When Migrating Files and Folders, SharePoint File Migration Challenges

1. Dealing with Special characters and Lengths in Folder and File names SharePoint does not enable folder and file name lengths to be longer than 128 characters in WSS 3.0. Windows folder / file names with special characters have actually to be changed with SharePoint acceptable characters to prevent manual work in relabeling folders and files. Long folder and file names have actually to be truncated to the recommended length before moving them to SharePoint.

2. Maintaining the same folder / file structure when migrating to SharePoint. Most companies will wish to retain the same structures for folders and files to maintain operational consistency as well as business continuity. For instance, a company presently making use of a traditional Windows based file server platform for document collaboration could be deploying SharePoint as the collaboration platform for the users. In such situation, it will be easier to maintain the same folder and file structure in the newly setup SharePoint library without changing the user experience in handling files and folders. It makes the navigation intuitive, eases migration process, minimizes user training and improves operational efficiency.

3. Migrating a select set of document types / formats such as doc, xls, ppt, jpeg, dwg, pdf etc . Sometimes, only documents of certain types (or formats) need to be moved to SharePoint libraries relying on the paper templates or content types or file kinds permitted to enhance the file management framework. Everything else needs to be filtered. To selectively move files based on their types will require some programs, especially so if there are large folder trees (nested folders).

4. Migrating a large number of unstructured and poorly managed files. From the viewpoint of file contents, business relevance and usage patterns, migrating a large number of unstructured and poorly managed files (bear in mind some of those legacy file systems?) to a structured, organized and searchable structure within SharePoint is difficult. A great deal of planning and careful reorg of files and folders is a must. This essentially implies that there will be regular rework of mapping and remapping the source folders and the destination libraries. The migration has to be broken down to several various tasks (batch processes), with several different rules to process the folders and files.

5. Using a mass document migration application to work off your desktop instead of running right on the SharePoint servers directly. An option that can run either on the desktop and or on the server will be perfect if you are utilizing third-party devices for migration. Take the case of incremental migrations. The SharePoint server could already be in production mode while numerous various collections in SharePoint might still be under migration. If the migrating application is going to run on the server, Server efficiency will be jeopardized. It is better if the application runs on a desktop performing actions like data cleansing, processing etc. and just do a final bulk upload into SharePoint.

6. Migrating and tagging the tens of thousands of documents from your legacy file folders into your new SharePoint repository while retaining the existing taxonomy or migrate to a new taxonomy. Most file system users will not be familiar with the concept of document metadata. They are more familiar with the term file homes. The principle of paper metadata stems from Paper Management Systems (DMS), where files are saved and made searchable on a bigger set of keywords and phrases. Document libraries in SharePoint are akin to Document Management Systems in the way they store documents and properties for search and retrieval. However, these properties need to be presented to SharePoint during migration in a certain manner that makes the search and retrieval more powerful and elegant. You may migrate / propagate metadata fields from the document properties stored within the file or using an external metadata file / database. Mapping and tagging existing file properties and adding additional properties to documents in SharePoint, especially for a well structured taxonomy can be a laborious process.

7. Retaining (carry forward) the Produced Date and Last Modified file characteristics from the file system to maintain business continuity for users and minimize user training when collaborating in the new SharePoint environment. This is another challenge that is constantly faced by SharePoint users. There are plenty of business reasons to retain the exact same Date field values once the documents have been migrated to SharePoint. SharePoint falls short in this aspect and you need third-party devices or some in-house shows to hold forward the original date fields for papers.

8. Automating the migration process to minimize the time required and labor involved to move large file repositories to SharePoint. Almost all mid-sized to large-sized migrations require automation, especially when incremental/batch migrations from different sources happen. Automated batch jobs help you to take complete control of the migration process by handling errors and causing events that can be managed efficiently. Otherwise, you have to spend hours on ad-hoc issues and finding repetitive mistakes thrown by non-automated migrations.

SharePoint does not allow folder and file name lengths to be longer than 128 characters in WSS 3.0. Windows folder / file names with special characters have to be replaced with SharePoint appropriate characters to stay clear of manual work in renaming folders and files. In such circumstance, it will be easier to maintain the same folder and file structure in the freshly setup SharePoint library without changing the user experience in handling files and folders. Sometimes, only documents of certain types (or formats) need to be moved to SharePoint libraries depending on the document templates or content types or file types allowed to enhance the document management framework. You may migrate / propagate metadata fields from the document properties stored within the file or using an external metadata file / database.

Comments? Questions? Email Here

© HowtoAdvice.com

How to Advice .com