Migrate from Hornbill Service Manager to Freshdesk

Hornbill Incidents map to Freshdesk Tickets with Type set to Incident. We map Incident priority (Critical, High, Medium, Low) to Freshdesk Priority, the assigned analyst to a Freshdesk Agent, and the customer fields to Freshdesk Requester. The full incident log and conversation thread migrate as Ticket Conversations. Hornbill's incident category and subcategory map to Freshdesk custom fields because Freshdesk's default Type and Status replace Hornbill's more granular incident categorization.

Hornbill Requests map to Freshdesk Tickets with Type set to Request. The request category, current workflow stage, and custom form fields migrate to Freshdesk ticket fields. Hornbill's Summary Fields, Detail Fields, and Create Fields tabs are all exported regardless of tab assignment and mapped to Freshdesk custom fields defined in the customer's Freshdesk admin prior to import.

Hornbill SLA records must be pre-seeded in Freshdesk as SLA Policies before any ticket import begins. We export SLA definitions (response time, resolution time, business hours, escalation targets) and create matching Freshdesk SLA Policies. Hornbill's SLA is linked to catalog items; Freshdesk's SLA Policy is attached via SLA Policy rules based on ticket type, group, or agent. This mapping is a mandatory pre-migration step and is validated before any ticket data moves.

Hornbill ServiceRequests reference catalog items and carry Hornbill workflow GUIDs. We extract the catalog item name and store it as a text field in Freshdesk to preserve the service catalog context, then map the ServiceRequest itself to a Freshdesk Ticket. The Hornbill-specific workflow GUID is stripped and documented separately so the customer's admin can rebuild the equivalent Freshdesk Scenario Automation post-migration.

Hornbill ChangeRequests carry CAB approval history, risk assessment, and implementation schedules. Freshdesk's Change Management module (available on the Growth plan and above) maps directly. Risk level, approval status, and implementation timeline migrate as custom fields. The CAB approval chain is preserved as ticket notes or as a custom change history field since Freshdesk's native approval model uses a different structure.

Hornbill Problems store root cause analysis, impact assessment, and linked KnownErrors. Freshdesk has no native Problem Management entity. We map Problems to Freshdesk Tickets tagged with a Problem flag and store root cause and diagnostic content in ticket description. Alternatively, the customer may choose a custom object (Growth plan and above) to preserve the full Problem-KnownError-KnownIncident relationship. This decision is made during scoping.

Hornbill KnownErrors store accepted solutions and workarounds linked to Problems. We map KnownErrors to Freshdesk Tickets tagged with a KnownError flag, with solution and workaround text preserved in the ticket description. The Problem-KnownError linkage is preserved through tagging or a custom object relationship if the customer opts for custom object architecture.

Hornbill Assets carry hardware and software inventory, CI relationships, and owner assignments. Freshdesk's Asset Management (Growth plan and above) provides a native Asset object; otherwise, assets migrate as Products with asset-type custom fields. CI relationships are preserved as custom fields or tags. Configuration item dependencies map to Freshdesk custom fields if the customer has the Assets module enabled.

Hornbill Suppliers are first-class entities with associated contacts and contracts. We map Supplier to Freshdesk Company and SupplierContacts to Freshdesk Contacts linked to that Company. Supplier contract metadata (renewal dates, SLA terms, cost) migrates as custom fields on the Company record. Supplier contract documents require separate file transfer via Hornbill's document API.

Hornbill SupplierContract records carry renewal dates, SLA terms, and cost information linked to the parent Supplier. Contract metadata migrates to Freshdesk custom fields on the Company record or to a custom object if the customer has Growth plan access. Contract document attachments are handled separately via Hornbill's document repository API and associated by filename at the destination.

Hornbill KB articles have approval workflows and category assignments. We export article content, category associations, and article metadata. Article approval states are not enforced in Freshdesk; articles are published as-is and the customer manages approval through Freshdesk's Help Center publication workflow. Base64 inline images migrate as attachments.

Hornbill custom fields are defined per entity across Summary Fields, Detail Fields, Create Fields, and List Fields tabs. We export all field definitions and values regardless of tab assignment. Custom fields are pre-created in Freshdesk by type (text, number, dropdown, checkbox, date) before migration begins. Hornbill multi-select and list fields map to Freshdesk dropdown or multi-select picklist fields.