real life content migrations

Real-Life Content Migration in SharePoint Haniel Croitoru, MSc, PMP, PMI-ACPJANUARY 29, 2013

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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

• 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

Scrum Master, Project Manager, SharePoint Evangelist

Rea-life Content Migration in SharePoint 1/29/2013

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Agenda• What is content migration?

• Why content migrations fail

• Migration Strategy

• Migration Plan


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what are content migrations?

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• 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.


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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.)


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Think of migrations as ETLExtract, 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)


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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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why content migrations fail

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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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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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migration strategy

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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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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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Migration Approaches• Enhanced Migration - source content

has additional metadata created as a requirement of the target CMS system


Source Target (CMS)

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Migration Approaches• 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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Migration Approaches• 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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migration planning

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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


Communication

Inventory Analysis

CURRENT STATE ANALYSIS

Kick-off meeting

Stakeholder identification

INITIATION

Scope definition

Timing

Budget

Content Review

Content Enhancement

Communication

Communication

Content Security

FUTURE STATE PLANNING

Governance

Migration Tools

Communication

Scheduling

Validation Planning

Fall-back Planning

Communication

Training

EXECUTION

Trial migration and validation

Actual migration

Communication

Validation

Reporting

Communication

Support

CLOSING

System retirement

Communication

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Phase 1: Initiation


Kick-off meeting

Stakeholder identification

Scope definition

Timing

Budget

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Stakeholders & TeamThese 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 & TeamOutsourcing 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: CurrentState 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


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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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• 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


Time

Amountofcontent

Few, well-definedContent types

Many, poorly-definedContent types

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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!

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Sample Inventory form


Schedule A9_Org Acct to MTCU_090501_v2.doc Adoption & Marketing 42496 Account ManagementclintonYes Public Other Office of the CEO Office of the CEO Schedule A9 Org Account to MTCU Pre-Qual process_100728_v1.pdf Adoption & Marketing 138024 Account ManagementclintonYes Public Process Customer Services System Deployment & Member Management Prequalification Process Pre-Qual Template_100728_v1.xls Adoption & Marketing 24576 Account ManagementclintonYes Public Template Customer Services System Deployment & Member Management Prequalification Template Internet MOU_101028_V1.doc Adoption & Marketing 56320 Account ManagementclintonYes Public Other Innovation & Information TechnologyInnovation & Information Technology Internet MOUEquipment Quoting Process.ppt Adoption & Marketing 213504 Account ManagementclintonYes Public Process Adoption & MarketingAdoption & Marketing Equipment Quoting ProcessThumbs.db Adoption & Marketing 18944 Account Managementcl intonNo Public Adoption & Marketing Equipment Grant Agreement_090501_v1.doc Adoption & Marketing 60928 Account ManagementclintonYes Public Other Office of the CEO Office of the CEO Equipment Grant Agreement Equipment Loan Agreement_090501_v1.doc Adoption & Marketing 73728 Account ManagementclintonYes Public Other Office of the CEO Office of the CEO Equipment Loan Agreement Membership Agreement_Feb 10-10_v8.DOC Adoption & Marketing 144896 Account ManagementclintonYes Public Other Office of the CEO Office of the CEO Membership AgreementMember Service Catalogue_110728_V1.xls Adoption & Marketing 702976 Account ManagementclintonYes Internal Other Adoption & MarketingAdoption & Marketing Member Service CatalogueTechnical_User_Guide_and_Service_Level_Agreement[1].pdfAdoption & Marketing 1299915 Account ManagementclintonNo Public Presentation Adoption & MarketingIntroduction to Webconferencing_110815_V1.PPTX Adoption & Marketing 749588 Account ManagementclintonYes Public PresentationAdoption & MarketingAdoption & Marketing Introduction to WebconferencingThumbs.db Adoption & Marketing 10240 Account Managementcl intonNo Public Adoption & MarketingA&M F2010-11 Plan_042710_Final.ppt Adoption & Marketing 2915328 Account ManagementclintonYes Internal Publication Adoption & MarketingAdoption & Marketing Adoption and Marketing F2010-11PlanAdoption Team F2010-11 Quarterly Priorities_042710_ Final.pptAdoption & Marketing 1584640 Account ManagementclintonYes Internal Publication Adoption & MarketingAdoption & Marketing Adoption Team F2010-11 Quarterly Prioritiesquote Adoption & Marketing 0 Account Managementcl intonNo Public Publ ication Adoption & MarketingRegional Adoption Teams_110808_V1.doc Adoption & Marketing 149504 Account ManagementclintonYes Public Other Adoption & MarketingAdoption & Marketing Regional Adoption TeamsAccount Manager by Site_110805_V1.xls Adoption & Marketing 398336 Account ManagementclintonYes Public Other Adoption & MarketingAdoption & Marketing Account Manager by SiteClinical Site Readiness Assessment tool FINAL 07 11 w ith logo.docAdoption & Marketing 227840 Account ManagementclintonYes Public Publication Adoption & MarketingAdoption & Marketing Clinical Site Readiness Assessment Tool_ LBOS EAP presentation_ Jan 12 2011.ppt HR & Org Dev 1355264 Benefits cmorrisYes Internal PresentationHuman Resources & Organizational DevelopmentHuman Resources & Organizational DevelopmentEmployee Assistance Program - Overviewhoopp_intro.pdf HR & Org Dev 2789908 Benefits cmorrisYes Internal User Guide Human Resources & Organizational DevelopmentHuman Resources & Organizational DevelopmentPension OverviewCPD Program Application Form_090224_V1.0.doc HR & Org Dev 78336 Continuing Prof DevcmorrisYes Internal Form Human Resources & Organizational DevelopmentHuman Resources & Organizational DevelopmentCPD Program Application FormCPD Program Guidelines_090224_V1.0.doc HR & Org Dev 676352 Continuing Prof DevcmorrisYes Internal User Guide Human Resources & Organizational DevelopmentHuman Resources & Organizational DevelopmentCPD Program GuideMicrosoft Word - Toronto Evacuation procedure version 10th f loor 4.pdfHR & Org Dev 88702 Health & SafetycmorrisYes Internal Process Human Resources & Organizational DevelopmentHuman Resources & Organizational DevelopmentToronto Evacuation Map - 10th FloorMicrosoft Word - Toronto Evacuation procedure version 11th f loor 4.pdfHR & Org Dev 229670 Health & SafetycmorrisYes Internal Process Human Resources & Organizational DevelopmentHuman Resources & Organizational DevelopmentToronto Evacuation Map - 11th FloorToronto Evacuation Procedure - revised 4.doc HR & Org Dev 43008 Health & SafetycmorrisYes Internal Process Human Resources & Organizational DevelopmentHuman Resources & Organizational DevelopmentToronto Evacuation ProcedureCompetency Framew ork_101006_V1.0.pdf HR & Org Dev 620366 Mission, Vision, Values & CompetenciescmorrisYes Internal Publication Human Resources & Organizational DevelopmentHuman Resources & Organizational DevelopmentCore Competency FrameworkCore Competencies - A Practical Guide_101006_V1.0.pdf HR & Org Dev 848530 Mission, Vision, Values & CompetenciescmorrisYes Internal User Guide Human Resources & Organizational DevelopmentHuman Resources & Organizational DevelopmentCore Competencies - A Practical GuideToronto Off ice Etiquette_090703_V2.0.doc HR & Org Dev 105984 Mission, Vision, Values & CompetenciescmorrisYes Internal User Guide Human Resources & Organizational DevelopmentHuman Resources & Organizational DevelopmentOffice Etiquette

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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: FutureState Planning


Communication

Content Security

Governance

Migration Tools

Communication

Scheduling

Validation Planning

Fall-back Planning

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Site SecuritySource

• 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.


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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

Vyapin

VitalPath

Xavor

SharePoint

Web

eRoom

Documentum

LiveLink

File system

Lotus Notes

Blogs

MCMS

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.


validation & fall-back planning

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Phase 4: Execution


Communication

Training

Trial migration and validation

Actual migration

Communication

Validation

Reporting

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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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Phase 5: Closing

Advanced SharePoint Tools to Enhance Project Management 10/17/2013

Communication

Support

System retirement

Communication

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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 RetirementOnce 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.


final thoughts

Some Final Thoughts…

From Folders to Metadata – a short lesson in history 6/21/2011

• 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!

Thank You

[email protected]

ca.linkedin.com/in/hanielcroitoru

@TheSharePointPM

www.thesharepointpm.com

real life content migrations

Technology

content migrations

home content

governance of content

dynamic content

content types2

flat html content

cabinets content repositories

everyday life