SharePoint Migration #3: 6 Common Mistakes (And How a Specialist Can Help)

This is the final part of our blog series focused on SharePoint migration. We’ve looked at why you should migrate to SharePoint, and more specifically SharePoint Online. Now we turn our attention to common migration pitfalls, and also look at whether there’s a strong case for using a specialist SharePoint partner to take care of the migration for you?

Potential SharePoint Migration Pitfalls

Migrating to SharePoint Online isn’t without its complexity and, whether through error or omission, everything that should happen, also represents a potential pitfall. The list is almost endless. So, here we’re focusing on half a dozen of the higher impact pitfalls.

1. Assuming your existing Information Architecture (IA) is fit for purpose

Failure to reconsider your Information Architecture (IA) is likely to result in a host of future issues, coupled with a lot of remedial and data restructuring work.

It’s likely that your current IA was created many years ago. Irrespective of its merits then, its unlikely to help you to get the best out of SharePoint Online now. This requires a robust IA that enables efficient content management, improved searchability, enhanced user experience, and robust security and compliance.

2. Failing to sell the project to stakeholders and content owners

Without the support of key stakeholders and content owners your project risks failing to achieve many of its objectives.

Successful projects demand input from many people outside IT. Time is required to help with discovery, and make decisions about data, archiving, content mapping, and permissions, as well as for training and testing. Don’t under-estimate the time and effort required to get all these people ready and willing to give up their time.

3. Paying the price of resistance to change

Otherwise well-managed projects can flounder on the rocks of employee disinterest and resistance.

Your move to SharePoint Online will require employees to change not just platform, but also some behaviours. And few people readily embrace change without encouragement. As a result, your business change and adoption programme could require as much, if not more, time as your technical migration. This isn’t just about communication and training. But also, about creating excitement in the coming benefits, and fostering champions to provide local help so your service desk isn’t swamped.

4. Incompatible customisations, integrations and workflows

Its not generally the case that IT forgets to check for compatibility, but it’s generally the case that things get missed. Causing troublesome and embarrassing issues at a time when you should be basking in the glory of a successful project.

Check thoroughly for all possible sources of incompatibility between your old and new systems. Customisations, any possible third-party integrations, and complex workflows require early scrutiny since they may require adjustment or redesign.

5. Beware the compliance trap

Let’s face it, compliance is a little, er, dull. Which is why it often doesn’t get the attention it needs. The result is a rap on the knuckles, or worse, and painful corrective work that would have been better done before.

It’s very difficult to get compliance right without a properly considered IA and the involvement of key stakeholders to get permissions right (see above). But if you’ve got these foundational elements right, SharePoint Online contains tools that will help with implementation.

6. Poor communication and project management

There will be a lot of interdependencies in your project. Even with leeway built into your timelines, its easy for deadlines to be missed, pushing out other elements, until you’re woefully behind schedule.

Those you’re relying on were already busy before your project added to their workload. So, it’s vital to have proactive project management and clear communication, with regular updates, to keep stakeholders informed, aligned, and the project on-track.

Should You Use a Specialist SharePoint Partner?

So, you want to migrate content from another platform to SharePoint Online. Do you undertake this in-house or bring in a specialist partner to execute the project for you?

Stereotypically, there’s a lot to be gained from using a partner, but much depends on your choice of partner.

This is likely to be your first, maybe second, migration to SharePoint Online. Hence, partners will tell you they can bring much valuable experience and expertise to your project. But can they? Have they done this a couple of times before or is their experience more extensive? Were those projects delivered by their own people or by subcontractors? Are those people still with them, or have they since moved on?

As a result, it’s difficult to talk generically about the benefits of working with a partner. Instead, we’ll talk specifically about some of the ways that Silicon Reef can add value to your SharePoint migration. And leave you to determine whether the same is also true of others.

A people-first approach

Far more so than most technology migrations and implementations, the success of a SharePoint projects hinges on employee use. Our ‘people-first’ approach is born from this and starts with a careful assessment of the underlying issues. We often find that what a business needs, isn’t the same as what it thinks it wants. So, a focus on root causes helps ensure that our solution addresses the problems your people are seeing.

To ensure that SharePoint is embraced, user experience must also be a key concern. This means much more than an appealing visual design, although this is important. The IA must be intuitive, and easy to navigate, and overall SharePoint must have a positive impact on employees’ daily work.

Efficient planning and execution

At risk of sounding boastful, we’ve done countless migrations and have a well-honed process for constructing and executing a successful plan. Whereas much of the detail will be new to you. We know the pitfalls, and how to avoid them, can set realistic timelines, mitigate risks, and know how and when to involve others. You’ve already seen the importance of involving busy stakeholders in key decisions, and often we can drive this more authoritatively than a co-worker.

Strategic insight and customisation

A good partner adds a lot of value by knowing what your peers have done and how its benefited them. This should add to your strategy, explaining how SharePoint’s capabilities can help you meet your business goals. It should help by designing your SharePoint environment to be scalable and adaptable to future needs. And it should help by tailoring SharePoint to better reflect your business processes.

Widespread adoption

We’ve already highlighted the importance of a ‘people first’ approach and the allied question of overcoming employee resistance to change. We know this to be so important that a business change and adoption programme forms a key part of our plans. This includes an ongoing and phased programme of communication, nurturing champions, training, and more.

There are many more ways that a specialist SharePoint partner will benefit your migration. Whether it’s migration tool know-how, greater security, better compliance and governance, optimisation of your environment, or efficiency, it all boils down to one thing. The right partner will be at the top end of the learning curve. Unless you can honestly say the same, perhaps you should explore the benefits of using a partner.