Best Practices for Migrating Google Drive to SharePoint [Must Follow]

Since SharePoint offers robust collaboration features, best interaction with Microsoft 365 & enhanced security, organizations are looking for a Google Drive to SharePoint migration readily. But with large-scale migration, it can disrupt tasks if not managed accurately.

One solution to make the process smooth is implementing the Google Drive SharePoint migration best practices. Here, the article will explore practical strategies that ensure a precise transition while minimizing downtime for end users.

Quick Tip: Check these Top Google Drive Migration Tool lists, if you don't want to migrate data manually!

Start with the Pilot Testing

A pilot migration permits you to uncover the potential issues on a smaller scale. Problems like file naming conflicts, permissions mismatches, or missing metadata can be identified & resolved early without impacting the entire organization.

How to do it well?

• Choose a representative user group from multiple departments.
• Define each metric correctly, like folder structures, permissions, etc.
• Review the results & adjust the odd ones further.

Use CSV Mappings for Accuracy

Google Drive & SharePoint handle ownership & permissions differently. So, without careful Google Drive to SharePoint mapping, files may not end up in the correct location, or the right people may not have access to their content.

Prepare a CSV mapping file to define source-to-destination paths to ensure complete accuracy after the migration.

Batch Migration: Avoid “one go” Migration

As per the professional reviews & customer feedback, performing the migration in one go is not considered the best practice. Instead of this, going with the phased or batch-based migration is safer & less disruptive.

Benefits of batch migration are:

• Reduce risk by limiting the scope of any single job.
• Allows departments to run at their own pace.
• Makes the troubleshooting easier.

Preserves Timestamps & Metadata

Metadata like file creation date, modification timestamps, ownership, & permissions provides crucial context. If you lose them, it will create confusion, disrupt the compliance process, & break auditing practices.

Going with the basic copy & paste or download & upload approaches often overwrites metadata. It can replace timestamps with the migration date. So, we need the help of advanced solutions to avoid this issue.

Schedule & Automate

If you are performing a large data volume migration, the process consumes too much time. It can be managed by including automation in the process, which even helps in off-peak hours.

Best practices include:

• Schedule migrations overnight or on weekends.
• Use automation features to avoid unnecessary duplication.

Monitor & Validate Post Migration

Post-migration validation or verification is mandatory to confirm that everything moved as expected. Here is the checklist that you can follow:

• Check the folder structures' integrity.
• Permission matches the intended access models.
• Metadata is preserved or not.
• Files are properly open in their new location or not.

Communicate with the End Users

Try to prepare your end users about the migration, as it can create misunderstanding if users aren’t prepared. It is considered the most overlooked practice, but it is critical for smooth process. Here are the best practices that can help you with that:

• Notify users about the timeline of the migration & what to expect from that.
• Provide a quick guide & training for navigating the SharePoint.
• Create feedback channels for reporting issues quickly.

Important to Know: For a 100% successful result with zero disruptions, you need to go with the advanced Google Drive to SharePoint Migration tool.

If Something Unusual Happens, Here’s a Fallback Plan!

The fallback plan acts as an insurance policy in uneven situations like failed transfer, unmatched permissions, etc. It helps in reducing the overall risk, keeps business running even in disruptions, & builds confidence.

Here are the key elements for an effective fallback plan:

• Maintain source data until validation to prepare yourself for the worst situations.
• Define temporary access rules to avoid confusion and overlapping states.
• Communicating with a clear protocol will reduce the frustration & minor misunderstanding.
• Document each rollback procedure that saves valuable time.
• Set escalation paths to prioritize the critical problems first.

Conclusion

Google Drive to SharePoint migration is a complex undertaking, but it shouldn’t disrupt the user’s daily work. In this regard, we have discussed all the best practices to minimize the overall risk & keep employees productive throughout the process.

Besides, we have highlighted the best professional tool that relieves users from all migration tensions, including the delta migration Google Drive to SharePoint.