Migrate from ServiceNow IT Service Management to Zoho Desk

ServiceNow Incidents map to Zoho Desk Tickets. We translate Incident state (New, In Progress, On Hold, Resolved, Closed) to Zoho Desk Ticket status (Open, Pending, On-Hold, Resolved, Closed). Priority maps from ServiceNow Urgency/Impact matrix to Zoho Priority levels (Low, Medium, High, Urgent). Assignment Group maps to Zoho Desk Department or Agent based on group-type classification during scoping. Short description becomes Ticket Subject; description becomes Ticket Content. The incident number is preserved in a custom field sn_incident_number__c for cross-reference.

ServiceNow Problems map to Zoho Desk Tickets with a tag applied (e.g., 'Problem-Root-Cause') to distinguish them from Incidents. The problem_id field and known_error flag are preserved as ticket custom fields. Problem-Incident relationships (the problem-incident linkage graph) are recorded as related tickets in Zoho Desk using the thread association API. Zoho Desk does not have a native problem management table; tagging provides the audit trail that Problems existed separately in ServiceNow.

ServiceNow Change Requests map to Zoho Desk Tickets with a custom field or type designation marking them as Change records. Risk assessment, change type (Standard, Normal, Emergency), and planned start/end dates migrate as custom fields on the ticket. CAB approval chains and implementation tasks are documented as ticket notes and related subtasks rather than a native approval workflow. Approval status migrates as a read-only custom field. Change Freeze Calendar associations are noted for manual calendar setup in Zoho Desk.

ServiceNow Service Catalog Items with submitted requests map to Zoho Desk Tickets submitted through the customer portal. Variable sets and custom variables on catalog items require field-level mapping: each variable becomes a custom field on the Zoho Desk Ticket. Variable set definitions must be exported separately from ServiceNow and manually reconstructed as field groups in Zoho Desk layouts. We document every variable and its data type during discovery for customer admin reconstruction.

ServiceNow CMDB Configuration Items do not have a native Zoho Desk equivalent. We export CI records and the CI relationship table, then reconstruct CI context as Zoho Desk Ticket tags using the format 'CI:<ci_name>' and 'CI-Type:<ci_class>'. Parent-child and dependency relationships are documented as a separate relationship export delivered as a CSV inventory. Customers who require full CMDB functionality in Zoho Desk can use Zoho Desk's custom fields and Zoho Creator to build a lightweight CI registry post-migration.

ServiceNow Knowledge Articles map to Zoho Desk Knowledge Base articles. Article title, body content, and metadata (author, status, tags) migrate directly. Active/retired status maps to Published/Draft in Zoho Desk. Article approval workflows are not migrated; Zoho Desk does not have a native multi-stage article approval workflow. Knowledge base category hierarchies from ServiceNow map to Zoho Desk article folders with a category mapping table delivered as part of the migration package.

ServiceNow Fulfiller users map to Zoho Desk Agents. We extract active user records by email, name, department, and location. The Fulfiller vs Requester license distinction from ServiceNow has no Zoho Desk equivalent; all imported ServiceNow Fulfillers become Agents in Zoho Desk with no additional licensing cost at the agent level. Inactive ServiceNow users are flagged for review; we recommend setting them as inactive agents rather than importing as active.

ServiceNow Requester users (end users submitting tickets) map to Zoho Desk Contacts. We extract user records referenced in Incident, Problem, and Change Request requests. Email, name, phone, department, and company fields map directly. Contacts without tickets are included in the migration scope per agreement, with a minimum contact threshold applied to exclude orphaned records.

ServiceNow Groups (Assignment Groups, Approval Groups) map to Zoho Desk Departments. Group membership, group managers, and group type (fulfillment vs approval) are preserved in a group inventory document delivered alongside migration. Zoho Desk does not support native approval groups as a separate construct; we document the approval chain from ServiceNow for the customer's admin to implement as a Zoho Desk Blueprint or escalation rule.

ServiceNow SLA records with business hours calendars and breach actions require translation to Zoho Desk Business Hours configuration. ServiceNow multi-calendar, multi-timezone definitions with holiday schedules are flagged during discovery: Zoho Desk Business Hours supports a single location-based schedule. We map the primary SLA calendar to Zoho Desk business hours and document secondary calendar definitions as manual setup items. SLA breach actions (email, phone alert) map to Zoho Desk escalation rules.

ServiceNow Tasks (child tasks under Incidents and Change Requests) map to Zoho Desk Subtasks on the parent ticket. Task state, assignment, and parent references migrate directly. Task type (implementation, approval, review) is preserved as a subtask subject prefix for identification.

File attachments on Incidents, Problems, Change Requests, and Knowledge Articles migrate to Zoho Desk Ticket Attachments. ServiceNow attachment references resolve to Zoho Desk via the table API export and upload. Zoho Desk's Zwitch tool caps file upload at 10GB per migration; for volumes exceeding this, we chunk by ticket and use the Zoho Desk REST API with multipart upload. Knowledge base article attachments are not supported by Zoho Desk and are flagged for manual re-upload post-migration.

Instance-specific custom fields on Incident, Problem, Change Request, and Service Catalog tables require field-level mapping during discovery. We inventory every custom field by table, data type, and value set, then create a mapping table against Zoho Desk's custom field schema. String, number, boolean, and date custom fields map directly. Picklist and multi-select fields require value mapping tables if the destination picklist values differ from the source. We do not pre-create Zoho Desk custom fields; the customer's admin provisions them before migration begins.