Migrating to TOPdesk: what to settle in advance

When moving to TOPdesk, it is tempting to copy the old system's structure as closely as possible. That feels familiar, but it also brings along the workarounds that grew up there. So settle in advance which data you bring across, what you set up afresh in TOPdesk and how you check that it is right. The migration itself is then mostly execution.

Decide which basic data goes across

For each choice, write down why, so nobody has to weigh it up again later.

Persons and operators

Take persons and operators from their own source where possible, not from the old ITSM tool. The Supporting Files import wizard imports persons, operators, operator groups and departments, among others, from a CSV or Excel file, MS SQL, Active Directory or Entra ID. Choose a unique key in advance: a field whose values are unique both in the source and in TOPdesk. Our article on TOPdesk integration with Entra ID and HR covers keeping that source connected afterwards.

Branches and locations

Branches and locations are imported with the same wizard, from an Excel file for example. Check the list first for closed locations and for names spelt in more than one way.

Assets

Only migrate assets that someone will keep up to date after the move. Our article on asset management in TOPdesk explains why. Asset Management has its own import wizard, with sources including a CSV or Excel file, MS SQL and Microsoft Intune. During the import you can also define the relationships between assets.

Knowledge items

Do not carry knowledge items across unread. Check what is still correct, what is duplicated and who owns each item after the move. Also decide which items become visible in the TOPdesk SelfServicePortal. By default they appear only in the Operator Section.

Record the mapping per drop-down list

For each drop-down list you import, such as departments, make a mapping table with the old value, the new value and who approved the choice.

Also agree what happens to a value that is not in the table. In the import wizards for Supporting Files and Asset Management you set this per drop-down list: skip the record, clear the field or use a fallback value. Choose that fallback value deliberately.

Design categories and statuses afresh

Categories and statuses shape how operators work and what you can report on later. So design them for TOPdesk.

• Categories: TOPdesk works with a category and a subcategory that belongs to it. Base them on the questions you want to answer about your calls later, not on the old system.
• Statuses: in TOPdesk the progress of a call also shows in other fields, such as the line (first or second), the Completed and Closed options, and On Hold. So limit the Status field to what those fields do not already show.
• Priority: decide whether operators choose the priority themselves, or TOPdesk derives priority, duration and target date from impact and urgency, if that option is configured.
• Operator groups: decide which groups you need in TOPdesk, rather than copying the queues of the old system one to one.

Processes and forms

Describe each process as it should run after the move, not as it ran before. Start with Call Management: how a question comes in, who takes it and when it moves to the second line. That shows which fields the card really needs.

Also go through the forms in the old portal. Decide which ones you rebuild in the TOPdesk SelfServicePortal and which questions you can drop. Person groups, which can also be imported, let you make services and their forms available to a group.

A trial migration with agreed checks

Run the trial migration in a test environment, not in production. An Asset Management import configuration can be exported as a JSON file and imported in production. There you set up the source, the import settings and the scheduling again.

Agree before the trial what the result must meet and who approves it. Checks that help:

• Counts per card type, old and new side by side.
• A sample of cards compared field by field, including drop-down lists and links.
• The number of records that received a fallback value or produced an error.
• Operators running through their daily work in the test environment: taking, escalating and closing a call.
• Colleagues filling in a form and looking up a knowledge item in the SelfServicePortal.

The last step of the import wizard, Preview, shows in advance how many cards will be created, updated or archived, and which errors TOPdesk finds. Watch the number of cards to be archived. If so configured, an import archives existing cards that are not in the source. Allow for a second trial, so the changes after the first are tested too.

The cutover and communication

Record what happens at the cutover:

1. Freeze: from when nobody changes basic data in the old system.
2. Final migration: with the settings of the last trial and the same checks.
3. Switch the entry points: connect the service desk mailbox to the TOPdesk mail import and point links to the old portal to the TOPdesk SelfServicePortal.
4. The old system: when it goes out of use and who arranges that.

Test the mail import before the cutover. By default it turns every email into a new call. If the subject contains the number of an existing call, TOPdesk updates that call. So put the call number in the subject of your messages to callers.

Let callers know in good time where to go from the cutover date. Give operators training in your own configuration before the cutover, and a fixed point of contact during the first weeks.

In closing

For us, a migration to TOPdesk starts with taking stock of the data and cleaning it. Then come the mapping tables, a trial migration, the checks and the final cutover. We deliberately choose what goes across and what stays behind. Read more on our TOPdesk consultancy page.