By 
25 SharePoint Migration Checklist: Are you planning a SharePoint migration and want to ensure a smooth and successful transition? Look no further! In this comprehensive guide, we present you with a detailed 25-point SharePoint migration checklist that covers all essential aspects to consider before embarking on your migration journey.
From assessing your current SharePoint environment to preparing your data and stakeholders, this checklist will help you stay organized and mitigate potential challenges along the way. Whether you’re migrating to a new SharePoint version or transitioning to SharePoint Online, this checklist is your go-to resource for a seamless and hassle-free migration experience. Get ready to embark on your SharePoint migration with confidence as we walk you through the essential steps in our comprehensive 25 SharePoint Migration Checklist: Preparing for Your Migration.
In this small blog, I will share “25 quick SharePoint Migration Checklist” which is required for any migration project in SharePoint – whether it is SharePoint online or on-premise. We can use these checklists as an excel template. Actually, this question was asked in the SharePoint Stack Exchange site – Sharepoint Migration – Documentation, and below was my answer.
Checklists for SharePoint migration: The SharePoint migration tool
In my career, I have worked on various types of migration projects – like,
- Migrating from SharePoint one version (previous) to the next version (on-premise to on-premise).
- Migrating from SharePoint on-premise to SharePoint online.
- Migrating eRoom (non-Microsoft Product) to SharePoint 2016.
SharePoint migration tool: The tools or approaches I have used
- Content DB migration, database detach and attach (mounting and dismounting).
- Third-party tools – Sharegate, Metalogix, and FME migration center.
Brief description of the FME migration center tool:
Most of us who work with SharePoint know about ShareGate or Metalogix tool, however, very few people know about the FME migration tool. If we want to migrate content from other than Microsoft products like Java or Documentum, we can use the FME migration tool – it has various inbuilt adoptors that can be connected to the source legacy application. The adaptor can be customized using Java coding. Using this tool is not easy as compared to traditional migration tools like ShareGate or Metalogix.
Nevertheless, from my personal experience, I have noticed – whatever the tool or approach we follow, planning is the key aspect of a successful migration – if you do not have proper planning or checklist, for a little mistake your migration can be messed up. So below are my top 25 key checklists for any type of SharePoint migration project.
SharePoint Migration Checklist: 25 quick checklists for SharePoint migration
- Get the source site structure inventory; it might have a lot of nested subsites.
- In modern SharePoint, online subsites are not recommended; Microsoft recommends having each site as a separate site collection (here we don’t call it a site collection, we call it a site).
- Prepare a mapping in Excel for which source site goes to which target modern site. Including each subsite to a modern SharePoint online site.
- Create an inventory of all lists or libraries on the source site that have more than 5k items because the threshold issue needs special attention post-migration.
- Create an inventory of all checked-out files in the source site, because during migration you will get an error for this.
- Create an inventory of all lookup lists in the source.
- Make sure, while migrating the list, you migrate the parent lookup list first, then the main list.
- Create an inventory of all workflows in the source and categorise which are designer workflows, Nintex workflows, or any other workflow.
- Make sure before migration the user completes all running workflow in the source.
- Create an inventory of all InfoPath forms in the source and come up with a plan to develop an alternate form for those because, after 2023, Microsoft will no longer support the InfoPath form.
- If you have a custom WSP solution, prepare an alternate plan to re-develop the solution using modern technology like the SPFx framework; custom WSP cannot be migrated to SharePoint Online.
- Prepare an inventory of all long file paths in the source and create a mapping sheet in Excel that should be the shortened path after the migration.
- Create an inventory of supported file types in source and target, so that if some files do not get migrated, you will know the reason.
- There will be a chance that you will not get all users in the target SharePoint online, so create a dedicated migration user that will be mapped for missing users; otherwise, for missing users, logged-in users will be used, which is not recommended.
- Try to use any third-party tools like ShareGate or Metalogix.
- Don’t do the content and structure migrations together.
- First, let’s do the structure migration, then go for the content migration.
- For content migration, don’t do all site content at once; go list by list; otherwise, error handling will be messed up.
- Make sure you set the list default experience to modern in the target before migration; it can be done through the tool.
- Make sure you lock down the source site during migration; otherwise, you need to have a proper delta or incremental migration plan.
- Prepare a plan for the hub site and the mega menu structure in SharePoint Online and connect each migrated site to the specific hub site.
- Prepare a training plan for the end-user because the UI will be completely changed after migration.
- Identify a dedicated site owner for each migrated site, and do not plan more than two site owners for a single site; otherwise, it will be messed up.
- After each site migration, get confirmation from the responsible site owner and then mark the site migration status as done.
- After migration, randomly navigate through the site navigation, mainly the Infopath form and user permissions on the site.
- Last but not least, don’t forget to have a rollback plan for any type of uncertainty and a Plan B for the migration; these two are very important.
As of now, I can recall these; if anything else comes to mind, I will update this.
Notes :
- In the migration project, planning is the key aspect; the better you plan, the more success you will have.
- Most of the inventory reports we can get from migration tools like ShareGate and Metalogix
- In the above checklists, wherever I have mentioned the hub site, it is relevant for SharePoint on-premises to SharePoint Online migration.
Apart from the above SharePoint Migration checklist, we can also prepare for the following:
- Assess Current Environment: Conduct a thorough analysis of your existing SharePoint environment, including site structures, permissions, customizations, and workflows.
- Define Migration Goals: Clearly define your migration objectives, such as upgrading to a newer SharePoint version, migrating to SharePoint Online, or consolidating multiple SharePoint farms.
- Identify Key Stakeholders: Identify and involve key stakeholders, such as SharePoint administrators, business owners, and IT teams, to ensure a collaborative and smooth migration process.
- Create a Migration Plan: Develop a comprehensive migration plan that outlines the timeline, tasks, dependencies, and resource allocation for each phase of the migration process.
- Backup and Restore Strategy: Establish a robust backup and restore strategy to ensure data integrity and have a fallback option in case any issues arise during the migration process.
- Data Cleanup and Governance: Conduct data cleanup activities, including removing redundant or obsolete content, ensuring consistent metadata, and implementing governance policies for the new environment.
- Test Migration: Perform a test migration to a non-production environment to validate the migration process, identify any potential issues, and refine your migration plan.
- User Communication and Training: Develop a communication plan to keep users informed about the migration process, provide training sessions or documentation to help them adapt to the new environment.
- Consider Third-Party Tools: Evaluate and select suitable third-party migration tools that align with your migration goals and offer features that meet your specific requirements.
- Execute the Migration: Execute the migration plan in a phased approach, starting with less critical sites or content, and gradually progressing to more complex components.
- Post-Migration Validation: After the migration, perform thorough validation to ensure data integrity, functionality, and user access permissions in the new SharePoint environment.
- Decommission Old Environment: Safely decommission the old SharePoint environment, ensuring that all necessary data and configurations have been successfully migrated.
Remember, this is just a condensed list to get you started. Depending on your specific requirements and the complexity of your SharePoint environment, you may need to expand upon this checklist.
Which SharePoint migration tool is right for your migration project?
You can do the best SharePoint migration tool assessment and pick the right migration tool for you from here: Which SharePoint Migration Tool is Right for You? Find Out Now Top 5.
See Also: SharePoint Migration Checklist
Download SharePoint Online & Office 365 Administration eBook
Buy the premium version of SharePoint Online & Office 365 administration eBook from here:
Get the free demo PDF eBook from here:
Send download link to:
Kernel SharePoint Migrator tool
A quick complete Review – Kernel Migrator for SharePoint.
About Post Author
