Summary TL;DR

• Customer: Institute for Integrative Nutrition (IIN)

• From: Zendesk

• To: Front

• Scope: 700,000+ tickets spanning 12+ years. Large attachment library. Dozens of groups, custom fields, and macros.

• Outcome: Complete, accurate migration with backfills and QA. Team unblocked and fully operational in Front within weeks.

• Why ClonePartner: Hands-on process, proven tooling, and cost far lower than building an internal migration.

“Honestly, it was way better than I expected. Very hands on. You were responsive, fixed issues fast, and the end result is accurate.”

- Alexander Funaro, IIN

The challenge

IIN had outgrown its Zendesk setup and chose Front for collaboration and speed. The blocker was not if they could migrate, but how to move everything that mattered.

Key complexities they called out on the project kickoff and in our interview:

• Massive data volume: 700k+ tickets spanning 12 years. API rate limits meant a long-running job.

• Media and large files are embedded throughout tickets.

• Legacy agents who no longer exist.

• Different status models and terminology between Zendesk and Front.

• A deep set of macros, tags, and custom fields that teams depended on every day.

“Our technical team could probably do this, but given your expertise, the size of the project, and your fees, it was a no-brainer to engage you. Super efficient process that we would definitely do again.”

- Alexander Funaro, IIN

Our approach

We follow the same proven migration pattern described in our process deep-dive, tailored to each customer’s stack and constraints. The IIN migration used five guarded phases:

1. Preferences and mapping. We captured decisions in the checklist. This included agent fallbacks, group-to-inbox mapping, status mapping, field mapping, tag strategy, and macro selection. Result: a signed plan that engineering could execute.

2. Sample run. We migrated a slice of real data to Front so IIN could validate how tickets, tags, fields, attachments, and macros looked in production.

3. Iterate with QA. Findings were logged, fixed, and backfilled. Quote from IIN: you “quickly fixed and then port back any kind of backfill fixes for the records that had been imported.”

4. Full run with rate-limit control. We tuned concurrency around Zendesk and Front API guardrails. The script ran for weeks by design, ensuring stability at scale. IIN noted the duration with API limits and still called the outcome “really well” and “super efficient.”

5. Cutover and warranty. We performed deltas, rechecked counts, verified attachments, and stayed on to handle post-go-live tweaks. IIN also confirmed an S3 asset transfer completed within about a day.

Results

• Complete, accurate history in Front. Tickets, messages, tags, and fields came over exactly as planned.

• Macros ready on day one. Agents kept their muscle memory.

• No busywork for IIN. Their team stayed focused on customers while we handled discovery, build, and backfills.

• Time to value. Despite 700k records and rate limits, IIN was operating in Front within weeks.

• Cost efficiency. The migration delivered enterprise-scale results at a fraction of the cost of building and maintaining an in-house solution.

“You helped us land the plane. We had a lot of balls in the air and your team was essential.”

- Alexander Funaro, IIN

Front-specific migration best practices we applied

• Mirror operational structure. Mapped Zendesk Groups directly to Front inboxes so the triage flow remains consistent and familiar for agents.

• Set a human fallback. Assigned a default Front user to handle historical tickets from agents who are no longer active, ensuring every record stays properly assigned.

• Respect field limits. Front dropdown fields have practical limits on options, so large Zendesk dropdowns were flagged early and redesigned to avoid data loss.

• Macro parity. Reviewed and migrated macros to ensure agent workflows continue seamlessly in Front, including variations for different languages or teams.

Why IIN chose ClonePartner

• Service-first, engineering-deep. You get a partner who designs with you, runs the lifts, and handles snags fast.

• Custom tooling. Optimized for API rate limits, attachment reliability, and reproducible backfills.

• Predictable cost. A fixed, transparent engagement that undercuts the cost of a full-time engineer.

• Process you can trust. Preferences → sample → full run → QA → cutover. No surprises.