Migrating data from Zoho CRM to Bitrix24

Data Migration from Zoho CRM to Bitrix24

Zoho CRM is a scalable platform with a well-developed product ecosystem. Companies migrate to Bitrix24 for various reasons: tool consolidation (CRM + tasks + website in one place), localisation, and pricing. Zoho provides a good API, but the data model requires careful study before migration.

Zoho CRM Data Structure

Zoho CRM operates with modules (analogous to objects). Standard modules:

• Leads — leads (initial contacts)
• Contacts — contacts (qualified)
• Accounts — companies/organisations
• Deals — deals (Opportunities)
• Activities — activities: Tasks, Events, Calls
• Cases — support cases

Beyond the standard ones, Zoho allows creating custom modules — analogous to custom entities with no direct equivalent in base Bitrix24 (only in On-Premise via custom development).

Zoho API v2: Specifics

Zoho uses OAuth2. API v2 returns data with pagination via page and per_page parameters (maximum 200 records per request):

$page = 1;
$leads = [];
do {
    $response = $zoho->get('/crm/v2/Leads', [
        'page'     => $page,
        'per_page' => 200,
        'fields'   => 'First_Name,Last_Name,Email,Phone,Company,Lead_Status,Owner',
    ]);
    $leads = array_merge($leads, $response['data'] ?? []);
    $page++;
    $info = $response['info'];
} while ($info['more_records']);

Fetching module metadata (list of fields):

$fields = $zoho->get('/crm/v2/settings/fields', ['module' => 'Leads'])['fields'];

Mapping: Leads and Contacts

Zoho CRM separates Leads and Contacts analogously to Bitrix24, which simplifies mapping. One nuance: in Zoho, converting a lead creates a Contact + Account + Deal simultaneously. In Bitrix24 this process is analogous (lead conversion). Converted leads in Zoho do not need to be migrated as leads — they already exist in Contacts and Deals.

Custom Fields

Zoho supports extended custom field types: Formula (computed fields), Subform (nested forms, analogous to related tables), Multi-select Lookup. These types have no direct equivalent in Bitrix24 and require architectural decisions:

• Formula — computed in Bitrix24 via robots or custom handlers
• Subform — migrated as a separate CRM entity with a link
• Multi-select Lookup — emulated via a multiple field of type crm

Roles and Security Profiles

Zoho CRM has a sophisticated role model: profiles, roles, and record-level security rules. In Bitrix24 the equivalent is CRM roles and access permissions. There is no direct migration of the role model — it is configured manually based on client documentation.

Typical Timelines

The Zoho ecosystem (Zoho Projects, Zoho Desk, Zoho Books) is migrated in separate projects — each product requires its own strategy.