File Share to SharePoint Online Migration

Migrating to SharePoint Online can bring numerous benefits to organizations. From 99.9% service level agreement reliability to cost reduction. Combining these with a team of certified experts for support, migrating to SharePoint Online sure seems worth it. 

That is why the Law Office of Albert Wai-Kit Chan, PLLC contacted Team Venti. They have two separate locations with a total of 900 GB of data in their local File Share, which they wanted to move to SharePoint Online. Here is how we did it. 

Review of current File Share 

In this stage our team reviews the customers’ existing data in order to get a better understanding of what we are migrating. First, they analyze the files/folder structure and nomenclature for both locations, to then prepare them for the actual migration 

Service provisioning in SharePoint Online 

Our team then provisions the SharePoint Online services in Microsoft 365. In this case, the requirement was two site collections (one for each location) and designing the site structure, user groups, and security mapping at site collection level, (for this customer we used the out-of-the-box look and feel). 

First copy for the migration

Our team always works with a copy of the customer’s data, to ensure it is business-as-usual for the end users. Meaning they can continue working on their side as if there was no migration going on, while we work on the back end, until the time of the cutover comes. This approach helps in delivering our promise of little to no loss of data, as well as service interruption.

Included with the scope of this migration was only folders and files. The customer did not have any workflows, automation, or other customization, but these can also be considered if they are part of your environment.

Comprehensive report 

We create a comprehensive report, where we list all the documents that were not migrated and the reason why. The most common reasons are name issues, whether they are too long, have invalid characters, or the document is too large. We then present this document to the customer to let them decide how they want to proceed with them. 

Final sync and cutover 

We make a final/delta sync at the time of the cutover, which migrates any changes from our initial sync and, also in case, there were any changes to the files included in the comprehensive report.  Then we coordinate the cutover* with all the parties involved.

*This is when users stop using their previous tools and, in cases such as this, start logging in to SharePoint Online, rather than File Share.

Admin training 

As part of our SharePoint Online migration services, we offer 2-hour admin training. 

The results 

This project took approximately 7 weeks from beginning to end (including the cutover). At the completion of this project, this organization was able to continue to work with their previous files, with as little business interruption as possible, and was provided with the knowledge required to make the most out of their new investment. 

Team Venti’s Microsoft experts can help you have a seamless migration to SharePoint Online. To learn more about our services or to book a personalized, no-cost consultation for your organization, please contact us today.