6 years of Zendesk, migrated in 1 day
Maiu does financial BPO and accounting, with 4 people answering customers and about 100,000 tickets. The initdesk team ran the migration, Maiu kept answering, and according to André Bissacot, CEO, the help desk cost dropped by about 90%.
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Maiu in numbers
~90%
lower help desk cost
~100,000
tickets and 6 years of history brought over from Zendesk
1
day until users and integrations ran on initdesk
4
people answering customers, with no per-person license
Figures reported by Maiu.
Before Zendesk, one email address for three people
Maiu does financial BPO and accounting. Day to day, that means requests to issue invoices, bills to pay, and conversations with its clients and with its clients' suppliers.
At first, everything arrived at a Gmail address that forwarded each message to the three people in the company. Whoever finished a task replied to everyone with "done". Even so, two people sometimes did the same thing.
To grow in an organized way, André Bissacot, CEO at Maiu, chose Zendesk. It worked for years and became the center of the operation.
The reason to switch was the per-person license
Zendesk cost Maiu between R$1,200 and R$1,500 a month, moving with the dollar. André found it expensive but accepted it, because the tool worked.
A hire changed the decision. André bought a license of about R$250 a month for a new person. When that person left, he could not cancel it: the contract was annual, and only the payment was monthly.
After that, every hire became a question: is this person worth a license? Sometimes the person was left out.
On initdesk, the plan follows ticket volume. Users are unlimited because one more user does not change the price.
Maiu
~90%
lower help desk cost after leaving Zendesk
The company changes. Today I have 5 people, tomorrow 4, later 8. Paying by ticket volume, not by person, is what makes sense.
André Bissacot, CEO at MaiuThe migration: 1 day, without losing a ticket
Replacing the tool at the center of the operation is scary. André had three fears: a small, little-known vendor, losing access to old tickets, and above all, a customer noticing something wrong.
The migration was assisted: the initdesk team imported about 100,000 tickets and 6 years of history from Zendesk. In 1 day, users and integrations were running on initdesk.
There was one adjustment on the way. One of Maiu's clients had to change a DNS setting and resisted at first. Once that was settled, everything ran. When André needs an old ticket, he searches initdesk and the ticket is there.
We left Zendesk one day and the next day we were on initdesk. It feels like we have always used initdesk.
The team adopted it on day one
André showed initdesk to the team before the switch and gave everyone access to explore it and ask questions. The adjustment was a matter of habit: what used to be on the left is now at the top.
All 4 people at Maiu, André included, use initdesk all day. For an operation this size, what matters is that the basics work, fast and well.
Zero regrets. I use it every day, all the time, and I cannot think of anything from Zendesk that I miss.
AI in billing, with initdesk's MCP and Conta Azul
André uses AI all day. On Zendesk, he relied on a third-party MCP (Model Context Protocol) server built on its API. initdesk has its own MCP.
One of Maiu's clients always sends the same kind of email: a media insertion order, with the order as a PDF, asking for an invoice. André does not need to read it. He asks Claude to bill the ticket, and the rest happens in sequence. Conta Azul is the accounting system Maiu uses.
From the ticket to the sale in Conta Azul
- initdesk
The request arrives
The client's email, with the order as a PDF, becomes a ticket in Maiu's inbox.
- Claude, through MCP
AI reads and checks
Reads the ticket and the PDF, and checks that the order has everything needed to bill.
The sale is created
Creates the sale in Conta Azul with the order details.
- Spreadsheet
The log is filled in
Ticket number, billing date, and the rest of the order details.
- André
A person finishes
Issues the invoice in Conta Azul and replies to the client in the same ticket, with it attached.
For long emails with a chain of messages, André asks AI to read them, tell him what the request is, and draft the reply.
I ask it to bill the ticket. It reads the ticket, reads the PDF, validates it, creates the sale in Conta Azul, and fills in the control spreadsheet. I use it a lot.
A vendor that listens
André asked to open PDF attachments on screen, without downloading the file. The change shipped the next day. On Zendesk, he used a plugin for years to do that.
He brings initdesk requests that help every customer, not only Maiu, and each one is evaluated.
Leaving Zendesk was a weighed decision. In the same period, André considered replacing Maiu's management system and decided not to switch.
I like smaller companies for this: the closeness, the service, the quality. Everything I asked for was evaluated and done.
Before and after
What changed for Maiu when it left Zendesk.
| Item | Zendesk | initdesk |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Per license, with an annual contract | One plan, by ticket volume |
| A new person on the team | One more license until the contract ends | One more user, same price |
| Help desk cost | R$1,200 to R$1,500 a month | About 90% lower |
| History | 6 years of tickets | The same ~100,000 tickets, migrated |
| AI | Third-party MCP on the API | initdesk's own MCP |
Summary of Maiu's experience, with figures reported by André Bissacot, CEO.
Leaving Zendesk?
The assisted migration is free: the initdesk team imports your tickets, you check your history in a sandbox, and you keep answering. Unlimited users, because the price follows ticket volume.
14-day free trial, extended during migration, no card