Migrate from Novo Help Desk Software to Zendesk

Novo Accounts (representing a company using the platform) map directly to Zendesk Organizations. Account Type, a Novo optional designation indicating service support level, maps to a custom Organization field (e.g., support_tier__c) that we create in Zendesk during schema setup. The Account name becomes the Organization name, and domain-based auto-organization rules can be configured in Zendesk post-migration to maintain this mapping for new records.

Novo Contacts (individual end users within an Account who submit and receive tickets) map to Zendesk End Users. Email, name, and Account association migrate 1:1, with the Account-to-Organization lookup resolved at migration time. If the customer uses Novo's Active Directory integration, AD-sourced contact fields may not exist in the exported data; we flag any AD-derived fields during scoping and recommend rebuilding the AD sync in Zendesk rather than migrating AD-specific attributes.

Novo Contacts with agent permissions (those who manage and resolve tickets) map to Zendesk Users with Agent role. We extract the agent role from Novo's permission model during database export and assign the corresponding Zendesk role (Agent, Admin, or Custom). User email becomes the dedupe key for User import in Zendesk.

Novo Tickets (the core request object carrying status, priority, assignment, and timestamps) map directly to Zendesk Tickets. The Novo ticket subject becomes the Ticket subject, description maps to the initial Comment on the Ticket, and status (e.g., Open, Pending, Resolved, Closed) maps to Zendesk ticket status values. Priority migrates 1:1. Assignment maps by resolving the Novo assigned contact email to the corresponding Zendesk User.

Novo Activity Records (audit-style log entries tracking ticket history, status changes, and agent actions) map to Zendesk Ticket Comments. Internal notes in Novo become private Zendesk comments; public-facing activity becomes public comments. We preserve the original activity timestamp as the comment creation date to maintain the audit timeline. If Novo stores agent-only notes separately, we flag the distinction and map them to Zendesk's private comment architecture.

File attachments associated with Novo tickets migrate to Zendesk Ticket attachments. We handle file size limits and path preservation during extraction from the Novo database or backup. Large attachment batches are chunked for transfer, and file integrity is validated post-transfer using MD5 checksums where available from the source export. Attachments migrate attached to the corresponding Zendesk Ticket and Comment.

Novo custom fields on tickets (if the account uses them) require explicit field-level mapping because the CSV does not specify a custom field API. We inventory all custom fields during scoping via database inspection, map each to an equivalent Zendesk ticket field type (text, dropdown, checkbox, date, numeric), and create the Zendesk field schema before migration. Custom field values transfer as string or typed data depending on the field type selected during configuration.

Novo Departments and Groups (collections of users requiring different access levels) map to Zendesk Groups. Department hierarchy, where present, maps to a Zendesk Group structure. We preserve department-based access controls by assigning the corresponding Zendesk Group membership during User import. If Novo permissions are department-conditional, we document the mapping for the customer's admin to configure Zendesk Roles and Permissions post-migration.

Novo Custom Rules (automated tasks triggered by predefined conditions on Articles or Requests) do not migrate as code. We audit every active Custom Rule during discovery, documenting the trigger condition, action, and intended business outcome, then deliver a written inventory mapping each to a Zendesk Trigger or Macro equivalent. The customer's admin rebuilds the automation in Zendesk's Rule Builder based on this inventory. Custom Rules covering ticket assignment, status change, and urgent request routing are the highest priority for rebuild.

If the customer purchased the Novo Customer Support Suite (CSS) including the Novo Knowledge Base, articles map to Zendesk Guide. We migrate Article subject, body (HTML), and category/section structure. Cross-links between Novo articles map to Zendesk article linking. We do not migrate article permissions (internal vs public) as structured data; these require manual configuration in Zendesk Guide admin post-migration.