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SharePoint users who understand the significance of collaborating with it and previously used on-premises versions are migrating from traditional SharePoint deployments to Office 365. However, the process is not just as simple as you might think. Unlike other cloud platforms, such as OneDrive and Google Drive, you cannot migrate SharePoint Servers by simple drag and drop.
Even in the most simple SharePoint environment, migrating data with its metadata, permissions, and structure can be challenging. Whether you are moving to Office 365 due to mergers, acquisitions, or just for better collaboration, you will need concrete solutions for the execution, as explained ahead in this write-up.
Why Migrate SharePoint to Office 365?
There are several benefits offered by Microsoft 365 that explain why users want to migrate SharePoint on-premises to Office 365. Some of them are given below:
- Total entourage of MS Office applications: Office 365 users have access to a wide range of Office programs, including SharePoint, Microsoft Teams, and Skype for Business. It can be set up on a variety of platforms, including desktops, tablets, and smartphones.
- Best collaborative center: The networks and teams can simply connect and efficiently handle tasks. It provides robust features, including chat, documents, task delegation, progress monitoring, project schedules, document management, and other utility apps to improve teamwork. After SharePoint on-premises to SharePoint Online migration, entire data will continue to work with its efficiency.
- Greater storage limits for mailboxes: The business-class email service offers a complete experience, a 50GB mailbox for each user, and top-notch calendar tools with an Outlook interface.
- Conferencing and meetings services: Utilize available screen sharing and audio/video conferencing tools to run online meetings. Even with a spotty internet connection, meetings can be attended easily due to efficient features and capabilities of Microsoft 365.
- Innovative analytical apps and enhanced security: While sending files outside the company, strong management ensures that only authorized individuals can access emails and documents. All Office 365 platforms are protected against data loss and encryption. The analytics tool’s data analysis and visualization features are also quite helpful, and MyAnalytics and Power Business Intelligence also offer interactive reports.
All these are significant reasons for users to migrate SharePoint On-premises content to Office 365, involving SharePoint Online as an integral part. The migration encompasses the transfer of all the site collections, lists & libraries, workflows, etc. It is important to ponder over the essential things to consider before you migrate SharePoint to Office 365.
How to Migrate SharePoint to Office 365?
Migration between two diverse platforms is not a cakewalk. However, you can opt for either the manual or automated approach to migrate SharePoint to Office 365. In the next sections, we’ll demonstrate how to migrate SharePoint on-premises using two different tools: one is powered by Microsoft, while the other is a third-party migration tool. However, we recommend creating and following a step-by-step a checklist for SharePoint migration to avoid skipping any crucial steps.
Method 1. Migrate using Microsoft SharePoint Migration Tool
Microsoft introduced the SharePoint Migration Tool (SPMT) as the migration-based assistance tool that migrates data from on-premises SharePoint to Office 365 (SharePoint Online). Its simple user interface and basic functionality help migrate complete sites, lists/libraries, and metadata.
The SharePoint migration tool performs an incremental migration in which only the new data will be moved between the SharePoint accounts from the source data and there will be no duplicity. You can migrate SharePoint On-premises content to Office 365 using the steps given below:
- Download the SPMT tool.
- Install it and sign in with your Microsoft account.
- Click Add new migration to start the migration process.
- Under Select a method window, select Single source URL. If you have a JSON or CSV file with a list of sources & destinations, you can choose the second option.
- Now, select a migration type. Then, in the next window, enter the source site URL and input the username & password.
- After configuring the source, specify the destination with login credentials.
- When both source & destinations are configured successfully, start the migration.
On-premises versions supported by SharePoint Migration Tool
The tool supports the SharePoint migration to Microsoft 365 from the following servers:
- SharePoint Server 2019 (Public Preview) to SharePoint Online/OneDrive
- SharePoint Server 2016 (Public Preview) to SharePoint Online/OneDrive
- SharePoint Server 2013, SharePoint Foundation 2013 to SharePoint Online/OneDrive
- SharePoint Server 2010, SharePoint Foundation 2010 to SharePoint Online/OneDrive
- Network and local file shares to SharePoint Online/OneDrive
Limitations of SharePoint Migration Tool (SPMT)
Being a lightweight migration tool, the SPMT has all the necessary features to complete a SharePoint to Office 365 SharePoint migration from various versions. Still, it is not suitable for moving enterprise-based data, and it has some limitations, such as:
- No support for SharePoint Server 2007.
- It migrates data up to 250 GB.
- No data filtering, customization, or other features for selective migration.
- Limited pre-migration analysis on SharePoint migration.
- The migration report also has limited information related to the migrated items.
Method 2. SharePoint on-premises to SharePoint Online migration tool
Microsoft also provides free tools to migrate content (sites, lists, libraries, documents, views, version history, web parts) from SharePoint lists and libraries to existing or new SharePoint Online sites. However, these tools can often fail to fulfill all user requirements and lack flexibility. Moreover, the effectiveness of these solutions varies with the user’s technical expertise and skills.
For a structured and simplified migration from SharePoint to SharePoint without any internal disruptions or size limitations, choose a professional tool, Kernel Migrator for SharePoint. This SharePoint migration tool is embedded with robust algorithms to transfer your SharePoint site data. With the easy-to-navigate user interface, even a person with less technical expertise can migrate SharePoint to Office 365 (SharePoint Online).
Step-by-step process to perform SharePoint to Office 365 migration
- Launch the SharePoint migrator and go to SharePoint (on-premises/Online) in the source pane> right-click > Add New SharePoint Site.
- Provide the required credentials based on the authentication and type of migration (single site or site collection).
- After connecting the source, go to the destination section and similarly add the destination site.
- For SharePoint to SharePoint Online migration, right-click on source tenant and select Migrate to.
- Use Edit Source Selection button to adjust the source selection. Click Next.
- Next, select whether you want to Migrate as a new Active Site, Migrate as an existing site, or Migrate as a new subsite of the current site . Click Next .
- Select the destination site, and then apply the filters to migrate only the selected data for migration. Then, click Next.’
- Choose migrate SharePoint permissions easily or remap permissions. Click Next.
- You can schedule the migration or select Execute Immediate and click Next .
- Review the migration summary section. Click Next to begin the migration.
Once the process is complete, the tool will show all the details related to the items migrated. You can also save the report to your PC in a CSV file.
Conclusion
Apart from using the free SharePoint Migration Tool (SPMT), there is no other manual method for SharePoint on-premises migration to SharePoint Online. Due to the many limitations associated with the free tool, it is better to use Kernel Migration for SharePoint. It can move unlimited site collections, lists, libraries, and other items from SharePoint. The tool also generates a detailed migration report to verify the status of the data migrated.
Frequently Asked Questions
Answer. You can transfer SharePoint sites, lists, libraries, files, and folders from traditional SharePoint versions to SharePoint Online. Apart from this, if you use a professional migration tool, you can also retain metadata, permissions, version history, and even more.
Answer. Before you start migration, make sure to note down admin credentials in a secured location, perform a thorough source cleanup, check that your firewall has necessary endpoints, and set your source to Read/Write state.
