The hard part of this move is not the export. It is the difference in how the two systems think. Intapp DealCloud works in deal or opportunity records; Smokeball works in matter records. Get that mapping wrong and every report built on it afterwards is wrong too. This page covers the field map, what does not survive, what it costs, and the reconciliation step that decides whether anyone trusts Smokeball in month two.
The two systems, side by side
| Intapp DealCloud | Smokeball | |
|---|---|---|
| Primary record | Deal or Opportunity | Matter |
| Grouping | Company, coverage teams and relationship tiers | Matter type, which drives the field set |
| Activity history | Interactions, meetings and pipeline history | Activity intelligence, notes and automatic time records |
| Documents | Linked from external storage | Documents on the matter, tightly bound to Word templates |
| Getting data out | Platform export tooling and the DealCloud API. | Vendor-assisted export; local components complicate self-service extracts. |
| Who administers it | A dedicated BD or operations team. | None. |
| Pricing | Custom quoted. | From about $49 per user per month; four plan tiers. |
What breaks
- Intapp DealCloud works in deal or opportunity records and Smokeball works in matter records. That is a re-modelling exercise, and it is the first decision, not a mapping detail.
- Grouping changes: Company, coverage teams and relationship tiers becomes Matter type, which drives the field set. Somebody has to define what a group means in the target before load.
- Activity history moves with partial fidelity. Intapp DealCloud stores it as interactions, meetings and pipeline history; Smokeball expects activity intelligence, notes and automatic time records.
- Automations, reports, dashboards and permissions never transfer. Budget them as build work.
- Every connected system has to be repointed and retested: the DMS, billing, e-signature and the shared inbox.
Known hazards on each side
Leaving Intapp DealCloud:
- Deals are not matters, and mapping between the two loses either pipeline or delivery detail.
- Coverage models and relationship tiers are firm-specific configuration.
- Interaction capture is often automated, so the volume of history is large.
Arriving in Smokeball:
- Automatically captured time records are a large dataset with no obvious home in most targets.
- Matter-type-specific field sets mean the same concept appears under several names.
- Document automation templates are Smokeball-specific and get rebuilt, not moved.
The field map
| Concept | In Intapp DealCloud | In Smokeball | What to watch |
|---|---|---|---|
| Primary record | Deal or Opportunity | Matter | Different shape. Decide the mapping before any data moves. |
| Grouping | Company, coverage teams and relationship tiers | Matter type, which drives the field set | The target groups records differently, so grouping is created rather than copied. |
| Activity history | Interactions, meetings and pipeline history | Activity intelligence, notes and automatic time records | Expect partial fidelity. Types, timestamps and authorship survive; structure often does not. |
| Documents | Linked from external storage | Documents on the matter, tightly bound to Word templates | Usually a separate extract and load from the record data. |
| Owner and assignment | Assigned user or advisor fields | Assigned user or team fields | Map departed staff explicitly. Records assigned to nobody disappear from every view. |
| Custom fields | Firm-specific fields added over time | Created to match, or consciously dropped | The audit here is the work. Undocumented fields that reports depend on are the usual surprise. |
Cost and timeline
| Phase | Typical range |
|---|---|
| Data audit and cleanup | $3,000 to $25,000 |
| Migration execution | $5,000 to $50,000 |
| Target configuration | Two to six weeks |
| Ongoing administration | Absorbed by existing operations staff |
The five phases
- Audit Intapp DealCloud. Count records per object, find duplicates and orphans, and decide what does not come with you. Get that decision signed off before mapping.
- Map against real records. Use the table above as the starting point, then walk fifty live records field by field.
- Dry run into a Smokeball sandbox. Load the full set, not a sample. Sample loads hide the failures that only appear at volume.
- Cut over on a quiet window. Freeze writes in Intapp DealCloud, load, repoint every integration, unfreeze. Keep Intapp DealCloud read-only for at least a quarter.
- Reconcile. Compare Smokeball to Intapp DealCloud record by record and field by field, and produce a variance report.
The full version of this plan, with the failure evidence behind it, is in the CRM migration playbook.
The compliance clause
State retention rules and the firm's duties over the client file survive the migration. A matter that lands in the target without its history is a records gap, not a cosmetic issue. Keep the field map, the variance report and the mapping sign-offs with the records, because the decisions you made in phase two are part of the record too.
Where Caddi fits
Caddi does the mechanical half and then keeps doing it. Show it the task once and it reads Intapp DealCloud, applies your field map, loads Smokeball, and then compares both sides record by record and hands back a variance report you can act on. Because it runs over APIs across your stack, the same agent covers the parts a migration tool ignores: documents filed to the right matter with the right metadata, and the post-cutover hygiene that otherwise becomes someone's Monday.
Caddi automation for these systems: Intapp DealCloud and Smokeball.
Related migrations
- Clio Grow to Intapp DealCloud
- Clio Grow to Smokeball
- Clio Manage to Intapp DealCloud
- Clio Manage to Smokeball
- Intapp DealCloud to Clio Grow
- Intapp DealCloud to Clio Manage
Migration without the manual pass
Move and reconcile Intapp DealCloud into Smokeball
Caddi reads Intapp DealCloud, applies your field map, loads Smokeball, then compares both sides record by record and reports the variances.
Frequently asked questions
How do you migrate from Intapp DealCloud to Smokeball?
Audit the Intapp DealCloud data first, then map fields against fifty real records rather than against the schema, dry run the full set into a Smokeball sandbox, cut over on a quiet window with writes frozen, and reconcile record by record afterwards. Platform export tooling and the DealCloud API. Smokeball then needs the records loaded in dependency order, with documents as a separate pass.
What does not transfer from Intapp DealCloud to Smokeball?
Intapp DealCloud works in deal or opportunity records and Smokeball works in matter records. That is a re-modelling exercise, and it is the first decision, not a mapping detail. Grouping changes: Company, coverage teams and relationship tiers becomes Matter type, which drives the field set. Somebody has to define what a group means in the target before load. Activity history moves with partial fidelity. Intapp DealCloud stores it as interactions, meetings and pipeline history; Smokeball expects activity intelligence, notes and automatic time records.
How long does a Intapp DealCloud to Smokeball migration take?
Six to twelve weeks is realistic for a clean mid-size move, and three to six months where Smokeball is being implemented at the same time. Firms with years of history in Intapp DealCloud should budget several weeks of cleanup before any data moves.
Who administers Smokeball afterwards?
None. That is one of the reasons this move is lighter than a platform migration.
What are the compliance implications for law firms?
State retention rules and duties over the client file survive the migration. A gap in matter history is a finding, not a cosmetic issue, so keep the field map, the variance report and the sign-offs with the records.