The Complete SharePoint Migration Checklist

Migrating to SharePoint Online is one of the most significant infrastructure decisions an organization can make. Whether you're moving from on-premises SharePoint, file shares, or another platform entirely, a successful migration requires careful planning and execution.

Pre-Migration Assessment

Before moving a single file, you need to understand what you're working with:

Content Inventory: Document all sites, libraries, lists, and their sizes. Identify content that's outdated, duplicated, or no longer needed. This is your opportunity to clean house.

Permission Analysis: Map out your current permission structure. SharePoint Online handles permissions differently, and complex inheritance can cause issues during migration.

Custom Solutions Audit: Identify any custom web parts, workflows, or integrations. These will need to be rebuilt or replaced with modern equivalents.

Planning Phase

With your assessment complete, it's time to plan:

Architecture Design: Design your target SharePoint architecture. Consider hub sites, communication sites, and team sites. Think about how users will navigate and find content.

Migration Strategy: Will you migrate everything at once (big bang) or phase it over time? Most organizations benefit from a phased approach, migrating by department or site collection.

Communication Plan: Users need to know what's happening, when, and how it affects them. Plan your communications early and often.

Execution

When it's time to migrate:

Pilot Migration: Start with a small, non-critical site. This validates your process and identifies issues before they affect critical content.

Data Validation: After each migration batch, verify that content, metadata, and permissions transferred correctly.

User Training: Don't wait until after migration to train users. Start early so they're comfortable with the new environment.

Post-Migration

Migration isn't complete when the data is moved:

Monitoring: Watch for issues in the days and weeks following migration. Users will find edge cases you didn't anticipate.

Optimization: Now that you're in SharePoint Online, take advantage of modern features like search, Power Automate integration, and Teams connectivity.

Documentation: Document your new environment, including architecture decisions and governance policies.

Need Help?

SharePoint migrations can be complex, especially for larger organizations. If you'd like expert guidance through your migration journey, schedule a free consultation with our team.