Mastering SharePoint Migration Planning

Mastering SharePoint
Migration Planning
Christian Buckley

cbuck@axceler.com
@buckleyPLANET

Email Cell Twitter Blog
cbuck@axceler.com 425.246.2823 @buckleyplanet http://buckleyplanet.com

My Background

Christian Buckley, Director of Product Evangelism at Axceler

• Most recently at Microsoft
• Microsoft Managed Services (now BPOS-Dedicated)
• Advertising Operations, ad platform API program
• Prior to Microsoft, was a senior consultant, working in the software, supply
chain, and grid technology spaces focusing on collaboration
• Co-founded and sold a collaboration software company to Rational
Software. Also co-authored 3 books on software configuration management
and defect tracking for Rational and IBM
• At another startup (E2open), helped design, build, and deploy a
SharePoint-like collaboration platform (Collaboration Manager), managing
deployment teams to onboard numerous high-tech manufacturing
companies, including Hitachi, Matsushita, Seagate, Nortel, Sony, and Cisco
• I live in a small town just east of Seattle, have a daughter in college and 3
boys at home, and I just celebrated my 20th wedding anniversary


Axceler Overview

• Improving Collaboration for 16+ Years
– Mission: To enable enterprises to simplify, optimize, and
secure their collaborative platforms
– Delivered award-winning administration and migration
software since 1994
– Over 2,000 global customers

• Dramatically improve the management
of SharePoint
– Innovative products that improve security, scalability,
reliability, “deployability”
– Making IT more effective and efficient and lower the total
cost of ownership

• Focus on solving specific SharePoint problems
(Administration & Migration)
– Coach enterprises on SharePoint best practices
– Give administrators the most innovative tools available
– Anticipate customers’ needs
– Deliver best of breed offerings
– Stay in lock step with SharePoint development and market trends


Migration Cliché’s

• The iceberg
• The onion
• The carton of milk


Cliché #1

This is your technical
migration, i.e. the
physical move of
content and “bits”

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cbuck@axceler.com cbuck@echotechnology.com @buckleyplanet
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Cliché #2

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Cliché #3

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What motivates migration?

• Platform • Platform • Vision
• Upgrade • Features • Operational goals
• Cost-savings • Technology-driven • Business value
• Technology-driven • Business value


Why are migrations difficult?

Migrations Migrations Migrations are Migrations are
are phased are iterative error prone not the end goal
• Should not be • Planning should not • There is no “easy” • Proper planning and
determined by the be limited by the button for migration change management
technology you use number of migration policies will help you
attempts you make, or • You can run a dozen to be successful with
• Match the needs and by the volume of pre-migration checks your current and
timing of your content content being moved and still run into future migrations
owners and teams problems
• Recognize the need to • Your goals should be
• Be flexible, moving test the waters, to • Admins and end users a stable environment,
sites and content move sites, content do things that are not relevant metadata,
based on end user and customizations in “by the book” discoverable content,
needs, not the waves and happy end users
limitations of the • Watch for
technology • Allow users to test customizations, 3rd
and provide feedback party tools, and line of
business apps that
run under the radar


Why do migrations fail?
Wrong question.

Why do SharePoint deployments fail?
Right question.


A general lack of planning

But we planned this for weeks…

Did you involve your end users?

Sort of.

Did you identify the key use
cases, and prioritize them?

No.

Did you make the process iterative,
folding what you learned back into
your migration activities?

Um...


Where should you focus?
• Map out the existing environment • Update the look and feel
• Understand the business priorities • Create an audit process for ongoing maintenance
• Model your planned environment • Develop a back up and disaster recovery plan
• Run a detailed discovery of what should be migrated • Update systems to latest builds and service packs
• Conduct detailed capacity planning • Establish a sound governance model
• Identify roles and responsibilities • Identifies throttles and limitations
• Understand your audience and topology • Understand and plan for new functionality
• Analyze usage and activity • Focus on functionality, then look and feel
• Know your storage needs • Develop a communication strategy
• Track and plan for each customization • Create a governance website
• Create a detailed migration schedule • Run PreUpgradeCheck a few dozen times
• Organize granular requirements by team • Have an anti-virus and maintenance plan
• Plan to migrate or index file shares • Plan for migration from other ECM platforms
• Replace third party tools with out-of-the-box • Consolidate or reduce the number of SharePoint
functionality versions supported
• Create or refine your metadata and taxonomy • Understand performance metrics for the system
• Map content to new information architecture • Know your stakeholders
• Cleanup permissions • Assign metadata to the new information architecture
• Optimize information architecture for search • Develop a detailed test plan
• Stage your platform for migration • Get signoff on all major design and architectural
• Coordinate with your operations team decisions
• Roll out new features • Decide where and when to use end users
• Plan for where and when to involve the users • Establish strong change management policies
• Develop and track key performance indicators • Expand the footprint to mobile or the cloud
• Train your end users on new functionality • Understand and focus on the organizational vision


My Entirely New Cliché


5 Steps to Mastering Migration Planning
…or better stated, 5 areas of focus that will help your
overall SharePoint deployment to be successful

• Scope
• Process
• Data layer
• Transformation
• Continuous improvement


1. Understand the scope


Is it better to ask users what they
want or need before introducing a
new technology,

or to demonstrate the new
technology and then ask them what
they want or need?


Ask the questions

What is your role?
How do you accomplish your job today?
What is currently automated, and how?
Are there gaps in your business processes?
Can these be solved through process, or do
they require technology?
Where is the business experiencing pain?

Build the use cases

• Role-specific
• Keep them simple
• Don’t make
judgment calls,
just identify them


Prioritize the actions


Refine the scope

• Incorporate feedback
from the team
• Clearly define and
publish the criteria
• Consistently review
• Keep a running list
• Build out quickly and test
• Be flexible


Where to start?

• As part of your discovery process,
conduct an overall health check
– Usage / Activity
– Permissions
– Storage
– Audit
– Performance


2. Focus on the process


Common Project Methodology


The more you involve your
end users, the more likely they
are to accept the end result


Development Framework

Example - Rational Unified Process

1. Develop iteratively, with risk as the End Users help identify
primary iteration driver priorities, problem areas
2. Manage requirements Provide requirements
3. Employ a component-based Help define components
architecture
4. Model software visually Review designs
5. Continuously verify quality Test, provide feedback
6. Control changes Use the product, identify
technical issues


Know your key artifacts

• Requirements / scope document
• Project plan
• Communication plan
• Test plan
• Governance plan
– Enterprise governance
– IT governance
– SharePoint governance
– Site-level governance
• Outline of key roles and responsibilities
• Change management process


Make assignments

RACI format
 Responsible
 Accountable
 Consulted
 Informed

OARP format
 Owner
 Approver
 Reviewer
 Participant


Test early, test often

Build a test plan

Clearly define roles
and responsibilities

and time estimates

Assign roles

Give recognition


Iterate


3. Outline the information layer


Know your information architecture

• Clean up content types
• Understand navigation
• Organize metadata
• Prepare for Managed Metadata
• Optimize for search
• Consolidate templates


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Top level portal

Tier 1 site collections
based on business
units or product areas

Tier 2 sites that follow
specific structure


Get organized

• Understand what is out there
• Who owns the content?
• Does it need to be moved?
• Does it need to be indexed/searchable?
• Is the folder structure important?
• Do you need to maintain historic metadata?


4. Migrate and transform


5. Set up a process of
continual improvement


What’s your culture of change?

“Even those who fancy themselves the most progressive
will fight against other kinds of progress, for each of us
is convinced that our way is the best way.“
— Louis L'Amour

• Understand your corporate culture before you try to change anything

• Explain what it is you’re trying to do, and get end users onboard

• In addition to executive buy in, you need your end users to buy in


Contact me

• Christian Buckley
cbuck@axceler.com
+1 425-246-2823
@buckleyPLANET
buckleyPLANET.com

• Additional Resources available
– 11 Strategic Considerations for SharePoint Migrations http://bit.ly/j4Vuln
– The Insider’s Guide to Upgrading to SharePoint 2010 http://bit.ly/mIpOBZ
– Why Do SharePoint Projects Fail? http://bit.ly/d1mJmw
– What to Look for in a SharePoint Management Tool http://bit.ly/l26ida
– The Five Secrets to Controlling Your SharePoint
Environment http://bit.ly/kzdTjZ
– ReadyPoint (free) http://bit.ly/gGXIPO
– Davinci Migrator http://bit.ly/ieZ5L8
– echo for SharePoint 2007 http://bit.ly/iwfl3f


Mastering SharePoint Migration Planning

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