Why migrate Box to SharePoint Online?
Are you contemplating a shift in your organization’s data management strategy? With the digital workspace evolving at an unprecedented rate, making the move from Box to SharePoint Online could be the change your business needs. This comprehensive guide is tailored to demystify the Box to SharePoint migration process, how to execute it seamlessly, and the challenges you might encounter along the way.
A step-by-step approach for migrating Box to SharePoint
- Planning is Paramount: Begin with a thorough assessment of your current infrastructure. Understand the scope and scale of the data to be migrated. Set realistic timelines and milestones.
- Prepare Your Environment: Ensure your current system meets the prerequisites for a seamless migration. This may involve updates or configurations to your existing setup.
- Choose Your Migration Strategy: There are many different migration paths, including cutover, staged, and hybrid migrations. Select the one that aligns with your organization’s size, complexity, and timeline, and make sure you’re working with a migration partner with the expertise to get the job done without disruption.
- Execute the Migration: Utilize a field-proven enterprise migration platform for the migration process, that enables you to monitor progress closely and can automatically address any migration issues.
- Post-Migration Steps: Conduct a thorough post-migration review. Train your staff to maximize the benefits of SharePoint Online, and implement security and compliance measures.
Common Box to SharePoint migration challenges
- Data Loss: To mitigate the risk of data loss, ensure you’re working with a platform that can manage migration errors while providing full auditing and reporting during the entire migration project.
- Complexities in Data Mapping: Given the structural differences between Box and SharePoint, data mapping can be difficult. Advanced planning and working with an automated migration tool will help ensure data integrity.
- User Adoption: Resistance to change is common. Combat this by highlighting SharePoint’s benefits and providing ample training, along with minimizing business disruption by working with an field-proven migration solution.
Analyze your data before migrating
Unstructured data is complicated, and manual migration methods lack scanning abilities to identify files and flag potential migration issues. Understanding this data is crucial for planning a successful Box to SharePoint migration.
With DryvIQ’s Box to SharePoint migration tool, you can fully discover your data and predict migration outcomes. Before migration, you can identify potential challenges and understand what the migration will look like, before moving a single file.
DryvIQ’s data discovery and classification capabilities go even further, enabling your organization to understand file sensitivity and plan an intelligent migration that reduces cost and risk.
Easily manage user permissions across platforms
User permissions can differ greatly between Box, SharePoint, and other platforms. As a result, there is no way to automatically map them when using manual or basic migration methods. The DryvIQ platform can transform and map user accounts and group permissions from Box to SharePoint at scale.
SharePoint permission structures don’t always translate well to other cloud content repositories. For example, permissions in Box and SharePoint seem similar; they both follow the concept of owner, editor, and reader. However, both platforms differ in the way they store content.
To make a seamless Box to SharePoint migration, work with a migration platform that can automatically manage these types of discrepancies between platforms.
Box Notes migration
There are some unique technical incompatibilities between Box and SharePoint Online that can make complicated migrations even more difficult. One major challenge involves Box’s native document creation tool called Box Notes. The main issue with migrating Box Notes is that they don’t exist in Microsoft 365.
Manual migrations and rudimentary copy methods will not easily transfer native Box Notes or maintain document version history across platforms. Nearly all the rich file fidelity of Box will be lost. The DryvIQ platform will automatically transform Box Notes into a Microsoft Word document during the migration so no information will be lost in the move from Box to SharePoint Online.
Automatically remediate Box to SharePoint file transfer errors
Manual file remediation after failed transfers is time-consuming and risky. Organizations risk losing file fidelity, history, or attributes due to incompatible name lengths, characters, or sizes between Box and SharePoint.
DryvIQ offers a pre-remediation process to identify files it cannot migrate ahead of time. In cases like this, the DryvIQ platform can automatically truncate file path lengths or transform conflicting file names. In more complicated instances of incompatibility, DryvIQ will flag the administrator for any files requiring manual correction.
Eliminate business disruption during migration
During your Box to SharePoint migration, employees may not be able to access content depending on the chosen migration methodology. Relying on end-users to move files themselves or a making a sudden cutover without a transition period can very easily disrupt business operations.
The DryvIQ platform’s real-time file synchronization eliminates this issue. DryvIQ calls this continuous copy, which constantly streams changes in files, folders, and even deletes between source and destination. The synchronization period aids change management and boosts user adoption, making users familiar with the new platform before migration.
Master your Box to SharePoint migration
The migration from Box to SharePoint can open a new chapter of operational efficiency, collaboration, and security for organizations. While the path to successful migration requires careful planning, execution, and follow-up, the payoff in terms of productivity and modernization cannot be overstated.
Remember, every migration presents its unique challenges, but with the right approach and tools, these can be seamlessly navigated. Are you ready to take your organization’s collaboration and productivity to new heights with a seamless Box to SharePoint migration?