We’ve seen an enormous increase in data creation in the last two years, and this trend shows no signs of subsiding. In 2020, the IDC observed that widespread remote work increased data creation and replication. According to the report, this increase will soon overwhelm installed storage capacities.
This data surge presents a host of critical considerations for companies migrating data between file-sharing platforms such as Google Drive or OneDrive. Companies need to firmly understand which files they’re moving, the size and scope of their migration, and what protections or permissions must remain intact. Knowledgeable preparation is key to a successful document migration.
Assess the Amount of Data Being Moved
Understanding a project’s scope will set the tone for the entire migration. The last thing anyone wants is to discover mid-migration that they must move an amount of data that far exceeds expectations. This scenario is incredibly frustrating when you’ve already invested time and money in the project.
First, performing a detailed pre-migration assessment or discovery is essential to avoid this situation. Scoping helps businesses understand which data needs to move and the details of that data. Since most companies have migrated to cloud-based platforms and non-paper touchpoints, it isn’t always clear how much data exists within their organization.
An assessment should evaluate the data created by different employees, teams, and C-suite leadership. These groups often have documents they’ve developed themselves and data they’ve downloaded. If your company isn’t actively tracking this data, it may not be set up in the same manner as core corporate sites, which can cause an unexpected data overgrowth.
During the assessment, it’s essential to delete any unused, duplicate, or irrelevant data. It minimizes the project’s size and duration while efficiently utilizing your budget. Lengthy migrations can quickly eat into vital business functions. The bottom line? Skipping an assessment can cost you time and money.
Consider Governance, Compliance, and Permissions
Another crucial benefit of project scoping is that it helps businesses keep their data structures and permissions intact. Importantly, it also helps them understand governance and compliance restrictions.
When prepping a migration, businesses must consider the compliance and governance rules, particularly for customer documents. For example, which documents need to be saved? What data is personally identifiable information? Does data need to be moved, encrypted and archived, or deleted? These are all critical considerations.
Many companies will run into issues without a compliance and governance plan, particularly during an IT consolidation from a merger or divestiture. For instance, old files attached to former employees don’t need to be moved. Companies should consider archiving older files based on their compliance and governance regulations. As for divestitures, no legacy information should be accessible, as this could pose legal risks and result in costly repercussions.
With any migration, the larger and more complex the project, the more a business will need outside help. Even for a well-resourced company with a skilled IT department, migrations quickly become overwhelming and a more significant time investment than expected.
Utilize Automation
Today, advanced automated tools can assist businesses of all sizes through their migration processes. Automated tools can streamline these projects, especially for first-time migrators and large enterprise organizations.
Using a tool is essentially going to an expert for support. Migrations, by nature, are unpredictable. Companies can leverage automation that reduces errors from manual methods and helps streamline the process to work around surprises. Organizations with a wide range of complexities should consider automation for their migration projects. Remote workers, additional servers or clouds, and various ecosystems introduce an extra layer of complexity. And that’s where migrations start to go wrong.
Whether using a free tool or managing the project without expert help, there is a cost of time, money, and energy. Is completing a “free” migration worth the extra labor hours and frustration? Using a migration tool allows companies to focus on the cleanup, project planning, and actual execution. These benefits should factor into your decision.
Consider What Migration Tools Offer
Beyond the general consideration of whether to use a migration tool, businesses must determine what features are essential to their business and the project. An ideal migration tool can help companies better understand scope and discovery, minimize data, streamline the processes, and more.
Companies should look for tools that employ automation, are easy to use, and securely transfer their data to the destination without a hitch. Auto-discovery is a vital feature that helps companies realize the expanse and intricacies of their data.
Data loss is another critical consideration. Unaided manual migrations almost always result in data loss. Without an advanced tool, moving a large number of files will eat into time and resources. You risk corrupting files, experiencing bandwidth issues and overwhelming networks. Migrations can be major network hogs and disrupt the productivity of other employees.
Effective migration tools do more than move data from one place to another. They are easy to use and provide clear insight for stakeholders. Your tool should have upfront pricing, enable structures and permissions to be automatically maintained, and streamline processes for businesses. Some migration tools also provide companies with reports on project details and any errors, allowing for easy diagnosis and logging of company records.
If your company is contemplating a document migration, keep these critical considerations in mind to ensure a successful and stress-free process. You’ll increase the project’s efficiency and reduce the opportunity for unwanted surprises.
BitTitan® is the premier provider of cloud migration solutions that support leading cloud ecosystems, including Amazon, Google, and Microsoft. Its flagship product, MigrationWiz®, is the industry-leading SaaS solution for mailbox, document, public-folder, and Microsoft Teams migrations between a wide range of Sources and Destinations. Since 2009, BitTitan has moved over 25 million users to the cloud across 46,000 customers in 188 countries. BitTitan is an Idera, Inc., company. To learn more about MigrationWiz, visit www.BitTitan.com
