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.

catalyst codelib:install https://github.com/catalystbyzoho/codelib-zoho-crm-bulk-processor

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. 

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:

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

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!

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

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

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

• Topic Participants

• Kiruthiga G

  

• 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

• Recent Topics

• Is it possible to hide fields in a Subform?

  Since layout rules cannot be used with Subforms, is there another way, or is it even possible, to hide fields in a subform based on a picklist fields within said subform? For example, if the Service Provided is Internet, then I do not want to see the

• Weekly Tips :Instantly find what you need with Attachment Viewer

  Your inbox must be packed with project emails, shared notes, and scattered attachments. You are looking for one specific file—a presentation slide or maybe a media clip from a team update—but don’t want to dig through endless email threads or switch between

• Missing Zoho Desk integration option for form workflows

  According to the help page "Configure Zoho Desk integration in form workflows" we should be able to select Zoho Desk as an integration target but when I open the integrations list then Zoho Desk is not being listed in it. We are on the Premium plan which should already support Zoho Desk integrations.

• Gantt for 2 or more projects

  Hello, I'm trying the free version of your produtc. It is veryyy good!!!! I don't know if in the Standard plan, I can overview a Gantt Graph for 2 or more Projects Milestone. This would be very helpfull for managing teams and taking decisions about who I will assign a task to. In the paid plan Do I have this possibility? Thank you.

• Integrating a Zoho Project Gantt Chart into Reports

  Is is possible to integrate a Zoho Project Gantt Chart into a Zoho Report Dashboard. I am in the process of creating Project Status Dashboards for the projects that we track in Zoho Projects and I would like to incorporate the gantt chart within Reports.  Please let me know! Thanks

• ZOHO BOOKS - EXCESSIVELY SLOW TODAY

  Dear Zoho Books This is not the first time but it seems to be 3 times per week now that the system is extremely slow. I work on Zoho Books 95% of my day so this is very frustrating. Zoho you need to do something about this. I have had my IT guy check

• Displaying related quotes in sales order and back

  Hi, My colleague liked to see to which sales orders, the quote has been converted. Quote shows Invoices, but not SO. Same, they would like to see the quotes in the sales order, as they can see invoices, packages, shipment, How can we achieve this ? Thank

• Tip of the Week #71–Auto-move incoming messages to the right inboxes with keywords

  We all know that customer-facing teams, especially your sales and support teams, can’t afford to miss even a single customer conversation. But sometimes, sales queries or support requests can easily get lost in a crowded inbox or even end up in the wrong

• Clearing Fields using MACROS?

  How would I go about clearing a follow-up field date from my deals? Currently I cannot set the new value as an empty box.

• Migrating a Zoho Forms form into Zoho Creator

  Hi, How can I migrate my Zoho Forms form into Zoho Creator? Thanks. Truly, Emad

• Is there any way to recall an email sent using Zoho CRM?

  If an email is sent using Zoho Mail, there is a recall option/functionality that is available to the sender. Is there any way to recall an email if it was sent using Zoho CRM? I can't seem to find that option. Any help would be appreciated.

• Problem with reports due to "Connected" items change - Yes this IS a problem

  Now that the change has been made to use "connected" items I can no longer run the reporting I need in CRM. I should be able to start with Deals as the parent, connect down to the Account (Account_Name) on the deal as the child, then to any child items

• Introducing notifications in the vendor portal

  Imagine this: You're a recruiter working with multiple vendors on a high-volume hiring project. You’ve just updated a job description after a last-minute change from the hiring manager. One of your vendors, however, is still working off the older version

• Analytics for notes created

  Is there a way I can see how many notes were created per day? Via reporting or analytics?

• Cannot update Recurring_Activity on Tasks – RRULE not accepted

  Hello, I am trying to update Tasks in Zoho CRM to make them recurring yearly, but I cannot find the correct recurrence pattern or way to update the Recurring_Activity field via API or Deluge. I have tried: Sending a string like "RRULE:FREQ=YEARLY;INTERVAL=1"

• Add image to report...

  Greetings, I send a weekly color coded report via Creator email. I would like to add the legend somewhere in the report. Header, footer where ever. I have the legend saved on Google Drive and can access it via shared link. Sure someone has wanted to add

• More controls for User Fields in CRM

  Dear All, We are here with a minor but crucial enhancement to the user fields—now set accessibility permissions to the records for user field. User field allows you to extend co-ownership of records to your peers. You can collaborate with them for certain

• Calls to accounts rather than leads or contacts?

  So..... We have a dilemma and I'm hoping someone has encountered this before and figured out a fix. We have just migrated to Zoho. It's great.....expect for how "Calls" are handled.... We are B2B. We do not use the leads module. A "Lead/Prospect" for

• Image Upload Field | Zoho Canvas

  I'm working on making a custom view for one of our team's modules. It's an image upload field (Placement Photo) that would allow our sales reps to upload a picture of the house their working on. However, I don't see that field as a opinion when building

• Power of Automation :: Automated 'Delayed & Closed' Status Update Based on Due Date

  Hello Everyone, A custom function is a software code that can be used to automate a process and this allows you to automate a notification, call a webhook, or perform logic immediately after a workflow rule is triggered. This feature helps to automate

• Range names in Zoho Sheet are BROKEN!

  Hi - you've pushed an update that has broken range names. A previously working spreadsheet now returns errors because the range names are not updating the values correctly. I've shared a video with the support desk to illustrate the problem. This spreadsheet

• populate email address and name in zoho desk?

  Is it possible to populate the email address and name in the zoho desk widget? We only use it in the context of an authenticated user, so we already know the user's name and email. Thanks,

• Are there default/pre-built dashboards in Zoho Desk?

  Hi, I am looking for some pre-built dashboard templates in Zoho Desk, similar to what we can find in CRM/Projects, etc Thank you

• SAP S/4 HANA to CRM Integration - change the SAP Client ID

  Hi I am trying to push the business partners from SAP S/4 HANA to ZOHO CRM module. The SAP Client ID is 421 in my case....kindly let me know how do I specify the sap client because it's a dropdown with specific values as of now. Thanks Ravi Aswani

• Adding branded signature to tickets reply

  Hi, i am unable to figure out how to add signatures with logo to tickets reply. please advice .

• How to share ticket numbers across different ticket types

  I'm running an event and have three different ticket types. Add on Event + Main Event - Early bird Main Event only - Early bird Add on Event only - Early bird And Standard class - shown but not available until early bird finishes Add on Event + Main Event

• Adding Social Media Buttons to Basic Campaigns

  Hi, I'm quote new to using Zoho Campaigns and I can't work out how to add Social Media Buttons into my basic campaign? In MailChimp there's a button that brings the icons into your campaign for you. I've tried adding the social media icons as 'buttons' in Zoho but it's not looking great. Can anyone help? Thanks!

• Hide Inactive Social Sign-In Providers from Login Screen

  Hello Zoho Team, We hope you are doing well. Currently, Zoho One allows admins to configure security policies and enable or disable Social Sign-In options for third-party providers such as Apple, Google, Microsoft, LinkedIn, Yahoo, Twitter, Facebook,

• [Free Webinar] AI Agents in Zoho Creator - Creator Tech Connect

  Hello Everyone! We welcome you all to the upcoming free webinar on the Creator Tech Connect Series. The Creator Tech Connect series is a free monthly webinar that runs for around 45 minutes. It comprises technical sessions in which we delve deep into

• Download All Attached Files

  It would be extremely useful to have "download-all" functionality for downloading files attached to a task, subtask, comment, forum post or hosted in the "Documents" section etc. We've instructed our users to zip multiple files prior to uploading, but of course they forget all the time. Having to download lots of files one-at-a-time off a comment or task wastes a lot of time.

• Ship via Carrier Not Working Since Commerce Update

  Since the recent update to the Commerce platform, I can no longer use the ship via carrier function. It will take me to the address screen and let me verify them but when I go to save and move tot he next screen it will not do anything. This is happening

• automations: Can I execute a step on a specific date?

  I have created a form in Zoho forms, and created a contacts list. I have also begun setting up an automation with the intention of sending the form to the contact list on a specific date every month (via email) for the entire year (essentially sending

• Zoho Expense - The ability to add detail to a Trip during booking

  As an admin, I would like the ability to add more detail to the approved Trips. At present a requestor can add flights, accommodation details and suggest their preferences. It would be great if the exact details of the trip could be added either by the

• Adding Folders in Android App

  Is it possible to create a new email folder within the Zoho Mail Android app?  Or can this only be done from the desktop version of Zoho Mail? Cheers!

• Schedule Exports for Regular Project Updates

  Tracking project data often means exporting data at regular intervals. Instead of manually exporting data every time, users can schedule exports for Phases, Tasks, and Tasks in Zoho Projects. These exports can be set to run once, daily, weekly, or monthly

• Question about custom fields using Pivot Tables.

  I have created a pivot table showing annual revenue of a client and how much payment that client is paying my company. Is there a way using pivot table to add an additional field that subtracts those to fields / shows me a percentage of that difference?

• Request for Light/Dark Mode

  Would love the ability to switch between Light and Dark mode similar to Zoho CRM. https://help.zoho.com/portal/en/community/topic/introducing-dark-mode-light-mode-a-new-look-for-your-crm

• Journey Email - Ignored Contacts

  I have a journey setup which simply sends a string of emails over time. For some reason I am getting large amounts of the contacts who enter the first email being ignored and I can't find anywhere in reports or audit logs why these contacts are not

• Involved account types are not applicable when create journals

  { "journal_date": "2016-01-31", "reference_number": "20160131", "notes": "SimplePay Payroll", "line_items": [{ "account_id": "538624000000035003", "description": "Net Pay", "amount": 26690.09, "debit_or_credit": "credit" }, { "account_id": "538624000000000403", "description": "Gross", "amount": 32000, "debit_or_credit": "debit" }, { "account_id": "538624000000000427", "description": "CPP", "amount": 1295.64, "debit_or_credit": "debit" }, { "account_id": "538624000000000376", "description":

• Zoho Books - Include Payment Terms as a Custom View filter

  It would be great if you could created a custom view based on Payment Terms. This would be really handy for seeing a list of customers who have credit terms. A workaround is not required. I could do something with a creditor checkbox, but it would be

• Next Page