So, you’ve chosen to migrate to Office 365. Awesome! Office 365 had many benefits, including greater accessibility, collaboration and security. However, transferring files and data from legacy software is not simple task. When migrating to cloud, you might run into problems you were ill prepared for.
Here are some common pitfalls to avoid when migrating to Office 365:
1) Forgetting to do a content audit
Before migrating to Office 365, be sure to perform a audit of all your data and content. Many businesses move to Office 365 to reduce cost and increase efficiency. But if you move irrelevant, outdated and useless content from you old software to Office 365, it defeats the purpose of the migration.
Content audit will allow you to figure out what needs to be cleaned up, what needs to be created, and how you can best utilize your new software. It will also allow you to estimate how much storage space you might need going into Office 365, so that you may choose the best Office 365 plan to meet your business needs.
2) Leaving it all to IT
Yes, an Office 365 migration is technical process that should be handled by your IT department. But while they may carry out the implementation and installation, the migration strategy should be team effort.
The IT head doesn’t know where all the files need to stores, how they need to be organized, what other departments want to see in the new system, and how they want everything to be organized to best meet the company needs. Thus it is crucial that other departments in a company be involved in the adoption of Office 365.
3) Not training people after migrating to Office 365
Moving from previous version of Sharepoint and legacy software to Office 365 can be big change for your employees. Office 365 offers multitude of new function and features to make your business processes more efficient. But to get the most ROI on your investment, make sure you and your employees are familiar with the functionality of the new software and know how to best use it to increase productivity.
4) Failing to set up proper schedule for migration
Unforeseen problems can arise in any cloud migration, and Office 365 is no exception. Set aside appropriate time to conduct the migration. If a migration occurs during weekdays, it might cause disruption in the day to day activities of your employees. So if possible, schedule the migration to be done on weekends or other downtime to avoid confusion and loss of work time.
5) Failing to seek out appropriate help
Office 365 is a huge investment for you and your company. So make sure you do it right. You might run into a migration that runs over budget and cause disruption in your business. You may lack the resources to train your employees on the new software and lack post migration support.
Reach out to professional Office 365 migration experts to ensure that your migration goes smoothly and as planned.
Need help establishing your cloud strategy? Learn more about our migration services or contact us for a consultation.
