Migrate from Apptivo to Zoho CRM

Apptivo Contacts map directly to Zoho CRM Contacts. We map standard fields (name, email, phone, address) 1:1 and enumerate any custom attributes from the Contacts app Master Layout during discovery. Apptivo Contact ownership resolves by email match against Zoho User records. Note that Apptivo Contacts and Leads are separate objects; Zoho CRM similarly separates Leads and Contacts, so unqualified prospect records may belong in the Lead module instead.

Apptivo Leads with lifecycle stage, lead scoring, and source tracking map to Zoho CRM Leads. We preserve Apptivo's lead score as a custom field in Zoho (Lead Score field or a custom numeric field). Lead Status values map to Zoho Lead Status picklist values. Any Apptivo Lead without a valid email address is flagged during scoping and held for customer review because Zoho requires an email for Lead creation.

Apptivo Customer records (B2B account objects with associated contacts and addresses) map to Zoho CRM Accounts. The Apptivo customer name becomes the Account Name, and billing or shipping addresses map to the corresponding Zoho address fields. We create the Account record first so that Contacts can reference it via Account-Contact lookup during the Contact import phase.

Apptivo Opportunities map to Zoho CRM Deals. Apptivo deal stages map to Zoho Stage picklist values, and we configure a Zoho Sales Process that matches the stage sequence from Apptivo before migration. Revenue, expected close date, and stage probability percentages migrate directly. The Apptivo opportunity owner resolves by email against Zoho User records during import.

Apptivo Cases (helpdesk tickets with status, priority, owner, and conversation threads) map to Zoho CRM Cases. Case status and priority values map to Zoho picklist values. Conversation history migrates as Zoho Case Comments. If the customer also uses Zoho Desk, Cases can optionally map to Zoho Desk Tickets for a full service desk setup, but standard CRM Case migration lands them in the native Cases module.

Apptivo Project records (tasks, milestones, assignees, customer portals) do not have a native Zoho CRM Project module. We migrate project hierarchies as a parent Task structure under the linked Account or Deal, with subtasks representing milestones and assignees stored in Task custom fields or Zoho Projects if the customer licenses it separately. Custom project-level attributes from Apptivo migrate as Task custom fields. This is a non-standard mapping that requires customer confirmation of the target structure.

Apptivo Invoice records (line items, tax codes, payment status) can map to Zoho Invoice if the customer licenses Zoho Books or the Zoho CRM Invoicing add-on. Invoice headers and line items migrate as CSV into Zoho Invoices, but historical payment records require Zoho Books for full fidelity. Without a finance license, invoice data migrates as a reference document attachment to the related Account. We confirm the finance layer strategy during scoping.

Apptivo Items (product and service catalog with pricing and custom attributes) map to Zoho CRM Products. Product code, name, unit price, and description migrate 1:1. Custom attributes on Items (text, number, date, dropdown) map to Zoho custom fields on the Product module. If Deals in Apptivo reference specific Items, we link them to Zoho Products via the Deal-Product lookup after both objects are in place.

Apptivo Employee records (contact info, job title, department) serve as ownership mapping metadata. We use the Apptivo Employee email as the lookup key to resolve owner assignment on Contacts, Accounts, Deals, and Cases in Zoho. Employee records themselves do not typically create Zoho User records unless the customer wants to provision the former Apptivo users as Zoho users; this is a separate admin decision confirmed during scoping.

Apptivo Master Layout custom attributes per app require individual field mapping because identically named custom fields across apps (e.g., 'Region' in Contacts and 'Region' in Cases) are completely separate database fields in Apptivo. We enumerate all custom attributes across all active apps during discovery, map each to the corresponding Zoho module custom field, and create the Zoho custom fields (with correct field types: text, number, date, picklist, etc.) before any data import. We flag any custom attribute that exceeds Zoho's 300-field-per-module limit for the relevant module and propose consolidation or archival.

File attachments stored in Apptivo's file system migrate as linked blobs to the parent record in Zoho CRM. We use Apptivo's file download API to retrieve attachments, chunk large files, and upload them to Zoho CRM via the REST API with the correct parent module and record ID reference. Files exceeding Zoho's per-attachment size limit are flagged for customer review. We preserve the file name and original upload date as metadata.