Have I decided to migrate to SharePoint Online from my existing SharePoint On-Premise environment? Now what?
The answer to this question is very simple. When you have finally decided to migrate to Share Point Cloud, then the very first step is to comprehensively plan your migration process. Whether you want to begin with a file share or to shift your entire existing environment, SharePoint migration allows you to adopt entirely new cloud-based settings that are way clearer than on-premise environments and free from legacy data. On the basis of our work experience with diverse clients across the globe, we have simplified the SharePoint migration process. Here is our recommended 5 step migration process to move from SharePoint On-Premise to SharePoint Online.
Planning is the very first step to your SharePoint migration roadmap. And, your SharePoint migration plan should literally define how you actually going to migrate from existing SharePoint On-Premise settings to SharePoint Online. When planning your migration process, you need to take consider the data and files that you want to migrate, for instance. This also gives you the opportunity to work with your internal departments to get rid of outdated or unnecessary data, while also giving them an idea about how will it be to work within the new environment. There are certain situations where some data can’t or shouldn’t be brought over, due to it being unnecessary or outdated, hence planning about what content will be migrated is the very first thing that you should plan before actually stepping into SharePoint migration.
Now, that your planning is completed, it is now time to step into the implementation process. Your SharePoint migration process requires 4 more steps which include the following;
Governance and clean-up are considered one of the best practices for SharePoint migration because when you are adjusting to the standards of a new environment, it is ideal not to bring any junk along. Therefore, when you are migrating from any other file sharing site or from any other SharePoint site, then you must run a clean-up. It is also great for sorting and organizing your documents while deciding on what you are going to keep and what to delete. At this step, you will also be deciding over tags that you will use to categorize your document, deleting duplicate copies and outdated files, and determining improved governance around your new document management system i.e. SharePoint Online.
In this step, you run a test migration on your SharePoint site, before performing the actual migration. SharePoint migrations are not the easiest to perform, because you come across multiple restrictions when migrating data. There are restrictions and limits attached to the usage of characters in the file name to the length of the file name, file size limits, and limits to the file pathname, etc. Therefore, testing the migration step is unavoidable to make sure the actual migration process goes smoothly. Also, make sure to run the appropriate test tools to validate successful data migration.
If this sounds complicated to you, then you can always take help from professional SharePoint Migration Companies like Code Creators Inc. which can help you with your migration plans. We at CCI can help you make the most out of your SharePoint investments while taking the most cost-effective route possible.
Once you are done with test migration, it is now the time to perform the actual migration. If your test migration has gone smoothly then you can now take the chance of migrating your content to the new SharePoint site. This is the time when you will decide how your SharePoint migration will go. You need to decide how many people you want from the department to move at the beginning etc. Or whether you will be moving one server at a time or more. So, it is totally up to you and your SharePoint migration partner to take down your old system and migrate to the new one.
Once you are done with your SharePoint migration, it is now time to decommission your old SharePoint site. Again, you can do this in phases. For instance, you can phase out one server and then decommission 10 people simultaneously. You can also follow other decommissioning plans that suit your convenience.
By following the 5 steps mentioned above, you can follow an organized roadmap to your SharePoint migration. This will help you ensure that your SharePoint migration journey is on track. However, we understand that these 5 steps may look daunting and overwhelming to you, especially when you don’t have any specialized expertise or skills in SharePoint migration.
Based on our extensive market experience in SharePoint migrations, we have a thoughtfully designed migration plan and engagement process to help you. Click here to connect with our SharePoint development experts and start your SharePoint migration journey with us today.