Is SharePoint Migration on Your Mind? Know Before You Go.
The world and technology are constantly changing and evolving, and as a company, you need to keep up with current changes to provide better and more efficient services or products. One way of achieving this is by improving your existing management system. Don’t know where to begin? Don’t worry, we have you covered! This article will take you through the most important aspects of a migration process – know before you go!!
Choose the right tool(s)
The first step is to ask yourself, ‘ What is your starting point?’ Maybe you already have a management tool in place, and all you are looking for is to upgrade, or perhaps this is your first management tool. Depending on where you are, the deployment effort will vary.
Choosing the right tool to migrate your files depends on the number of items and source. The SharePoint Migration tool allows you to migrate content from SharePoint on Prem, network, and local files shared.
If you are unsure, you can always contact an expert to help you decide. We will be glad to share our knowledge and expertise with you.
Assess the current state
Look at your current state and assess where items belong, identify archival items that are no longer needed, or, conversely, keep documents for a specific amount of time, such as financials, for audit purposes. This can help you save migration time and storage space in the new environment.
In considering your current state, you will want to review the following:
- What content are people using
- Who has access to what
- How do you want to structure things going forward
- If you have automated processes or workflows around files you want to keep/replicate, update or create
Set up a migration Plan
The best practice for a successful migration is to create a migration plan, which should include a budget, timeline, criteria for success, and a communications plan. Having a meeting of the minds ensures that the outcome on my mind is the same as what’s on your mind. This ensures that the team is working towards the same vision and objectives.
Implement a change management strategy
One of the challenges with every deployment process is the fear of change – change management in migration strategies helps minimize the impact on the business, Its customers, and employees.
A centralized change management team or leader can help your employees embrace the upcoming change. These may include:
- Timelines for the migration project
- URL Changes
- Downtimes
- Changes in permissions
Most importantly, understand the benefits that new change(s) will bring to the business and its individual success.
Migrate
Depending on the number of contents that need to be moved and the tool chosen, executing the migration in batches or phases is a good practice. You either want to migrate the most important documents first or the less relevant ones or archival items, etc. The goal of migrating in batches is to make it manageable, less burdensome, and facilitate employee turnover.
After migration, testing is essential to make sure everything is running the way it’s supposed to. If it is, all you need to do is GO LIVE!!!! Start enjoying your new management system!!
Hypercare Period
Once concluded, the change management team can help with user adoption and onboarding for a smooth transition to the new environment. This can be in the form of:
- Manuals
- Videos
- Group training sessions/one-on-one
- Being available for any unforeseen circumstances
Improving your business platform solutions can be manageable. Contact us to speak to an expert, and we would be happy to assist you. We also provide SharePoint training to make the migration process smoother for you and your team.
Training + Support = Success
