SharePoint migration communication plans are essential

When you decide to migrate your SharePoint environment your users will need to know that content is going from one location to another, and the transition may not go over fairly smooth. In fact, perfect migrations with no issues are not common but to users the job seems effortless since their content goes from one location to another. They might not understand the full implications of migrating their content and that it may not be available at times and that migrations might fail. When conducting a migration, it is always good to plan effective communication.

Here are some tips to make certain that everyone is on the same page during a migration of content:

• Appoint one person to the role of communicator who will send emails related to the migration.
• For each set of content, identify the stakeholders who should be notified of the migration and let them know:
  • When they should expect the migration to occur
  • When the migration is likely to complete
  • Where they can access their new content
  • When their old content will no longer be available to them in the old location
  • What their plan should be during the migration. Should they save locally to disk? Should they save to a SharePoint site?
• Verify with the stakeholders that all content should be migrated. Many organizations have duplicate content, or content that needs to be archived. You may save yourself a lot of effort by limiting the scope of the content that will be migrated.
• Run a test migration of content to determine the average time your particular migration tools take to migrate content given your network and infrastructure.
• Send a migration plan to the whole company indicating when they should expect content migrations to occur, and where they can access their new SharePoint content.
• Include your company helpdesk on any email communications to stakeholders so that they understand what the migration plan is prior to users calling in.
• Any time a migration fouls, and requires more assistance, inform the stakeholders of any change in plans.
• Each day, send a migration report to the whole organization, letting them know what content to expect to access in its new location, and include a section on your SharePoint intranet homepage that explains what content to access, and where to access it. If any content fails to migrate, be certain to include an explanation of what happened, and estimate a time for resolution if possible, so your users know what to do until their content is available.

To find out more about this or other ways that McGladrey can assist you with your SharePoint needs, contact McGladrey’s technology consulting professionals at 800.274.3978 or email us.

(Content originally provided by: Connor MacDonald)

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