Migrate from ServiceNow IT Service Management to Zendesk

ServiceNow Incidents map directly to Zendesk Tickets. The incident_state field (New, In Progress, On Hold, Resolved, Closed) maps to Zendesk ticket Status (New, Open, Pending, Solved, Closed). Priority maps from priority (1-Critical through 5-Low) to Zendesk Priority (Urgent, High, Normal, Low). We preserve incident number as a custom field sn_incident_number__c for cross-referencing. Child tasks migrate as Zendesk Tasks linked to the parent ticket.

ServiceNow Problems have no direct Zendesk equivalent. Problems represent root cause investigations linked to Incidents via the problem_id field. We create Zendesk Tickets for each Problem with type=task to distinguish them from Incident-derived tickets, preserve the Known Error flag, and link related Incidents as comments on the Problem ticket. The Problem Manager assignment migrates as a Zendesk assignee custom field.

Change Requests have no native Zendesk equivalent. During scoping we determine disposition: open Change Requests can become Zendesk Tickets with a custom type=change_request field, closed completed Change Requests can be archived to a custom Zendesk view, and Change Requests in active approval can be flagged for the customer's admin to complete in Zendesk manually before cutover. Risk assessment, CAB approval status, and implementation schedule are preserved in custom fields.

ServiceNow CMDB Configuration Items map to Zendesk's Asset object. CI relationships (parent-child, dependency) cannot be fully preserved in Zendesk's flat asset model; we export CI relationships to a CSV and deliver them as a reference map for the customer's admin to reconstruct manually in Zendesk or a connected asset management tool. The CI type (Hardware, Software, Application, Service) maps to Zendesk Asset type.

ServiceNow Knowledge Articles with structured content and category hierarchies map to Zendesk Guide articles. Article workflow states (Draft, Review, Published, Retired) map to Zendesk article Draft and Published status; retired articles are archived to a private section. Category hierarchies preserve as Zendesk Section structure. Article attachments migrate as Zendesk article file attachments. Article approval workflows are not migratable.

ServiceNow Fulfiller users map to Zendesk Agents. We resolve by email match against the Zendesk user table. Active Fulfiller status maps to Zendesk agent status. Department, location, and manager relationships are preserved in custom user fields. Inactive ServiceNow users are migrated as end-user Requesters in Zendesk rather than agents.

ServiceNow Requester users map to Zendesk End Users. Requester records include email, name, department, and location. The requester license distinction from ServiceNow does not carry forward; all Zendesk users in this migration scope receive the appropriate Zendesk role. User preferences and notification settings are not migratable.

ServiceNow Groups with assignment routing and approval chain membership map to Zendesk Groups. Group membership, group managers, and group types (fulfillment, approval) migrate with the group. Assignment rules in Zendesk are rebuilt post-migration as Zendesk's automation targets; we document the ServiceNow group-based routing logic as input for that rebuild.

ServiceNow SLA records with breach timers map to Zendesk SLA Policies. Business hours calendars may not map 1:1; ServiceNow's Next Action and Pause Schedule fields require reconciliation against Zendesk's business hours definition. We flag calendar mismatches during the mapping phase and recommend the customer's admin define Zendesk business hours before SLA Policy import.

ServiceNow Service Catalog Items with custom variables and variable sets require field-level mapping to Zendesk ticket custom fields. Variable set definitions are exported separately and reconstructed as Zendesk custom field groups. Catalog item categories map to Zendesk Ticket Fields with conditional visibility rules. Fulfillment workflows and record producers are documented but not migrated.

File attachments associated with Incidents, Problems, and Change Requests are exported via the ServiceNow table API. Large attachment volumes require chunked export. We import attachments as Zendesk ticket attachments linked to the corresponding ticket. Attachments exceeding Zendesk's 50MB per-file limit are flagged during scoping for manual handling or alternative storage.

Instance-specific custom fields on Incident, Problem, and Change Request tables require field-level mapping during discovery. We inventory all custom fields, identify their data types, and create Zendesk custom fields of equivalent type before record import. Custom fields referencing other ServiceNow tables (lookups) are converted to text fields or custom dropdowns in Zendesk where a direct lookup relationship is not available.