Migrate from Vision Service Desk to Zendesk

Vision Service Desk Tickets map to Zendesk Tickets with full thread history. We extract priority, type, status, requester, assignee, custom fields, timestamps, and threaded public and private comments. On SaaS instances we use the REST API; on-premises instances require CSV export or direct database read with customer-provided credentials. Zendesk's Ticket ID differs from Vision Service Desk's ID; we store the original Vision Service Desk ticket ID in a custom Zendesk field zendesk_ticket__vsd_id__c for cross-referencing.

Vision Service Desk Clients map to Zendesk End Users. We extract contact details, portal preferences, organization associations, and client-side custom fields. Client email serves as the dedupe key during Zendesk import. Vision Service Desk Clients without email are imported with a generated placeholder address and flagged for admin review.

Vision Service Desk Staff records map to Zendesk Agents. We migrate staff email, name, team assignment, role (Super Admin, Team Manager, Agent), and active/inactive status. Zendesk Agents must be provisioned in the Zendesk account before migration begins; we match Vision Service Desk staff to existing Zendesk agents by email and flag any unmapped staff for admin provisioning.

Vision Service Desk Companies map to Zendesk Organizations. Company-to-contact relationships migrate as Zendesk Organization memberships on the User record. Company-specific custom fields transfer as Organization fields in Zendesk. The organization name is the dedupe key.

Vision Service Desk Knowledge Base articles migrate to Zendesk Articles. Article content (HTML body), author, creation date, last modified date, and status (published/draft) transfer directly. Article-to-topic associations are reconstructed in Zendesk by mapping each Vision Service Desk topic to a corresponding Zendesk Section under the target Folder. Custom article fields require field-type mapping to Zendesk's supported types (text, dropdown, checkbox, date, number).

Vision Service Desk KB Categories migrate to Zendesk Sections. We preserve the hierarchical category tree and re-map article associations to the destination Section hierarchy. If the Vision Service Desk category depth exceeds Zendesk's section nesting (one level deep in standard KB), we flatten the hierarchy and add the parent category name as a label on the Section for reference.

Vision Service Desk SLA Plan definitions (calendar-based response and resolution targets per plan) migrate as a written inventory document delivered to the customer, not as native Zendesk SLA Policy objects. Zendesk's SLA Engine is gated to specific Suite tiers and requires manual reassignment by the Zendesk admin in Admin Center. We advise customers to review the inventory against Zendesk's SLA Policy format and rebuild SLA assignments during the configuration phase. SLA mapping is a configuration step, not a data migration step.

Vision Service Desk Problem Management records have no native Zendesk equivalent. We migrate problem records as Zendesk Tickets with the tag vsd_problem_record and the original Vision Service Desk problem_id stored in a custom field. The problem_description migrates as the ticket description; linked incident ticket IDs are stored in a custom field vsd_linked_incidents__c so the relationship history is preserved even without a native problem object. Not applicable for Satellite Desk tier customers, which lack this module.

Vision Service Desk Change Management records migrate as Zendesk Tickets with the tag vsd_change_request and the original change_id stored in a custom field. Approval status, scheduled dates, and change type (Normal, Standard, Emergency) transfer as custom ticket fields. Approval chain reconstruction in Zendesk is not native; we document the approval workflow as part of the written inventory and recommend Zendesk's macro and escalation features as the rebuild path. Not applicable for Satellite Desk tier customers.

Vision Service Desk custom fields for tickets, clients, and companies migrate to Zendesk custom fields of equivalent type. Drop-down and multi-select fields map to Zendesk dropdown and tag fields with value translation. Checkbox fields map to Zendesk boolean or tag fields. Date fields map to Zendesk date fields. Note that Vision Service Desk custom fields on SaaS require explicit field-specific API calls; on-premises require database extraction. We build a custom field manifest during discovery that lists every custom field, its type, and its applicable objects, then include those fields explicitly in extraction queries to avoid silent data loss.

Vision Service Desk tags, labels, and flags migrate as Zendesk Tags on the relevant records. We preserve the original Vision Service Desk taxonomy so that ticket filtering logic referenced in the customer's internal documentation remains interpretable. Tags used for workflow classification are included in the written workflow inventory document for admin reference.

Vision Service Desk asset records and CMDB configuration items migrate to Zendesk as custom fields on the related Ticket or User, or as a Zendesk Article in a designated Assets Section depending on the customer's preference expressed during discovery. We note that Zendesk does not have a native CMDB; organizations with complex asset dependencies should evaluate Zendesk's IT Service Management (ITSM) add-on or a dedicated CMDB tool post-migration.