Real life content migrations

Real-Life Content Migration
in SharePoint
Haniel Croitoru, MSc, PMP, PMI-ACP
J A NU A R Y 29 , 20 13

Haniel Croitoru
• Senior SharePoint consultant with over 15 years of
experience
• Worked in public and private sector verticals including
healthcare, financial services, utilities, and consulting

Scrum Master,
Project Manager,
SharePoint Evangelist

• Since 2003 focusing on SharePoint, delivering solutions
and contributing as Business Analyst and Trainer
• Masters of Science in Computer Science with a specialty
in Computer-Assisted Orthopedic Surgery from Queen’s
University and a Master’s Certificate in Project
Management from the York Schulich School of Business
• Project Management Professional (PMP) since 2007 and
an Agile Certified Practitioner since 2013

Rea-life Content Migration in SharePoint

1/29/2013

2

Agenda
• What is content migration?

• Why content migrations fail
• Migration Strategy
• Migration Plan


1/29/2013

3

what are content migrations?
4

• Content Migration is the process of moving
information stored on a Web content management
system(CMS), Digital asset
management(DAM), Document management
system(DMS), or flat HTML based system to a new
system. Flat HTML content can entail HTML
files, Active Server Pages (ASP), JavaServer Pages
(JSP), PHP, or content stored in some type of
HTML/JavaScript based system and can be either
static or dynamic content.


1/29/2013

5

Content Migration in everyday life
• You can equate content migration in terms of your
home content:
1.

Move into home and organize content into cabinets
(content repositories) by clothing, utensils, etc. (content
types)

2.

After a while things become more random.

3.

When you move to a new house, you organize the boxes
based on how things are organized and you leave some
things behind

4.

In the new home you organize the content based on the
new layout and other deciding factors (new rooms, etc.)


1/29/2013

6

Think of migrations as ETL
Extract, Transform and Load
(ETL) refers to a process in
database usage and especially in
data warehousing that involves:
1.

Extracting data from outside
sources Transforming it to fit
operational needs (which can
include quality levels)

2.

Loading it into the end target
(database, more
specifically, operational data
store, data mart or data
warehouse)


1/29/2013

7

Drivers for Content Migration
• Consolidate – one or more CMS/File systems are
consolidated into one for centralized
control, governance of content, and better
Knowledge management and sharing.
• Reorganize - mergers and acquisitions to
assimilate as much content from the source
systems for a unified look and feel.
• Convert - content that has grown organically either
in a CMS or Flat HTML and standardizing the
formatting so standards can be applied for a
unified branding of the content.


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8

Why Content Migrations fail
• Content migration often not a technical limitation
for CMS.
• It is the correctness and validity of data entered
into a system that determines its success or failure.


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10

Lack of Planning

Task

Duration

Resource

Content Migration

1 day?

TBD


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Lack of Ownership
• Content owner(s) need to be clearly identified

• Migration process needs to involve these
individuals and more
• Content owner(s) need to feel engaged and
rewarded for this effort


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Lack of Understanding
• Often underestimated or misunderstood

• Little or no time/cost/resources allocated to it


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It’s Ugly!
• Copying and pasting content or writing migration
scripts is tedious and often doesn’t feel very
rewarding.
• Focusing on new and exciting technology and
features is much more enticing.


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Types of Content Migrations
• SharePoint to SharePoint
• Other CMS to SharePoint
• NAS/File share to SharePoint
• SharePoint to other CMS
• SharePoint to NAS/File share

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Factors to consider when planning
a migration
• Branding changes – will creative and document content change?

• Link – will the information architecture require updates to links that may
not be automated?
• Content location – where is content coming from and where is it going?
• Content ownership – who owned the content and who will be the new
owners?

• Content accuracy – is the content still valid?
• Content obsolescence – is the content old?
• Governance – how will the content be managed?
• Custom developments (Web parts) – what custom development is
required to support the new/old content?


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What content gets migrated?
• Identify file criteria
• Type
• Size
• Age
• Records
• Web pages

• Ensure to capture all the available metadata


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18

Migration Types
• Automated – scripts can be written to modify the
original content if it’s well structured and populate the
new content repository
• Manual – in most scenarios, manual copy/paste of
content is required ad metadata may be missing or
there are significant, inconsistent changes to the
structure of the content.
• Hybrid – when migration is happening from multiple
sources, a hybrid automated/manual approach can be
taken for different portions of the new content
repository

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Migration Approaches
• As-is Migration - no change and no additional
information for original content
Source


Target (CMS)

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• Enhanced Migration - source content has additional
metadata created as a requirement of the target
CMS system
Source


Target (CMS)

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• Standardization Migration - source content is broken
down into smaller levels of granularity to fit into
“templates” that are defined in the new CMS
Source


Target (CMS)

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• Restructure Migration - navigation elements are
updated to reflect a new Information Architecture (IA)
Source


Target (CMS)

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Timing the migration
• Planning of a migration should begin as early as
possible. Ideally when a project for the new
SharePoint implementation is started.
• Content migration should be developed in a
phased approach as it is very involved and requires
a lot of steps in order to succeed.


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Building a plan
• Phase 1 - Initiation

• Phase 2 - Current State Analysis
• Phase 3 - Future State Planning
• Phase 4 - Execution
• Phase 5 - Closing


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Migration planning
INITIATION

CURRENT STATE
ANALYSIS

FUTURE STATE
PLANNING

EXECUTION

CLOSING

Kick-off
meeting

Communication

Communication

Communication

Communication

Stakeholder
identification

Inventory
Analysis

Content Security

Training

Support

Scope
definition

Content Review

Governance

Trial migration
and validation

System retirement

Timing

Content
Enhancement

Migration Tools

Actual migration

Budget

Communication

Scheduling

Validation

Validation
Planning
Fall-back
Planning

Communication

Reporting
Communication

Communication


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Kick-off meeting

Phase 1: Initiation

Stakeholder
identification
Scope definition

Timing
Budget


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Stakeholders & Team
These are the people you will be working very closely with
at every step of the migration.
• Communicate within the organization
• Get support from others
• Help in analyzing information
• Determine best execution paths
• Develop scripts, implement 3rd-party solutions
• Validate migrated data
• Representatives from Business, IT

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Stakeholders & Team
Outsourcing team

• Distances the organization from taking ownership of its
content
• Denies the opportunity for the content contributors to
learn the new system inside and out prior to launch
Rewards
• The migration team leader should give out little prizes
to people who exceed their target, are really helpful at
helping others solve problems or are great leaders.
• Keeping morale high will be important if a lengthy
migration period is required.


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Scheduling migrations
• Determine whether there are any key milestones within the
SharePoint implementation project that require content to be
ready (e.g. UAT).
• Ensure resources are available for the work when needed.


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Budget
• Determine initial budget

• Scope, time, resources, tools will depend on it
• (re)writing of web parts and integration with 3rd
party solutions also need to be budgeted for at this
time.


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Phase 2: Current
State Analysis

Communication

Inventory Analysis
Content Review
Content Enhancement

Communication


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Inventory
• Begin by creating a map and lists of all repositories containing
data to be migrated.
• For pages and files, identify the content types and collect the
following:
• Metadata associated with item in CMS
• Relations that indicate which content refers to this item
• Location of the page or file in the site, is it part of the navigation?

• For web pages, also need
• Fields that make up the content type or page, associated formats and
value lists restrictions and dependencies


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Inventory Reports
• Need reports on
• Structure
• Number of documents per content type
• Pages with no references or broken links
• Access and modification statistics on visits


1/29/2013

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Inventory Report Caveats
• Hard to get complete overview of content structure

• File system/CMS may contain multiple copies of the
same data
• May have old versions that are not used anymore
• For web pages, getting a count may not be accurate as
some pages contain plain data and others are built of
content coming from somewhere else
• Need to analyze front-end (e.g. site map) as well as
back-end (CMS)
• CMS may contain unpublished content or metadata not
available to the front-end


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Amount
of
content

Many, poorly-defined
Content types
Few, well-defined
Content types

Time

• Over time the content types will change and the old types are often left in
the system
• CMS generated overviews of the content often give a distorted view of the
real situation
• Restrictions in the current CMS or the creativity of the editors often results
in misuse of the content types, unnecessary new content types and
orphaned content on the site

1/29/2013

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Divide and conquer

Engage all content
owners in gathering
all the necessary
information
THIS IS THE MOST TIME
CONSUMING STEP IN CONTENT
MIGRATIONS!


1/29/2013

38

Schedule A9_Org Acct to MTCU_090501_v2.doc
Adoption & Marketing
Pre-Qual process_100728_v1.pdf
Pre-Qual Template_100728_v1.xls
Internet MOU_101028_V1.doc
Equipment Quoting Process.ppt
Thumbs.db
Adopti on & Ma rketi ng
Equipment Grant Agreement_090501_v1.doc
Equipment Loan Agreement_090501_v1.doc
Membership Agreement_Feb 10-10_v8.DOC
Member Service Catalogue_110728_V1.xls
Technical_User_Guide_and_Service_Level_Agreement[1].pdf doption & Marketing
A
Introduction to Webconferencing_110815_V1.PPTX
Thumbs.db
A&M F2010-11 Plan_042710_Final.ppt
Adoption Team F2010-11 Quarterly Priorities_042710_ Final.ppt
quote
Regional Adoption Teams_110808_V1.doc
Account Manager by Site_110805_V1.xls
Clinical Site Readiness Assessment tool FINAL 07 11 w ith logo.doc
_ LBOS EAP presentation_ Jan 12 2011.ppt
HR & Org Dev
hoopp_intro.pdf
HR & Org Dev
CPD Program Application Form_090224_V1.0.doc
HR & Org Dev
CPD Program Guidelines_090224_V1.0.doc
HR & Org Dev
Microsoft Word - Toronto Evacuation procedure version 10th HR & Org Dev
floor 4.pdf
Microsoft Word - Toronto Evacuation procedure version 11th HR & Org Dev
floor 4.pdf
Toronto Evacuation Procedure - revised 4.doc
HR & Org Dev
Competency Framew ork_101006_V1.0.pdf
HR & Org Dev
Core Competencies - A Practical Guide_101006_V1.0.pdf
HR & Org Dev
Toronto Office Etiquette_090703_V2.0.doc
HR & Org Dev


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Sample Inventory form

Account Management Public
clintonYes
Other
Office of the CEO
Office of the CEO
Schedule A9 Org Account to MTCU
clintonYes
Process
Customer Services System Deployment & Member Management
Prequalification Process
clintonYes
Template Customer Services System Deployment & Member Management
Prequalification Template
clintonYes
Other
Innovation & Information Technology
Innovation & Information Technology
Internet MOU
clintonYes
Process
Adoption & MarketingAdoption & Marketing
Equipment Quoting Process
Account MantonNo
cl i na gement Public
clintonYes
Other
Office of the CEO
Office of the CEO
Equipment Grant Agreement
clintonYes
Other
Office of the CEO
Office of the CEO
Equipment Loan Agreement
clintonYes
Other
Office of the CEO
Office of the CEO
Membership Agreement
Account Management Internal
clintonYes
Other
Member Service Catalogue
clintonNo
Presentation
clintonYes
PresentationAdoption & MarketingAdoption & Marketing
Introduction to Webconferencing
Account MantonNo
clintonYes
Publication Adoption & MarketingAdoption & Marketing
Adoption and Marketing F2010-11Plan
clintonYes
Adoption Team F2010-11 Quarterly Priorities
Account MantonNo
Publ i ca ti on
clintonYes
Other
Regional Adoption Teams
clintonYes
Other
Account Manager by Site
clintonYes
Clinical Site Readiness Assessment Tool
Benefits cmorris es
Y
Internal
PresentationHuman Resources & Organizational Development
Human Resources & OrganizationalAssistance Program - Overview
Employee Development
Benefits cmorris es
Y
Internal
User Guide Human Resources & Organizational Development
Human Resources & Organizational Development
Pension Overview
Continuing ProfYes
cmorrisDev
Internal
Form
Human Resources & Organizational Development Program Application Form
CPD
Continuing ProfYes
cmorrisDev
Internal
User Guide Human Resources & Organizational Development Program Guide
CPD
Health & cmorris es
SafetyY
Internal
Process
Human Resources & Organizational Development- 10th Floor
Toronto Evacuation Map
Health & cmorris es
SafetyY
Internal
Process
Human Resources & Organizational Development- 11th Floor
Toronto Evacuation Map
Health & cmorris es
SafetyY
Internal
Process
Toronto Evacuation Procedure
Mission, cmorrisValues Internal
Vision, es
Y
& Competencies
Publication Human Resources & Organizational Development Competency Framework
Core
Vision, es
Y
& Competencies Guide Human Resources & Organizational Development Competencies - A Practical Guide
User
Core
Vision, es
Y
& Competencies Guide Human Resources & Organizational Development Etiquette
User
Office

1/29/2013

39

Content mapping
• Define new content structure

• Determine new templates in CMS
• Content type mapping
• No change A  A
• Merged A + B  C
• Retired A
• Other rules (e.g. age)

• Links – to retain functionality internal links must be mapped
to create the necessary post-migration relationships


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Content mapping
• Logical continuation of the inventory where the future state
is mapped to the current state and decisions are made how
differences are handled.
• It can help expose any issues with challenges in mapping the
old and new content types.


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Content enhancement
• Make sure that the new CMS will contain clean content
• Translation: convert HTML, XML, CSS, etc. to correct naming
convention and structure
• Deletion: Remove erroneous or unused tags, scripts, and
unwanted code
• Transform: transform old XML to XML of new CMS
• Restructuring: Change the structure of the content to conform
to the new structure


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Phase 3: Future
State Planning

Communication
Content Security

Governance
Migration Tools
Scheduling
Validation Planning
Fall-back Planning

Communication


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Site Security
Source

• Open source repositories for analysis and view the content of
the records.
• Enable accounts and access levels to the migration tools to
access the source repositories and copy the records over to
SharePoint.
Target (SharePoint)
• Finalize access and security levels and groups in SharePoint
• Review migration worksheet with the content owners to
identify the groups and individuals who will need to have
access to the new repositories.


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Governance
• Focus on usage and process monitoring and ongoing
maintenance.
• Ensure correct permissions are applied and that as people
change that roles and permissions are adjusted appropriately.
• Monitor volume of content stored within SharePoint.
Content that is not actively used will make it harder to find
things that are needed and can slow down searches and
performance.


1/29/2013

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Migration tools
• Selecting migration tools takes time and resources (cost)

• In selecting the tools, consider the following:
• Cost of tool
• Cost of doing it manual vs. using the tool
• Reusability for similar content repositories with slight
modifications
• Flexibility for using the tool on numerous content repository types
(e.g. file share, database, etc.)


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Some migration tools available
AvePoint

Axeler

Idera

Metalogix

MetaVis

PCvita

Proventeq

Quest
Software

Sharegate

Tzunami

SharePoint





















Web



eRoom



Documentum





LiveLink





File system



Lotus Notes













Xavor

















MCMS

VitalPath





Blogs

Vyapin



Office 365



Exchange



Docushare



Custom




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Execution Approach
• One time - As the name implies, happens all at once, typically
over a weekend. This reduces costs as you don’t have two
systems running simultaneously. The downside to this
method is if delays occur, or if the new system doesn’t work
as planned, there may be negative impact to your business’s
top and bottom line.

• Phased - Allows for a gradual transition whereby you turn on
only parts of the new system at one time. The advantages
are that you can start getting results sooner; it’s easier to test
smaller, incremental datasets; and you can back out before
committing to the new system.


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Execution Approach
• Synchronization/integration - Both old and new systems run
together. When the content is loaded and thoroughly tested a
cutover is made. The advantage here is that there is little
likelihood of problems as the systems will run together until
the new one is proven. The downside is that synchronization
software to keep both systems running in tandem can be
costly.
• Phased and Synchronized are used when content supports
mission critical 24/7 applications


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Content Freeze
• For content analysis a snapshot of the content is taken.

• Prior to migration the content source is frozen.
• Delta migrations (synchronizations) are done after the freeze
is removed to move over the extra


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Scheduling
• Scheduling the migration will depend on a number of factors
including:
• Volume of content
• Number of sources
• Organizational divisions
• Number and complexity of changes
• Timelines for completion
• Possibility of keeping original and new systems online and
synchronized

• In general, the more complex and larger the migration, the
better it is to execute it in smaller, logical groupings in an
Agile manner.

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Scheduling
• Such groupings could be
• Content source
• Organizational department/divisions

• Identify ideal times/dates.
• Identify black-out periods.
• Identify freeze period which prevents users from adding new
content to the old repository will also be identified.


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validation & fall-back planning

Communication

Phase 4: Execution

Training
Trial migration and
validation
Actual migration
Validation
Reporting

Communication

1/29/2013

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Training
• Just prior to beginning the trial migrations the users who
were identified as frequent contributors and readers of the
content as well as power users should be trained on the new
SharePoint solution.
• These individuals can help with the uptake of SharePoint and
become internal champions.


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Trial migration
• A staging environment will be created where a subset of the
content can be migrated to and validated. Each repository go
through at least one trial migration.
• Several trials should be happening if there are any changes to
the structure of the files being migrated.
• Users should have been identified at this point who will assist
with the validation of the selected content using the
validation plan.


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Execute migration
• New content may have been added since the original
assessment to the original repositories. This will necessitate
repeating the content analysis activities but only for the new
files to ensure that a comprehensive and up-to-date set of
data is being migrated.
• At this time all the content for migration should have been
collected, enhanced, cleaned and updated, migration tools
configured, trial migrations finished, and the various content
owners informed
• Migration execution can begin depending on the type of
approach chosen.


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Validate
• Use end users and content editors for validation

• Combine with testing of new SharePoint functionality (e.g.
search)


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Communication

Phase 5: Closing

Support
System retirement

Communication

Advanced SharePoint Tools to Enhance Project Management

10/17/2013

59

Support
• Despite best efforts to migrate all the information correctly,
inevitably questions will arise that will require support for
thing such as:
• How can I get some content in that wasn’t migrated?
• How can I modify metadata that is incorrect?
• Where can I find information that was previously located
somewhere else?
• Why am I not able to modify/read files that I was able to prior to
the migration?


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System Retirement
Once all the data has been migrated from the content
repositories to SharePoint and verified, a strategy needs to be
executed to retire the old systems.
• Removing access
• Repurposing or destroying the repositories

• Removing or updating any links to the old repositories.


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Some Final Thoughts…
• Content migrations are complex, resource-intensive, time
sensitive activities
• To ensure successful migrations it’s important to follow a
structured approach for content identification, review,
migration and validation
• Enough time, budget, and resources need to be allocated for
migration activities
• Content touches everyone. Communicate, communicate,
communicate so no one is left in the dark!

From Folders to Metadata – a short lesson in history

6/21/2011

Thank You
haniel@vertexpoint.com

ca.linkedin.com/in/hanielcroitoru

@TheSharePointPM

www.thesharepointpm.com

Real life content migrations

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