Post-migration Checklist for Enterprises And SMBs
It is not just before and during the migration that businesses must focus on multiple key areas. Enterprises and SMBs also need to equally prioritize post-migration activities to ensure that the entire migration project is a complete success.
Here are some of the key post-migration focus areas for businesses (of all sizes) to prioritize:
1. Checking migration reports
The best data and numbers-backed way to ensure that all user accounts and data have been migrated from the source to the destination cloud is by checking the migration reports.
Here’s an example of a Box to SharePoint Online migration CSV report:
Simple CSV migration reports work great in providing the IT teams with a clear overview of the files and folders migrated. These simple report formats also help IT teams quickly understand what and how many files/folders have gone into conflict.
2. Running delta migrations
After checking all the important migration reports and ensuring that the one-time migration does not have any file/folder conflicts, the next important step to take is to perform one or more delta migrations.
Depending on the overall size of the incremental changes made to the source cloud, a single delta migration may work for your IT team.
In cases where there’s a need to migrate shared and unshared drives to the destination cloud, e.g., Google Shared Drives and Google Drive to SharePoint Online, performing multiple delta migrations is a must.
3. Initiating user onboarding
One of the most crucial steps in post-migration work is onboarding the end-users (employees) to the destination cloud. For enterprises and SMBs, having a proper user onboarding plan is key to ensuring a smooth transition to the destination cloud.
Providing the end-users with structured training works great. Also, helping users identify similarities in the source and destination cloud further streamlines the transition. Providing users with early access to the destination cloud prior to the one-time migration works too.
4. Rationalizing migrated data
Only if different teams and end-users can make sense of the migrated data will the one-time and delta migration become successful. A significant part of successfully rationalizing migrated data lies in understanding how user accounts and files/folders are structured in the destination cloud.
Also, having clarity on the features that are migrated, e.g., sharing permissions, timestamps, version history, external and internal shares, and embedded links, further helps IT teams and end-users make sense of the overall data migrated to the destination cloud.
5. Decommissioning source cloud
Since the source cloud will have all the company data, including sensitive business data, it’s crucial to decommission data the right way.
In many cases, businesses may not have all the knowledge and resources needed to ensure proper decommission of source cloud data.
It’s worth taking help from the migration service provider for the source cloud clean-up phase.
