Migrating to SharePoint represents an opportunity to abandon outdated methods and face any challenge with a more modern platform. However, it's not a simple process and often requires the help of a consulting service that can help navigate the most delicate operations. In this article, we will see in detail what a consulting service dedicated to migrating to SharePoint environments offers, what criteria to consider to choose the supplier that best suits your needs and why, among all the companies that can be found on the market, it is advisable to rely on Dev4Side.
Microsoft SharePoint is a hugely valuable tool for all organizations looking for solutions for digital workspaces. According to statistics, its adoption rate reached a global peak of 34% between 2016 and 2018. Of these, 65% were small and medium-sized businesses that prefer to monitor their business operations online.
One of the reasons for this rapid spread is the economic convenience and the lower average implementation costs, and today the Microsoft collaboration platform holds an 18% market share in the document management portals sector and 80% of intranets use SharePoint for its versatility and effectiveness in communication and document management.
It is therefore an objective fact how companies are understanding the need to update their digital workspaces, moving closer to solutions such as SharePoint. However, this migration is not as simple as it may seem, due to the complexity of the articulated data structures.
SharePoint information is stored in a variety of formats, such as lists, workflows, documents, and custom apps, and navigating this complex landscape can quickly become frustrating if you don't know what to do. For this reason, organizations turn to professional consultants who specialize in migrating to SharePoint, who can ensure a smoother and more secure transition.
There are several reasons why a company might want to migrate corporate digital content to a SharePoint site.
For example, you might want to move your digital archives from an on-premise environment to a cloud space to allow all employees to access and collaborate on shared documents from any device wherever they are.
Or you might want to consolidate data from the different offices of your company into a single centralized environment, or the migration could simply be used to update the files to a newer version of SharePoint.
Several products offer data migration capabilities to and from SharePoint environments, such as ShareGate, Metalogix, AvePoint or Quest Software. In addition to the basic functionality of a Migration Tool, these tools also offer additional options that allow the migration of specific elements such as NTFS permissions and custom apps developed by the company for its sites.
As much as it is possible to carry out this process internally, however, the complexity of the operations that must be completed in order to carry out a successful migration is often underestimated and, without an adequate strategy, you can soon find yourself in a big mess if you don't know where to put your hands.
So let's look at the challenges that can complicate the migration process.
If not managed properly, these issues can hinder the project's strategic objectives:
These are just the three most common.
Many other flaws can hide in a migration process.
Are we really convinced that we want to face it ourselves?
If the answer is no, this is where consulting services dedicated to migrating to SharePoint environments can come into play.
These professionals can plan and execute accurate strategies, diligently transferring data and information, and developing tailor-made migration plans, ensuring accurate data transfer, information integrity, business continuity, and a reduction in downtime.
In addition, they guarantee a smooth transition to the new environment, with the transfer of data safely and without risks for information protection.
In the following table, we present what are the main services provided by a consultancy dedicated to migration to and within SharePoint environments.
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Contact us if you have a SharePoint Online project in mind.
Now that we know what a consultant does, it's time to figure out how to look for one worthy of the name.
In fact, it is not uncommon to find companies around the network that claim to be experts in the field and then prove the opposite in fact and no one wants to waste time and resources behind this type of problematic partner.
So let's try to take these factors into account when we decide to rely on a consulting service for our migrations:
But what if we wanted a practical demonstration of the capabilities of a consulting service? Is there anything we can do?
Let's see how we can begin to test the waters.
Preliminary analysis sessions (or Discovery Sessions) play a fundamental role in choosing the ideal solution for migrating to SharePoint within your company. Typically, this is a meeting between a representative of your organization and the service provider, during which the scope of the project and the specific needs related to the upcoming migration are analyzed.
It is in this phase that the technical aspects and operational details are addressed, such as the objectives of the migration and the main stages. You can discuss how the provider intends to protect the services, ensuring that there is no loss or damage to the data. Usually, the SharePoint Online migration service provider performs a technical assessment of the existing infrastructure, useful for getting an overview and identifying any critical issues that could hinder the process.
During the session, you can also learn about additional features and services, including the tools that will be used for the migration and the types of source environments with which they are compatible.
A critical step in identifying the ideal SharePoint migration solution is planning a test migration. Also known as Proof of Concept (POC), this phase usually involves the involvement of a pilot group or a selected set of test users.
Here are the main steps of a Proof of Concept:
Ok, now that we are a little more clear about what they do and how to choose one, someone might still wonder what are the advantages of relying on a consulting service when this process can be carried out internally.
Technically correct, but as we have seen, migration operations can turn into very complex businesses in a short time. So little as to literally turn our heads around and when they turn into wells where time and resources disappear, we might realize in the worst way that the situation has gotten out of hand.
Relying on experienced professionals is much more than a simple download barrel in which a consultant will take the hassle out of dirty work, but a long-term investment that can bring enormous benefits to your digital infrastructures and can help your organization to move to a new SharePoint environment or to update the previous one if necessary.
Any examples of these benefits? Let's see the main ones:
We know what they do, how to choose one and what are the main benefits of relying on a consulting service for our migrations.
Now there is only one question left: who to choose?
Well, we're in the right place.
With more than 20 years of experience in business software development and in management and development on Microsoft environments, Dev4Side offers a catalog of more than 50 vertical applications for SharePoint and we are currently one of the best suppliers in the world, certified Microsoft Gold Partner, for projects aimed at creating the digital workplace.
In addition to having collaborated with small and medium-sized businesses across the country, we have also developed SharePoint applications for organizations of international caliber, demonstrating incredible versatility in implementing custom solutions suitable for every need and budget.
We use SharePoint Online to digitize every internal need, including the management of approvals, requests, reservations, forms previously based on paper, and we use the platform for document generation, integrations with other platforms and more, offering modern and efficient solutions to improve business processes.
Our team, with vertical expertise in SharePoint, can help you with your migration projects using all the main tools available on the market (such as, for example, ShareGate) and assisting in outlining the migration plan from initial tests until after the actual migration to support users in the transition to SharePoint and its most recent versions.
Our professionals will be at your disposal to facilitate the transition of your intranet and your repositories to SharePoint, with the aim of optimizing infrastructure and management costs, as well as maximizing the use of the advanced collaborative features offered by the Cloud platform.
But someone might want some more practical examples of our work.
For this reason, we refer to success stories regarding the development of SharePoint solutions for our customers, described in detail by the same experts who followed the design and implementation, without ever lacking their support, even after the development was completed.
Migration processes may seem like simple transfer operations, but when your company's infrastructure and digital resources are at stake, nothing can be underestimated or taken lightly.
It is for this reason that a consulting service can be the precious help we were looking for in order to make sure that our migrations go as smoothly as possible, avoiding losses and structural errors that can seriously compromise your repositories or your intranet.
Relying on an expert advisor can therefore help you sleep soundly, knowing that competent professionals (such as those of Dev4Side) are at our side and that they will not leave anything to chance.
Consultancy for migration to SharePoint is a professional service offered by industry experts, whose objective is to support companies in all phases of the transition to SharePoint, both from on-premise environments and from external systems. This support includes planning, technical management of the transfer, customization of the environment, user assistance and post-migration support, with the aim of ensuring a smooth, secure process in line with the organization's needs.
It is advisable to rely on a SharePoint migration consultant when the business environment to be migrated is complex or customized, or when you want to avoid issues related to data security, permission management, compatibility between systems or interruption of operational activities. In addition, a consultant becomes essential when the objective is to ensure effective adoption of the platform by users and obtain a sustainable result in the long term.
The most significant challenges in migrating to SharePoint concern first and foremost data protection and integrity, since each phase of the transfer can expose sensitive content to risks of loss or unauthorized access. Another common obstacle is downtime, which, if not managed carefully, can compromise productivity and business continuity. Finally, even the adoption of the platform by users can be difficult if it is not accompanied by adequate training and effective support during the change.
Specialized consultancy for migrating to SharePoint includes the technical analysis of the existing environment, the design of the migration strategy, the transfer of content with attention to security and integrity, the possible reconstruction of customized functionality, the testing and validation phase of the environment and finally the training of users, accompanied by constant support to promote a stable and lasting transition to the new platform.
To choose a good consulting service for migrating to SharePoint, it is necessary to carefully evaluate the partner's real experience in managing similar projects, the mastery of professional migration tools, the ability to guarantee data security at every stage and the flexibility to replicate the operational specificities of the organization. It is also essential to ensure that ongoing support is guaranteed after the migration, so that the transition to SharePoint is not limited to a simple technical transfer, but becomes an opportunity for growth for the entire company.
Managing the migration to SharePoint internally may initially seem like a cheaper solution, but in practice it exposes numerous risks, especially in the absence of specific skills. Configuration errors, difficulties in adapting customizations, loss of data or security-related malfunctions are just some of the scenarios that may emerge. On the contrary, a specialized partner is able to prevent these problems, ensuring an orderly, secure transfer aligned with the organization's strategic objectives.
Relying on consultancy for the migration to SharePoint means benefiting from a process designed to be aligned with the real needs of the company, capable of promoting digital transformation in a structured way. An experienced consultant helps you understand the total cost of the implementation, evaluate the return on investment, and customize SharePoint so that it integrates seamlessly with the systems already in use. In addition, it ensures that the architecture is ready to support the future evolution of the organization, ensuring stable, secure and sustainable adoption over time.
The Modern Work team specializes in developing and integrating custom solutions across the entire Microsoft 365 ecosystem. We design native applications for Microsoft and Azure platforms, and we implement business processes that maximize the return on investment in Microsoft 365.
