From Zendesk to Jira: a three-phase migration case study

Gerusa Lobo • December 20, 2024

One of our clients previously used Zendesk as their ITSM solution, which no longer met their needs due to high costs. Additionally, they operated Jira Software on a Server environment for both software development and business teams. With the end of support for the Server environment, the client decided that it would be best to migrate their tools to the cloud. Aiming for centralization, cost reduction, and performance improvement, the client opted to transition from Zendesk to Jira Service Management.



To accomplish this movement they decided they needed an Atlassian Platinum Partner and chose e-Core to be their trusted partner in this journey.


Phase one: Jira server-to-cloud migration

The first phase of the project involved the migration from Jira Server to the Cloud. For this step, our team dedicated time to consultative support in scope refinement, defining and adjusting what would make sense to migrate within a viable migration window, following the complete migration process according to Atlassian’s best practices and the phases outlined in their runbook.


The Jira data migration took place within a two-day window, covering 165 projects and 408,000 issues. This process also included the migration of specific operational projects, which were adjusted to operate as service projects.


Phase two: development of service portals in Jira Service Management

In the second phase, while the migration team focused on the Jira Server-to-Cloud migration, an e-Core implementation team worked on setting up Jira Service Management by developing service portals for the company’s ITSM and operational departments.


e-Core’s team of specialists and consultants provided consistent consultative support, understanding the unique needs of each service area, assisting in defining scope with the client, and developing workflows, forms, projects, and process automation.


Phase three: Zendesk to Jira Service Management migration

In the third phase, as the implementation team completed the ITSM project and portal development, another e-Core team created a solution to facilitate the migration of over 260,000 Zendesk tickets, including more than 400,000 attachments and comments, to Jira Service Management.


Zendesk did not allow easy exports of ticket comments and attachments via CSV or XML. An export in JSON or direct access to the REST API was required to access this data. Then e-Core developed a solution that accessed the Zendesk API, temporarily stored data, and formatted it to allow import into Jira Service Management. This included customizing fields and mapping fields like priority, issue type, request type, and status to meet the client’s needs.

Though tool development was involved, this phase followed all recommended project stages: pre-testing, testing, pre-production, production, and post-production, as per Atlassian’s guidance.


After the testing phase, where the migration was approved on sandbox, and during pre-production, the migration of historical data from closed tickets within a cut-off date began. During this stage, 240,000 tickets were imported from Zendesk to Jira Service Management before moving into production.


The production migration was completed within a two-day window. The access to the previous platform was disabled during it and active tickets were migrated to the pre-created ITSM project. Historical deltas were managed. This ensured agents could operate seamlessly as soon as Sunday night, ensuring a transparent transition.


The collaborative efforts between the client and e-Core consulting teams were essential in ensuring all project phases proceeded smoothly and incident-free, making for a transparent and effective Zendesk to Jira transition.


Moving forward, e-Core’s Managed Services team will support the client’s team in using Jira and implementing any necessary enhancements for the full adoption of Atlassian Cloud across the company. e-Core will also consult into leveraging new functionalities and AI to continuously gain from its best features and benefits.


Woman with glasses, smiling, with short gray hair, set against a blurred blue background.


Gerusa Lobo

Gerusa Lobo is a Senior Software Consultant at e-Core, with over 20 years of experience in the technology field. She worked directly on this project as part of the Jira Server-to-Cloud migration and Zendesk data migration teams.


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