When you are scoping your project to migrate your helpdesk over to Zendesk, there is a lot to think of. You will most likely be focused on the aspects of the migration that impact your support team and/or your end-users. Because we have the most experience with these projects, we can anticipate most of the questions that will (and should!) be asked before you embark on your "Migrate to Zendesk" project - even those you haven't or wouldn't have thought of!


These questions will be specific to your migration, so use this list as a jumping off point to a productive and comprehensive discussion with whoever will be executing your Zendesk migration.

• Will customer notifications be triggered during the migration?
  Remember that if you use Import2, we bypass Zendesk's standard notification triggers by default during any migration. However if you've setup custom automations, this should be looked at in more detail and always, always tested!
  
  
• Will newest tickets be migrated first?
  This, unfortunately, depends on your old helpdesk API. Your old helpdesk provider determines whether oldest or newest tickets are loaded first when exporting over the API, so it's best to double check with us so you can plan your cutover accordingly.
  
  
• How long will the migration take?
  This, too, depends on your old helpdesk's API, as well as the amount of data you need to move. We recommend doing the free sample so you can get an accurate count of the records in your helpdesk, and we can provide you an estimate on how long it will take. Read our guide here on how to perfectly time a switch to Zendesk!
  
  
• When should I schedule the Zendesk migration to begin?
  The simple answer is: as soon as you move your support team to start working in Zendesk. Your migration should start as soon as you cutover your support and stop using your old helpdesk. The actual timing will depend on how much data you have to migrate over, but this can happen in the background while your support team handles new tickets in Zendesk. You do not want to schedule your migration to start while you still have tickets coming in to your old system, so it's important to time the switch well. You can read in more detail about timing a Zendesk migration here.
  
  
• When should I allow agents in to work in Zendesk?
  In most cases, agents begin using Zendesk while the migration is still in progress. This is because a seamless helpdesk switch means that your old helpdesk gets "turned off" at the moment the migration begins. So, if you receive a new ticket even before the migration is finished, your agents can work on that in Zendesk, while the migration completes in the background. The key here is to ensure your agents know the status and timing of the migration, so they are not surprised as changes and updates are happening real-time while they work.
  
  
• Do I need to import users first, before I migrate tickets to Zendesk?
  Yes! A proper migration moves users over first, and then tickets after. This is because every ticket is tied to a user (i.e. the requestor), so in order for the ticket to retain this relationship to the user, the user has to be present in the database. Import2 migrations will always import the users in full first, and then begin the ticket import, to ensure all the links are kept intact.