This is a guest post by Help Desk Migration
The decision to migrate help desk data is quite ambiguous. You want to improve and progress, but you feel scared about the consequences.
No doubt, data migration is a complex process that requires diligent preparation and a polished-up strategy. Without a detailed plan, you can lose direction and make a dozen silly mistakes that can have serious implications in the end. Unfortunately, there’s no magic stick that can migrate help desk data in one stroke, but there are a couple of data migration practices that simplify the process and reduce the risks of failure. Let’s start from the beginning.
Premigration groundwork
First, you need to define what data to migrate and how to adjust it to the destination system. Assess its scope and sift it out from unnecessary records. Explore your source and target servers and try to forecast the possible mismatches. Also, don’t forget about the financial side of the process: estimate the costs and their impact on your budget.
Building a data migration strategy
Now, you can move on to building up a comprehensive data migration strategy. It’s not a plain checklist, but a document comprising a step-by-step guideline of your data migration process. In the course of it, you fall back on your strategy and optimize it on the go. Thus, you can use it as a template when it comes to future migrations.
Where do you start? Your data migration plan can be divided into several key segments.
1. Audit your data
Run a data audit and remove the duplications and irrelevant records like unassigned tickets, incorrect emails, outdated workflows, etc.
2. Compare the source and target systems
Both help desk solutions may look alike but still can differ in certain processes and settings. Compare the types of records and their names for an accurate mapping during migration. Check whether macros, notifications, and triggers work correctly since you need to turn them off during the migration process.
3. Choose the migration method
There are a couple of ways to migrate help desk data. If you have an IT department, you can develop your own plug-in, outsource this task to a development agency, or transfer records via a vendor’s import tool or a third-party service. Consider the one that meets your requirements.
Choosing the right data transfer technique
The outcome of your data migration depends on how you execute it. Here’s what you can choose:
1. Build your migration solution
Open API helps you develop your own migration tool, so your data is safe and secure. This helps you keep your data secure but can also leave some of your data behind due to the limits of API. However, this way loads your IT team with extra work as they learn details about the target help desk, and prevents possible scalability issues.
2. Outsource the migration project
With your business requirements in mind, outsourcing your migration project using a suitable provider is a flexible option.
3. Use the vendor’s import tool
Many vendors provide export/import tools. This reduces the risks of a migration failure since you import from CSV and XML files. But, you need to filter data before importing it and you can’t switch the custom data or in-line images.
4. Use migration services
A SaaS migration service is usually a win-win option. You can transfer your records automatically, which saves you time and effort. Besides, you reduce the expenses on the migration, time of your IT department, or cost of outsourcing the project.
When choosing a service tool, focus on the ease of data mapping, scalability, and security. Check the tool’s capabilities to accurately import and adjust the migrated data according to the system’s data structure.
Setting up a destination platform
When you've settled on your new help desk platform, carry out the final settings for its correct work. Begin by reconnecting all support channels from the old system to the new one. Then, set up and activate the automations, notifications, and triggers.
Wrapping up
Migrating to another help desk system can significantly upgrade a company. It’s a complicated process that can take time and cost money. Preparing the data, setting up the destination system, mapping the fields, and testing the new solution requires expertise and high accuracy. This is why an automated migration service is recommended.
The Import and Export extension for Zoho Desk lets you automatically migrate data from different help desk systems such as Freshdesk, Zendesk, and more to Zoho Desk. Along with the successful migration of data to your Zoho Desk, the extension also provides high security, simple premigration actions, and customizable field migration and mapping.
Try Import and Export for Zoho Desk
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