'm having trouble with how names are formatted ; In Forms the data is available as First Name or Last Name In the CRM there is only one field called Name How can I ensure that "John" "Smith"

                                  • Next Page