Free checklist
Service desk migration checklist for MSPs
Plan the move from your current service desk without losing ticket ownership, client context or a path back. Use the staged checklist and download a worksheet with space for owners and acceptance evidence.
Migration checklist
A staged service desk migration plan
01
Inventory and ownership
List clients, sites, users, tickets, documents and commercial records
Map source systems, integrations and record owners
Confirm export, import and retention requirements
02
Configure and map
Map fields, identities, time zones and client boundaries
Set roles, approvals, business hours and SLA targets
Plan knowledge access and the accounting handoff
03
Pilot and reconcile
Move a representative sample and reconcile counts and attachments
Test intake, permissions, notifications and rejected actions
Validate agent coexistence, monitoring, patching and security coverage
04
Cut over
Name the go/no-go owner and communicate the support channels
Change mailbox and automation ownership without duplicate processing
Monitor intake counts, assignment and escalation after cutover
05
Retain and recover
Document rollback triggers, owner and restoration steps
Preserve required history and reconcile post-cutover changes
Retire old tools only after acceptance and retention checks pass
Inventory the work before exporting data
List clients, sites, users, open tickets, knowledge, agreements, rates, approvals and recurring jobs. Identify which system owns each record and which integrations read or update it. Assign an owner to every part of the move.
Check export and import coverage with both vendors. Confirm required history, attachments, timestamps, custom fields and retention obligations. Do not assume that every ticket or automation can be transferred unchanged. Secure exports and credentials according to your organization’s access policies.
Map records and prove the result in a small pilot
Use one client or team to validate record counts, client boundaries, time zones, ticket ownership and knowledge access. Compare a sample in the source and destination systems. Keep a list of records that need manual recreation or cannot be moved.
Test mailbox intake, user identity, approvals, escalation, notifications and any accounting handoff before changing production ownership. Device-agent coexistence must be tested against your monitoring, patching and security requirements rather than assumed safe for every environment.
Treat cutover as a controlled change
Choose a cutover window and name the go/no-go owner. Decide which system reads the support mailbox, which automation jobs remain enabled and where users request help. Prevent duplicate polling, duplicate notifications and two systems acting on the same request.
Tell users and technicians what changes, how to find existing work and where to report a missing request. Reconcile new ticket counts and a sample of completed workflows after cutover. Keep the old system accessible for the retention and validation period you agreed.
Keep a usable rollback plan
Define the conditions that trigger rollback, who makes the decision and the steps needed to restore intake and ownership. Record changes created in the destination after cutover so they can be reconciled if you return to the old system.
Retire subscriptions and old agents only after replacement coverage is verified. Keep specialist security tools where needed, and include overlapping subscriptions, migration effort and ongoing review time when using the cost calculator.
FAQ
Questions about this resource
Cover data ownership, export and import mapping, knowledge, user permissions, approvals, integrations, billing, device-agent coexistence, pilot acceptance, communication, cutover ownership and rollback.
Decide based on operational, reporting and retention requirements. Verify import limits and historical access with both vendors. Closing work in the old system or retaining a searchable archive may be appropriate for some records.
After the agreed acceptance checks pass, required history remains accessible and the rollback and retention requirements are satisfied. Include the overlap period and contractual notice in your migration budget.