Zendesk Backlog by Organization Report

Your total backlog tells you how much open work exists. Backlog by organization tells you which accounts are actually holding that work open.

That difference changes how you operate. A queue of 600 open tickets means one thing when it is spread across hundreds of relationships and something very different when a handful of organizations create most of the aged work. This guide shows how to build a Zendesk backlog by organization report, how to interpret concentrated backlog, and how to separate normal high-touch support from organization-specific drag.

What this report should answer

A strong backlog-by-organization report should answer:

Which organizations hold the most open tickets right now?
Which accounts have the oldest unresolved work?
Is queue pressure concentrated in a small number of organizations?
Are those same accounts also slow to resolve, high-risk on SLA, or low on CSAT?

For the metric definition, see backlog. For age context, also review backlog burn-down rate and tickets per organization.

Why organization-level backlog matters

Company-wide backlog is useful for staffing and leadership updates, but it hides concentration.

When a few organizations create most of the open work, several risks appear at once:

specialist time gets trapped in the same relationships
the queue feels heavier than top-line volume suggests
account risk rises even though total ticket volume still looks manageable
support teams misread the issue as a broad capacity problem instead of concentrated friction

For B2B teams, this is one of the most practical ways to connect support operations to customer health. An organization with large, aging open work is often not just “busy.” It is usually experiencing a broken workflow, a slow handoff chain, or unresolved implementation pain.

How to build the report in Zendesk

Use the Support: Tickets dataset in Zendesk Explore and filter to currently open or unsolved tickets.

1. Group by organization

Use organization as the main dimension so the report reflects account reality instead of one especially active requester.

2. Count open tickets by organization

This gives you the core backlog concentration view. A descending table or bar chart works well because it surfaces the few organizations creating the most queue weight.

3. Add aging context

Open ticket count alone is not enough. Pair it with age buckets or oldest-ticket age so you can tell the difference between:

a healthy high-volume account with fresh work
an unhealthy account with stale unresolved work

For the setup details, see Zendesk Backlog Burn-Down Rate Report and Zendesk Ticket Inflow vs Outflow Report: Are We Actually Keeping Up?.

4. Add supporting dimensions

The most helpful context cuts are:

top tags or issue categories
priority mix
assigned group
channel mix
plan tier or customer segment

These fields turn “this organization has a lot of backlog” into “this organization has a lot of old billing escalations in one group.”

5. Trend concentration over time

The strongest version of the report shows whether the share of total backlog held by your top organizations is rising or falling. That tells you whether risk is spreading across the queue or becoming more concentrated.

The most useful report layouts

Open tickets by organization

This is the basic concentration view. It shows where backlog is sitting right now.

Open tickets by organization with aging

This is the operating view. It shows not just who holds the most work, but whose work is actually getting stale.

Backlog by organization and tag

This helps you identify whether the account’s backlog is driven by one recurring workflow or broader support friction.

Backlog by organization with resolution time

This pairing shows whether large open queues are just noisy or whether those accounts truly stay open longer than expected.

How to interpret the patterns

A few organizations hold most of the backlog

That often means your queue problem is more concentrated than your team realizes. The next step is to understand whether those accounts are large and healthy, or whether they are stuck in one broken workflow.

One organization has a lot of open tickets but little aging

That can be normal, especially for active or enterprise accounts. High volume alone is not the same as unhealthy backlog.

One organization has moderate volume but very old tickets

This is usually the more urgent pattern. A relatively small account can still create outsized operational and relationship risk if their work stays open too long.

Backlog concentration rises while total volume stays flat

This is one of the easiest ways hidden account risk builds. The global queue looks stable, but a few organizations are becoming much more expensive and fragile.

Common mistakes

Treating every high-volume organization as a backlog problem. Fresh work and stale work are different.
Skipping aging. Backlog without age turns into a misleading workload count.
Ignoring issue-level context. You need tags, channel, or group to understand cause.
Using requester-level views as the default in B2B. That can exaggerate one vocal contact and miss account-wide reality.
Using the report without action owners. If no team owns follow-up, the report becomes a curiosity.

What to do when an organization stands out

If one organization repeatedly holds the most aging backlog:

Check whether the work is concentrated in one tag, form, or support group.
Compare it with Zendesk Resolution Time by Organization Report and Zendesk SLA Risk by Organization Report.
Decide whether the fix belongs in routing, product escalation, onboarding, or account management.
Review whether the backlog is fresh demand or stale unresolved work.
Recheck concentration weekly until the aged backlog normalizes.

The goal is not to shame large accounts for needing help. It is to identify which relationships are quietly trapping queue capacity and creating risk.

Where this report fits in your dashboard

This report works best beside:

Together, those views tell you which organizations create open work, which of that work is getting old, and whether the backlog is becoming an account-health issue rather than just a staffing question.

FAQ

Why use organization instead of requester for backlog?
Organization is usually the better B2B default because it reflects the real customer relationship and avoids over-indexing on one very active contact.

Is high backlog by organization always bad?
No. Large or high-touch accounts often create more open work. The warning sign is backlog paired with aging, slow resolution, or concentrated SLA pressure.

How often should I review this report?
Weekly works well for operations. Monthly is useful for customer-health reviews, escalation follow-up, and leadership discussion about concentrated support load.

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