Migration to SharePoint made easy!!

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What is SharePoint?

SharePoint is a web-based, collaborative platform that integrates with Microsoft Office.  SharePoint is used to create websites, but that’s not all.  Launched in 2001, SharePoint is mainly used as a document management and storage system, but being highly configurable, organizations use it for more multiple purposes. This platform can be used as a safe place to store, organize, share, and access information from almost any device. All you need is a web browser, like Microsoft Edge, Internet Explorer, Chrome, or Firefox. A lot of companies out there are getting SharePoint migration done. 

Migration to SharePoint

SharePoint migrations are complex and you are required to assess the state of the content you have, depending on various business factors like size, relevance, and sensitivity, to decide what to take forward into your new system. SharePoint migration gives businesses a chance to restructure content for optimal management and discoverability. But the deadline pressure exists, putting the potential feature and configuration incompatibilities between the source and destination systems.

SharePoint has currently 4 active versions: SharePoint 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, and Office 365.

SharePoint Migration Approaches

SharePoint migration is gaining momentum, as more and more companies hurry to upgrade their solutions due to the upcoming end of support for SharePoint 2007 and 2010, while others want to move to the cloud and adopt SharePoint Online and Office 365 suite.

Whatever the case is, the organizations need to decide a good method of moving their solution to a new environment. They can either use the traditional upgrade and migration techniques or can rely on a third-party migration tool.

If you have made up your mind to move to SharePoint, we are here with the methods you can use:

Traditional Method of SharePoint Migration

SharePoint upgrade should be done using Microsoft’s recommended tools and techniques, like the in-place upgrade or the database, attach method, but companies are also relying on the traditional SharePoint Migration method. This approach to migration is all about applying custom tools to automate the migration process, and perform a manual migration, when you copy, paste, or recreate SharePoint’s components in the new environment.

Benefits of Traditional Migration Methods:

  • Full control over the migration process
  • Migration of custom features
  • Solution Optimization
  • Powerful Integration

Every coin has two sides, and similarly, traditional SharePoint migration methods have their weak points too:

  • Direct upgrade is impossible
  • Time and labor expense
  • Metadata issues during manual migration

Third-Party Migration Tools

The market is packed with specialized migration solutions, promising seamless, easy, and quick migration. Many SharePoint owners rely on such solutions as they allow:

  • Migrate and restructuring large volumes of content easily
  • Perform direct migration easily
  • Monitoring the SharePoint environment
  • Rich reporting

Cons of using Third-Party Solutions:

  • Additional costing
  • No migration of customer solutions and features
  • Demand professional skills

Migrating to SharePoint Online or Office 365? No Worries!

For migration to SharePoint Online or Office 365, you can use any of the two above described SharePoint migration options. You can move to cloud directly, choosing traditional migration or by using a third-party tool.

But, SharePoint Online and Office 365 work on a different logic as compared to on-premises solutions, you need to put a lot of SharePoint development efforts to make the refreshed solution work properly.

Want to speed up your cloud migration? Here you go:

Cloud migration takes time, but time is money, and who doesn’t want to speed up the process? Everybody does. So, we are here with some options you can consider to speed up your cloud migration:

SharePoint Online or Office 365 Migration APIs:

Microsoft has enabled both APIs to speed up migration to SharePoint Online or Office 365.  The procedure isn’t easy to perform and has limitations too, but it sends bulks of content to the cloud much quicker.

Windows PowerShell cmdlets:

Windows PowerShell cmdlets is another commonly used way to fasten the migration process for SharePoint Online and OneDrive migration, letting you move content to SharePoint Online or Office 365. This method demands a number of requirements, that you need to meet beforehand.

SharePoint Migration Tool from Microsoft:

Microsoft’s SharePoint Migration Tool helps organizations to migrate their files from SharePoint on-premises document libraries or third-party file shares directly to SharePoint Online or OneDrive in Office 365. It is said to be a perfect fit for many complex migrations, therefore, it’s definitely worth trying.

In addition to this tool, SharePoint 2013 owners can also use the SharePoint Migration Assessment Tool (SMAT). SMAT is a highly useful tool, being a simple command line executable that scans SharePoint farm content and detects issues that can hinder the migration outcomes. Thus, you can easily check the health of your content before initiating the migration process.

Microsoft FastTrack:

Last but not the least, organizations can choose the Microsoft FastTrack migration program. The program provides best practices, tools, resources, and the assistance of Microsoft experts who help their customers in cloud migrations. Microsoft announces new FastTrack offers regularly.

There are various approaches to perform SharePoint migration, giving organizations the opportunity to choose optimal SharePoint migration approach.  But, let’s be clear about the fact that it’s nearly impossible to perform a complete migration using only third-party tools or services, like Microsoft FastTrack. You need the assistance of professional SharePoint consultants and developers to accomplish SharePoint migration project.

De Facto can help you with SharePoint Migration

SharePoint migrators at DeFacto are there to support you at all the stages of your migration projects. We assess, plan, and report capabilities to our clients for efficient migration of their legacy collaboration system to the latest versions of SharePoint, with minimal business disruption.

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