Migrate from CRM and Deals for Zendesk to Odoo CRM

Zendesk Contacts map to Odoo CRM res.partner records with partner_type = contact. Email, phone, and address fields migrate 1:1. Custom fields on the Zendesk Contact become custom ir.model.field records pre-created in Odoo before migration. The Zendesk organization_id links the Contact to an Organization; we resolve that as the parent_partner_id on the res.partner record.

Zendesk Organizations (companies/accounts) map to Odoo res.partner records with partner_type = company. The organization's domain name populates the website field. Company-level custom fields migrate as Odoo custom fields on res.partner. Parent-child org hierarchies in Zendesk map to parent_id on res.partner in Odoo.

Zendesk Deals map to Odoo CRM crm.lead records of type opportunity. The Zendesk dealstage property maps to Odoo stage_id, and pipeline_id maps to the Odoo team_id (sales team). The deal amount, probability, expected close date, and custom fields migrate directly. Note that Zendesk Deal owner_id maps to Odoo's user_id (the sales rep responsible for the opportunity).

Each Zendesk pipeline becomes an Odoo CRM Sales Team (crm.team) with its own stage sequence. Zendesk stage names, probabilities, and ordering are replicated as Odoo stage records within the team. Stage probabilities in Zendesk are percentages; Odoo stage probabilities are also percentage-based and migrate directly. We pre-create the stage structure before any Opportunity records are imported.

Zendesk Activities (calls, emails, meetings, notes) are stored as a flat object linked to Contacts or Deals. We split by activity_type: calls map to crm.phone.call; emails and meetings map to mail.message records linked to the res.partner or crm.lead. Odoo does not have a unified activity timeline; we link each activity to the parent record so they appear in the chatter. This is a partial activity timeline migration only; threaded conversation views do not transfer.

Zendesk Tickets migrate to Odoo Helpdesk tickets (helpdesk.ticket) if the Helpdesk module is activated. Ticket status, priority, requester, assignee, tags, and custom fields migrate. Attachments require separate handling via Odoo's ir.attachment API. Important: Odoo Helpdesk tickets are separate from CRM opportunities and are not automatically linked. We flag this for the customer during scoping and recommend a manual opportunity link or a helpdesk-to-opportunity server action as a post-migration configuration.

Zendesk Custom Objects v2 migrate to Odoo custom models (ir.model and ir.model.fields created in developer mode) or as custom fields on existing models depending on the object's intended use. We pre-create the destination schema before migration. Custom Objects with relationship fields to Contacts or Deals become many2one or many2many fields in Odoo. Plan-tier limits on Zendesk Custom Objects (3-50 depending on Suite tier) do not apply in Odoo, removing a pre-migration blocker.

Zendesk Users (agents) map to Odoo res.users records. We resolve by email match against the destination Odoo instance. Any Zendesk agent without a matching Odoo user goes to a reconciliation queue for the customer's admin to provision before record import resumes. Group memberships and roles in Zendesk do not map to Odoo access rights; we document them for manual admin reconfiguration.

Inline images and file attachments on tickets, contacts, and deals are fetched from Zendesk via the attachments API endpoint and re-uploaded to Odoo as ir.attachment records. We preserve the original filename, mimetype, and file content. Inline image positioning in ticket descriptions does not carry over; images appear as standard attachments in Odoo.

Zendesk tags on contacts and deals migrate to Odoo CRM tags via the tag_ids many2many field on crm.lead. Tags used for ticket categorization migrate to helpdesk.tag on helpdesk.ticket. Tag-based automation rules in Zendesk do not migrate; they must be rebuilt as Odoo server actions or Odoo Studio automations post-migration.

If the Zendesk account used the Leads feature or a third-party lead-capture tool feeding into Zendesk, those records map to Odoo crm.lead with type = lead (separate from type = opportunity). We preserve the lead source, rating, and any scoring custom fields as Odoo custom fields. Unqualified leads land in Odoo's CRM pipeline as leads for follow-up rather than as active opportunities.

Every Zendesk custom field on Contact, Organization, Deal, or Ticket is pre-created in Odoo as an ir.model.field before any data migration begins. Field types are mapped: Zendesk text becomes char, Zendesk dropdown becomes selection, Zendesk checkbox becomes boolean, Zendesk number becomes float or integer, Zendesk date becomes date. This step alone can add one to three days for migrations with more than 20 custom fields per object.