Best Practices for OneDrive Data Migration for Enterprises

OneDrive data migration is a process that IT admins and users both find tricky due to the sheer amount of data that it holds. This migration from the source environment to the new OneDrive tenant opens the path for better access and improved collaboration. 

What you need is a proper plan to migrate OneDrive data safely to the new tenant and a proper migration roadmap. A poorly planned migration can lead to confusion and loss of important data. This article will discuss the OneDrive migration best practices for a smooth and safe migration process.

What is OneDrive for Business?

Even though OneDrive and OneDrive for Business may sound similar, they’ve different functions. Developed by Microsoft, OneDrive for Business (ODFB) is a cloud-based storage and collaborative service, yet for enterprise-level of data management. Common features of OneDrive for Business include:

• Co-authoring in real-time: With OneDrive for Business, several users can edit one Word, OneNote notebook, Excel sheet or a PowerPoint document at the same time. This feature eliminates the chances of version conflict.

• Shared drives: This is one of the characteristic features of OneDrive for Business. Clients and colleagues can easily share and collaborate on files stored in a shared drive.

• Extended storage: ODFB users get 1TB of storage in the standard plan, which can go up to 5TB, depending on the organization’s requirements.

• Sharing and permissions: OneDrive for Business offers comparatively more granular control than the normal version of OneDrive. Admins can select who gets access to which documents and which users get editing rights.

• External sharing: Admins can set an expiry date on document links to limit data access to a specific group of users. This prevents unauthorized access by external collaborators.

What is the need for OneDrive data migration?

The most common reasons for OneDrive data migration include:

• Company merger or divestiture: Organizations shift their data from the old environment to the new one when a company merger or divestiture happens.

• Better storage management: If the storage gets full in the current OneDrive tenant, admins shift some data to the OneDrive tenant for better data management.

• Legal compliance: Sometimes it’s necessary to shift data to a new environment due to legal compliance or for auditing purposes.

• Company reorganizations: When a company goes under restructuring or shifts geographical locations, data is often shifted to a new source environment.

• Employee onboarding/offboarding: When a new employee joins an organization or when an employee leaves an organization, files are migrated to the new environment.

Best practices for a smooth OneDrive migration

The success of OneDrive migration process depends on the preparation done before the actual migration starts. We’ve talked about the best practices for a safe and smooth OneDrive data migration below.

Take inventory of all the data

Check and verify what data you wish to migrate to the new tenant and what data can be left behind. Decide which permissions and roles need to be migrated to the destination OneDrive tenant. Make sure to select only the data that’s important, avoid migration of junk data for less confusion and better data management.

Decide goals of this migration

Keep specific goals in mind that you want to achieve of this migration. Set the scope beforehand so that you don’t stretch your resources thin while trying to reach a goal that isn’t possible.

Have a proper migration team

Create a proper team and train a set of users to perform a quick and safe migration. Assign each team member roles to perform during migration to help execute the process efficiently.

Set up the destination OneDrive tenant

Make sure there’s enough space in the destination OneDrive tenant. Map all the users that need to be migrated in the new destination tenant carefully. Check everything time and again to make sure you don’t leave any data behind.

Communicate with employees

Establish clear and direct communication with your employees about the details of migration. Tell them in detail how much time it will take, what data is being migrated, and what are the challenges involved in this process. Offer to train them, if needed and answer any doubts they might have.

Choose the ideal method and start migration

There are 3 main migration methods, which are Cutover migration, Staged migration and Hybrid migration. Choose the method that suits your needs the best and start migration with a reliable OneDrive migration tool. First, run a pilot migration to see if everything is working out smoothly. Look for the challenges that occurred during the pilot migration and what can be improved. Once everything is assessed, start migrating your data in batches with a OneDrive data migration tool for safe migration.

Post migration verification

Check if everything has migrated to the new OneDrive tenant properly. Go through the log report generated by the migration tool and analyze what went wrong. Verify if all the permissions and roles have migrated properly. Ask users for any issues they might be facing and try to resolve them quickly.

Safest way of OneDrive data migration: Kernel OneDrive Migration Tool

Kernel OneDrive Migration tool is the perfect solution for users looking to move OneDrive files to another account. This tool allows users to perform bulk migration of their OneDrive data, like documents, images, videos, and other files, to the destination environment. This OneDrive data migration tool preserves the original folder hierarchy and file structure during the migration. Having a wide compatibility, this tool supports Office 365 GCC High, GCC, DOD, and other commercial Office 365 subscriptions. Execute a 100% secure migration process using this tool and get guaranteed results.

Conclusion

For a smooth migration of data from one OneDrive tenant to another, a proper migration roadmap is necessary. We’ve outlined some best practices for migrating to OneDrive to ensure a smooth data transfer. Read through this blog and know the best practices to follow for efficient data migration. Take the help of a professional OneDrive migration tool for the best results. Get the trial version today and avail all the features of this tool.