Migrating From On-Premise SharePoint to Office 365: A Complete Guide

“Hi. I am the global admin of my company. Due to some security issues, we have to consider migrating from on-premise SharePoint to Office 365. We are unable to find any step by step guide to do so. We are kind of stuck in here. We searched on Internet on how to migrate on-premise SharePoint to Office 365 but, have not found much relevant information. Please suggest any method to do this migration. Your help would be greatly appreciated.”

Are you also looking answer to the same query? Well, the solution is not that difficult. Till the end of this post, you will know the best possible solutions to move data from on-premise SharePoint environment to Office 365 platform. You can try manual methods or can refer a third-party tool i.e SharePoint Migration tool to migrate on-premises Sharepoint to Office 365.

Manual Approaches for On-Premise SharePoint to Office 365 Migration

The best possible solutions for this migration are discussed in detail.

Solution 1: Manually Copying Files

This is the least practical way for migrating files to Office 365. But, the files can be moved in this way also so, it has been discussed here. This can be done by manually moving the files using Explorer View in SharePoint to the desired destination. But, by exporting the files in this manner, all the files metadata can be lost. Information such as “Created by” and “Created Date” will get hidden or mising. Instead of that, the details of the person moving the files are inserted. The time at which the person is moving the files also get embedded. That is the reason why this method is not recommended.

Solution 2: Using Office 365 Migration API

This is the newer approach to migrate on-premise SharePoint to Office 365. Microsoft had provided an inbuilt utility named Azure. In this method, the user transfers the content to migration package which is sent to the Azure storage. When the timer job will run in the cloud computing platform Azure, that storage package will be taken and transplanted to Office 365 platform. This migration depends upon your package settings.

This is the quick solution which enables the migration in very short duration of time. The only problem with this method is the set up is very complicated and is only required for moving purpose. To go with the solution, the whole environment should be established beforehand.

Solution 3: Using Microsoft FastTrack

Microsoft enables its user for free data migration service when there are Office 365 customers with 150 users or more. The method guide and help the administrators to move the data by providing the necessary tools and other documentations.

Solution 4: Hybrid Upgrading to Office 365

The method is not a technical method for SharePoint 2013 on-premise to Office 365 migration. In this approach, both the environments i.e. SharePoint and Office 365 are running and they are linked.

In other words, users do not have to move their older content practically from SharePointto Office 365. Instead of that, users have to start using the O365 and create new sites here. Once the connection has been established, the user will navigate between both the platforms. Even at one point of time, a user will not realize that when he/she is using which platform.

This method does not provide any technical approach to move the data from SharePoint to O365. But, in some case, the objective can be achieved by simply doing this.

Professional Solution: Using Third-Party Tool

Migrating from on-premise SharePoint to Office 365, users can go with the third-party tool like SharePoint Organizer to move the data from SharePoint to O365 platform. This is a professional tool to transfer data from on-premise SharePoint to O365. Some of the features which makes it different from other available products are discussed below:

• Provides the option to transfer O365 data back to SharePoint platform
• Move content from converted O365 account to another O365 account
• The software provides mailbox mapping to migrate and save the data
• Supports SharePoint on-premises versions like 2003, 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016

The Bottom Line

Sometimes, it is required to migrate from on-premise SharePoint to Office 365. The possible manual methods are discussed. But, the risk is always associated with the manual methods. Hence, it is advised to go with the automated solution. An automated solution can be done with the help of the third-party tool like SharePoint Organizer. According to the experts, it is the master solution to export data from on-premises SharePoint platform to Office 365 environment. The working of the tool is very easy. Also, it yields very effective and efficient results.