Migrate from Proton to Zoho CRM

Proton Contacts store name, email addresses, phone numbers, physical addresses, and custom fields in an encrypted address book. We extract contacts via Proton Contacts API and apply a split rule: contacts with a known business relationship (existing account name, deal history, or explicit account tag) map to Zoho CRM Contact attached to a Zoho Account; contacts without an organization context (raw lead records, conference pickups, one-off correspondents) map to Zoho CRM Lead. Email addresses preserve as typed email fields; phone numbers map to Zoho phone fields with international format standardization applied during the transform phase.

Each paid Proton account represents an encrypted mailbox and user identity. We map Proton encrypted email addresses to Zoho CRM Users (the owner records), matching by the local-part of the email address. If the customer also licenses Zoho Mail, the mailbox migrates to Zoho Mail IMAP storage. User roles and team membership from Proton Workspace map to Zoho CRM roles and data-sharing rules during Zoho org setup.

Proton Contacts optionally store an organization name in the address book, but Proton does not have a dedicated company object. We extract all distinct organization name values from Proton Contacts, deduplicate by normalized company name, and create Zoho CRM Account records. The Account-ID lookup on each Contact record is resolved after Account creation. Any Proton Contact without an organization name produces a standalone Contact (not attached to an Account) or a Lead, depending on the split rule.

Proton Calendar events include title, description, location, start and end time, reminders, attendees, and recurrence rules. We extract calendar data via Proton Calendar API and map all-day events to Zoho CRM Event records with All-Day set to true, and timed events to Zoho CRM Event with StartDateTime and EndDateTime preserved. Attendees map to Event Relations pointing at the corresponding Zoho CRM Contact or Lead records (resolved via email-match lookup). Recurrence rules (daily, weekly, monthly, yearly) map to Zoho's recurrence pattern fields.

Proton Mail supports up to 10 hide-my-email aliases on Mail Plus and unlimited on Unlimited and Workspace tiers. We extract each alias as a separate email address associated with the parent Proton user. Aliases map to a Zoho CRM custom text field (alias_email__c) on the Contact or Lead record, or to a Tag if the customer prefers to track alias usage separately. Alias forwarding rules in Proton do not have a Zoho CRM equivalent and are documented for manual reconfiguration in Zoho's email routing settings.

Proton Mail uses both hierarchical folders and tag-style labels (with color coding). We extract the full label taxonomy and folder hierarchy and map them to Zoho CRM Tags, preserving the label name and color. Folder hierarchy depth is flattened into a dot-notation tag string (e.g., Archive.2024.Q4) to maintain the organizational structure within Zoho's flat tag model. Folder-based email organization does not map to Zoho CRM because Zoho CRM does not store email in a folder hierarchy; emails link to CRM records directly via Zoho Mail integration.

Proton Mail messages are encrypted client-side before transmission. We extract message content via Proton API or Proton Bridge IMAP export with decryption keys available. The mapping depends on the customer's Zoho license: if Zoho Mail is included in scope, emails migrate to Zoho Mail IMAP storage and link to CRM records via Zoho's email threading; if Zoho Mail is not in scope, email body content migrates as a Note or as a rich-text custom field on the Contact record. We preserve subject, sender, recipient, timestamp, and read/unread status from the IMAP metadata.

Proton Workspace Standard supports up to 15 custom domains; Workspace Premium supports up to 20. We extract domain configuration and DNS records and map them to Zoho's domain verification and routing settings. This workstream is separate from the CRM data migration: DNS MX record updates route email to Zoho Mail (if included) or to the customer's chosen email host. We produce a domain-verification checklist and recommend a parallel-run period with both Proton and Zoho active during DNS cutover to avoid email loss.

Proton Drive stores files with end-to-end encryption. We extract file binaries and folder structure, decrypting client-side with available keys. Files that are CRM-relevant (contracts, proposals, PDFs associated with a specific contact or deal) are mapped to Zoho CRM Attachments linked to the corresponding Contact, Account, or Deal record. General Drive files (internal documents, shared resources) are mapped to Zoho Docs or stored as Attachments in a general-purpose Zoho CRM module at the customer's direction. Version history (up to 365 days on Workspace Standard) is extracted within scope limits but Zoho CRM does not natively store versioned file history.

Proton VPN configuration profiles are tied to Proton's infrastructure and have no meaningful CRM analog. We do not migrate VPN tunnel configurations. We document the existing Proton VPN setup (protocol, server list, custom DNS settings if used) in a written handoff document for the customer's IT team to reconfigure on their preferred VPN platform post-migration.

Proton Pass stores credentials in an encrypted vault. We extract vault entries in a structured export format for the customer's records, but password vault data does not map to Zoho CRM. The customer is responsible for migrating Proton Pass credentials to their preferred password manager (Bitwarden, 1Password, or Zoho's own Pass product if included in their Zoho subscription) post-migration. The written inventory of Proton Pass entries is delivered as a CSV export.