Should you upgrade or migrate your SharePoint enviornment?

To upgrade or migrate?  That is the question…

Many organizations struggle with the decision of how to take their current content and move it to SharePoint 2013.  Not only is there a lot of aged content but also the challenge of how the environment is used, who uses it and how useful it is perceived.  I equate the decision process to how we evaluate our possessions when we are moving to a new home.  Do we pack it all up in boxes and move it or do we go through it and take only what we need and use?  If we pack it all up, many times the boxes sit in the garage or in the basement for many years without being opened.  If you move unused content the same thing can happen, unused stuff that just gets in your way.

Moving to SharePoint 2013 can be a great opportunity to clean up the unused and aged content and get a fresh start.  Evaluate not only the physical content but also the logical structure of how you are exposing and navigating to it.  Solicit feedback from the user community, place ownership on the business and take this opportunity to rejuvenate the use of the platform.  In many cases when SharePoint has been in place for several years the configuration has not kept up with the change in business processes.  This is your chance to transform the platform and migrate the content into an environment that is positioned for better automation of processes, enhanced use of content tagging for better search and increased collaboration structures.  Upgrading an old, stale and poorly structured environment to a new version of SharePoint will result in an old, stale, and poorly structured new environment.

Go through the content, do not just pack it up and move it.  Just like a new home, there needs to be a reason to move and make the investment.  Have you outgrown the old house?  Do you need a change? Is the neighborhood going downhill?  Give your company a fresh new outlook on how SharePoint can improve content and collaboration management.

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

lburkamper