Easier SharePoint 2010 Migrations and Upgrade with Tools

Why use a tool when you can upgrade using the built in upgrade methods?

• Maybe you want to skip 2007 going from 2003 to 2010…
• Maybe you want to get out of your MOSS enterprise and move into Standard or even WSS…
• Maybe you want to get out of a site definition or template or from one language template to another… 
• You’re finding that moving data on your own with the import or export is changing dates and making you own everything…
• Already built a rock solid 2010 deployment and just want to get the data moved in.
• Using the knife or using the precision scalpel tool… Upgrade is designed to get from A to B without transformation.  Transformation may be your goal.

That’s just a start.  I’m sure you’ll find even more reasons, like co-existence, control, more management interfaces, and flexibility.

The upgrade and migration space seems like it’s getting crowded, I say it’s great to have options.  How does one navigate this space?  First let me say that despite what I say, it will appear I’m biased due to my affiliation with Quest software as a paid employee, no I don’t have a quota or get paid any extra for this post.  If anything there’s more risk than reward for a post like this.  In the past when I’m asked specific requirements I try to push the vendor with the best solution.  Here I will list the various Upgrade and Migration vendors.  Many will be releasing their solutions RTM +60 including many making their announcements in June 2010 for their 2010 Solutions.  I highly encourage you to explore their solutions with them.  Special thanks to Owen Allen, Inna Gordin, and a great post by Deepak Bhat “10 Content Migration Tools to SharePoint Platform” which inspired me to not just include the traditional SharePoint vendors, but others that aren’t so traditional and dig even deeper for new ones.  I hope you don’t get lost in this list.  I hope you find the sorting by the source to be useful.

Note: If I’m missing tools, it’s my mistake, please contact me, tweet me @joeloleson or include in the comments and I’ll attempt to add them to this list.  Note this is the last chapter in my 2010 upgrade and migration book, so I am anxious to get this right for everyone. I’ve updated the tools a few times to make them more accurate.

New SharePoint 2010 Migration Tools!

Metalogix SharePoint Site Migration Manager 2010

“Whether you are migrating between SharePoint servers, upgrading from SharePoint 2003 or 2007 to SharePoint 2010, or re-organizing your SharePoint content, SharePoint Site Migration Manager is an easy-to-use and convenient way of moving your SharePoint data. With its familiar copy-and-paste-style user interface, you can quickly migrate all SharePoint sites, libraries, lists, web parts and permissions between servers. Migrate to the cloud or hosted SharePoint environments and reduce infrastructure costs.”

Quest Software Migration Manager (2003 to 2010)

“Quest Migration Manager for SharePoint enables direct migration of SharePoint 2003 content to SharePoint 2010 through a web console, avoiding a complex “two-hop” upgrade. With Quest Migration Manager for SharePoint, you can:

    * Migrate SharePoint 2003 sites, including content and security settings, to SharePoint Server 2010 or SharePoint Foundation 2010
    * Reorganize and rationalize existing SharePoint 2003 site structure during migration
    * Synchronize post-migration changes of the source SharePoint 2003 site content to the target sites to make sure no data is lost
    * Schedule resource-intensive migration operations for off-peak hours

Migration Manager for SharePoint also helps you consolidate and reorganize SharePoint 2007 environments before upgrading to SharePoint 2010.”

Tzunami Deployer for SharePoint 2010 migration

“The latest version of Tzunami Deployer for SharePoint Migration supports the migration of content into Microsoft SharePoint Server 2010 and includes numerous new features that enhance migration automation capabilities, and facilitate the entire migration process. The release enables seamless migration from SharePoint 2003 directly to SharePoint 2010, eliminating the previous requirement to initially migrate to SharePoint 2007 and only then to SharePoint 2010. It builds on its solid track record of comprehensive metadata mapping to enable complete preservation of business critical content properties, and eliminates the risk of data loss without disturbing business continuity.”

AvePoint DocAve SharePoint Migration Manager for 2001/2003/2007 to 2003/2007/2010

“DocAve SharePoint Migrator automatically moves content from source SharePoint 2001/2003/2007 instances to their mapped elements in SharePoint 2003/2007/2010. Information critical to the business in previous versions of SharePoint are kept intact, assuring users that no data will be lost during the transfer. All folder structures, document properties and associated metadata, as well as permissions and access control are all retained with full-fidelity. End-users can confidently continue to access their content without interruption”

MetaVis Migrator for SharePoint

“MetaVis Migrator is a simple tool for migrating content and objects between SharePoint sites, site collection or servers. Whether you are consolidating, upgrading or simply re-organizing your SharePoint 2010, 2007 or 2003 environment, Migrator provides a convenient and familiar way of moving your SharePoint data. Users can also easily load files from network drives and classify legacy or imported content to unlock the full potential of SharePoint search and navigation.”

Xavor SharePoint 2010 Migration Tool

Xavor announces the launch of its free SharePoint 2010 Migration Tool. Download our new Xavor SharePoint 2010 Migration Tool. Xavor has been working tirelessly with SharePoint Consultants to provide you with a timely release of Free and handy tools for SharePoint 2010. Reliability, convenience, ease of use, flexibility and free support are among the top features of our tools. If you face any problem with the use of our tool, please don’t hesitate to contact us and we will try our best to solve your query in due time without any charges. Xavor SharePoint 2010 Migration Tool is not a trial version. This tool will not expire and you can use it for as long as you want. Our SharePoint Migration Tool and Admin Tool give you the flexibility to migrate and administrate your SharePoint data easily.”

Migration Tools by Source

Source	Company	Tool
Aqualogic/Plumtree	Tzunami	Deployer
Blogs (WordPress, Blogger, Telligent)	Metalogix	Site Migration Manager for Blogs
CMS 2002	Metalogix	Web Content Migration Manager
CMS 2002	Vamosa	Vamosa Solution for SharePoint 2007
Custom Databases	seeUnity	Enterprise Integration for SharePoint
Custom Repository/ECM API	Armedia	Caliente I/O Suite
Custom Repository/ECM API	Metalogix	Web Content Migration Manager
Custom Repository/ECM API	Metavis	ECM Migrator
Custom Repository/ECM API	Proventeq	Content Migration for SharePoint
Custom Repository/ECM API	seeUnity	Intelligent Content Migration
Custom Repository/ECM API	Tzunami	Deployer
Custom Repository/ECM API	Vamosa	Vamosa Content Migrator
Custom Repository/ECM API	Vitalpath	Path Builder for SharePoint
Databases	Armedia	Caliente I/O Suite
Documentum	AvePoint	DocAve Documentum eRoom Migrator
Documentum	Metalogix	Migration Manager for Documentum
Documentum	Tzunami	Deployer
Documentum	Valiance Partners	TRUmigrate
Documentum	Vernion	Easy2Share
DocuShare	Tzunami	Deployer
DocuShare	Vitalpath	Path Builder for SharePoint
eRoom	Armedia	Caliente I/O Suite
eRoom	AvePoint	DocAve Documentum eRoom Migrator
eRoom	Metalogix	SharePoint Migration Manager for eRoom
eRoom	Metavis	eRoom to SharePoint ECM Migrator
eRoom	Quest Software	File Migrator
eRoom	Tzunami	Deployer
eRoom	Vernion	Easy2Share
File Share Coexistence	seeUnity	Enterprise Archiving & Distribution for SharePoint
File Shares	Armedia	Caliente I/O Suite
File Shares	AvePoint	DocAve File System Migrator
File Shares	EchoTechnology	FileLoader
File Shares	Metalogix	FileShare Migration Manager for SharePoint
File Shares	Metaplus	FileSync
File Shares	Metavis	Migrator
File Shares	Proventeq	Content Migration for SharePoint
File Shares	Quest Software	File Migrator
File Shares	Tzunami	Deployer
File Shares	Syntergy	Bulk Loader for SharePoint
Hummingbird	Tzunami	Deployer
Hyperwave	Tzunami	Deployer
Interwoven	Metalogix	Web Content Migration Manager
LiveLink	AvePoint	DocAve LiveLink Migrator
LiveLink	Metalogix	Migration Manager for Opentext Livelink
LiveLink	Metavis	LiveLink to SharePoint ECM Migrator
LiveLink	Tzunami	Deployer
LiveLink	Syntergy	LiveLink Exporter and Bulk Loader for SharePoint
Notes	BinaryTree	CMT
Notes	Casahl	EcKnowledge
Notes	Quest Software	Notes Migrator
Notes	Tzunami	Deployer
Notes	Vernion	Easy2Share
Notes	Visionet systems	VisiMigrate Enterprise
Oracle Stellent	AvePoint	DocAve Oracle/Stellent Migrator
Oracle Stellent	Metalogix	Site Migration Manager for Oracle Content Server Stellent
Oracle/Stellent	Vernion	Easy2Share
Public Folders	AvePoint	DocAve Public Folder Migrator
Public Folders	Metalogix	Migration Manager for Exchange Public Folders
Public Folders	Quest Software	Public Folder Migrator
Public Folders	Tzunami	Deployer
SharePoint 2001/2003/2007 to 2003/2007/2010	AvePoint	Doc Ave SharePoint Migrator
SharePoint 2001/2003/2007 to 2003/2007/2010	Tzunami	Deployer
SharePoint 2003 to 2003/2007	EchoTechnology	SiteManager
SharePoint 2003 to 2007	Vamosa	Vamosa Solution for SharePoint 2007
SharePoint 2003/2007 to 2003/2007	Syntergy	Cut and Paste
SharePoint 2003/2007 to 2007/2010	Xavor	SharePoint Migrator (XSPM)
SharePoint 2003/2007/2010 to 2007/2010	Metalogix	Site Migration Manager
SharePoint 2003/2007/2010 to SharePoint 2003/2007/2010	Metavis	Migrator
SharePoint 2003/2007/2010 to SharePoint 2003/2007/2010	Quest Software	Migration Manager for SharePoint
SharePoint 2007 to 2007	EchoTechnology	Echo for SharePoint 2007
SharePoint 2007 to 2007	Metaplus	FileSync
Vignette	AvePoint	DocAve Vignette Migrator
Vignette	Metalogix	Web Content Migration Manager
Web Sites	AvePoint	AvePoint Website Migrator
Web Sites	Metalogix	Web Content Migration Manager
Web Sites	Proventeq	Content Migration for SharePoint
Wikis (Confluence, MediaWiki)	Metalogix	Site Migration Manager for Wikis

The list above is organized by the source system.  Beyond the source, it’s important to track down a few things about your migration vendor.  Here are a few suggestions…

Questions to help with Vendor Selection

1. What version is the tool?  Many SharePoint tools are on their third and fourth versions moving into a very mature system

2. Maturity in the field – Seasoned?  What is the usage experience with your favorite systems Integrators/consultants? with an ecosystem that includes full fledged support and deployment services.  More mature tools may have agreements with partners as resellers or even provide motivation.  I encourage you to try to understand if it’s a certification or if it’s a reseller program.  Some tools are easier than others, and you don’t want to get stuck trying to run a complex tool by yourself if you’ve got a day job.  Migration is very common outsourced project they can be expensive not just for the tool but for the services, so spending time may pay off.  That said, cheaper doesn’t mean better.

3. Microsoft Gold Certified? When I first started drilling into the migration tools I found there are really 4-5 common tools used for SharePoint migrations, but both new vendors and traditional ECM vendors have been moving into the space putting everyone into a position where it’s time to look again.  Even your mature vendors are revisiting their tools with SharePoint 2010.  Even if they aren’t listed here as having a SharePoint migration tool, they are likely waiting on the launch wave and testing to make their announcements.  Microsoft itself

4. Time to Migrate/Reliability – One consideration your firm should think about is the time it can take to migrate.  Some content will be easier than others, but throughput for large migrations like a SharePoint to SharePoint or a FileShares to SharePoint, the time to accomplish your migration can become critical and a major factor in your requirements.

5. Unique features such as Coexistence – You may or may not find features like coexistence where both can exist in production for some period of time.  Flushing out these types of requirements can definitely help you better decide what is important.

6. API Compliance – On the source there’s an API (the Application Programmability Interface) and the destination.  The more you work with the SharePoint API the more you’ll understand it’s got it’s quirks.  If you’re migrating applications and state into SharePoint you’ll find limitations in the API.  How does the vendor come up with creative solutions to overcome these?  Ever run an export and import and wondered why you lost your alerts, workflows, recycle bin, last modified date, and more.  So what is the vendor doing to overcome these limitations?  You’d be surprised to know if they are using FrontPage RPC or pushing the data into the database with some level of their own support.  The more you know…  If you care these are the questions you should ask.

7. Exception Handling – What is your tool doing to allow you to see what it’s dropping and to handle exceptions?  One of my favorites for testing a tool is to add common file names that SharePoint hates.  Add an ampersand & in your file name, add something in parentheses, add a few dots and then try to migrate.  You get the idea.  Does it crash, does it fail, does it allow you to change the & to and?  Can you say, yes forever?  That’s serious usability.  Also dig into the interfaces. 

8. For Whom is the UI Design – Definitely not all of these tools are created equally.  Some are designed for developers, some for engineers, some for end users.  Huge differences.  In the case of Notes for example, you may be looking to take an application and move it to a simple template or to simply mirror the functionality.  How does the tool help you analyze your needs and map them.  How much intelligence and how much does it require you to do the heavy lifting vs. trying to encourage the right thing? You should also ask if you as a customer can run this tool or will it require a trained expert or certified consultant?

9. Involvement in Technology Adoption Program and Partner Council – while not every company can be in the SharePoint 2010 TAP program, it does give them a pretty good head start on working with the new technologies.  It also frequently reflects the relationship with Microsoft.  Microsoft does have it’s favorites.  In the case of things like Notes, Microsoft can be very motivated.  Explore that motivation, they may be interested in helping you in more ways than one including some services.

10. More than Migration: It’s not about Point A to Point B – You might be surprised when you analyze it, but the best tools provide the best options for what you can do between the source and destination from sites and site templates, to content types, and meta data.  Even more.  Migration time is the best time to reconsider your information architecture, your security structure and inheritance, and to simplify or to even go more structured.  You know your better than the tool, so how does it expose the right features for you?

11. How complex is the installation and dependencies – Is this tool run on both sides, on a third party client?  How much hand holding does it need?  If it’s hard to install and you need a big book to run it, you’re likely going to wish you had a consultant helping you.

12. Does it support automation?  Has it been updated with powershell or at least have a way to batch script automate?  Sometimes it’s nice to have UI, and other times it’s nice to jump to the command shell.

13. Some tools are built with Java, others with older versions of .NET.  Do you care?  You may have data center standards or require special requirements around ensuring security requirements being met.  Something to consider.

14. Migration to and from Hosted – Understand your destination.  You may be looking at your source and miss the point about getting it into the source.  If it’s a site in the cloud how are you going to get the data there?  SharePoint Designer?  BPOS D may have you run the tool on your side and have you give them a database.  This may mess with your coexistence plans.

15. Who else is using the tool? Be sure to get customer references and if you’re putting some money into the tool, you may want to actually talk to them.  Don’t buy a tool based on the cool website.  You have to at least make sure it works.  Buying tools on sites happens these days, but often you’re laying down some serious cash, so do your due diligence and read a case study or two.

 

Migration Tools by Vendor

Source	Company	Tool
Custom Repository/ECM API	Armedia	Caliente I/O Suite
Databases	Armedia	Caliente I/O Suite
eRoom	Armedia	Caliente I/O Suite
File Shares	Armedia	Caliente I/O Suite
Documentum	AvePoint	DocAve Documentum eRoom Migrator
eRoom	AvePoint	DocAve Documentum eRoom Migrator
File Shares	AvePoint	DocAve File System Migrator
LiveLink	AvePoint	DocAve LiveLink Migrator
Oracle Stellent	AvePoint	DocAve Oracle/Stellent Migrator
Public Folders	AvePoint	DocAve Public Folder Migrator
SharePoint 2001/2003/2007 to 2003/2007/2010	AvePoint	Doc Ave SharePoint Migrator
Vignette	AvePoint	DocAve Vignette Migrator
Web Sites	AvePoint	AvePoint Website Migrator
Notes	BinaryTree	CMT
Notes	Casahl	EcKnowledge
File Shares	EchoTechnology	FileLoader
SharePoint 2003 to 2003/2007	EchoTechnology	SiteManager
SharePoint 2007 to 2007	EchoTechnology	Echo for SharePoint 2007
Blogs (WordPress, Blogger, Telligent)	Metalogix	Site Migration Manager for Blogs
CMS 2002	Metalogix	Web Content Migration Manager
Custom Repository/ECM API	Metalogix	Web Content Migration Manager
Documentum	Metalogix	Migration Manager for Documentum
eRoom	Metalogix	SharePoint Migration Manager for eRoom
File Shares	Metalogix	FileShare Migration Manager for SharePoint
Interwoven	Metalogix	Web Content Migration Manager
LiveLink	Metalogix	Migration Manager for Opentext Livelink
Oracle Stellent	Metalogix	Site Migration Manager for Oracle Content Server Stellent
Public Folders	Metalogix	Migration Manager for Exchange Public Folders
SharePoint 2003/2007/2010 to 2007/2010	Metalogix	Site Migration Manager
Vignette	Metalogix	Web Content Migration Manager
Web Sites	Metalogix	Web Content Migration Manager
Wikis (Confluence, MediaWiki)	Metalogix	Site Migration Manager for Wikis
File Shares	Metaplus	FileSync
SharePoint 2007 to 2007	Metaplus	FileSync
Custom Repository/ECM API	Metavis	ECM Migrator
eRoom	Metavis	eRoom to SharePoint ECM Migrator
File Shares	Metavis	Migrator
LiveLink	Metavis	LiveLink to SharePoint ECM Migrator
SharePoint 2003/2007/2010 to SharePoint 2003/2007/2010	Metavis	Migrator
Custom Repository/ECM API	Proventeq	Content Migration for SharePoint
File Shares	Proventeq	Content Migration for SharePoint
Web Sites	Proventeq	Content Migration for SharePoint
eRoom	Quest Software	File Migrator
File Shares	Quest Software	File Migrator
Notes	Quest Software	Notes Migrator
Public Folders	Quest Software	Public Folder Migrator
SharePoint 2003/2007/2010 to SharePoint 2003/2007/2010	Quest Software	Migration Manager for SharePoint
Custom Databases	seeUnity	Enterprise Integration for SharePoint
Custom Repository/ECM API	seeUnity	Intelligent Content Migration
File Share Coexistence	seeUnity	Enterprise Archiving & Distribution for SharePoint
File Shares	Syntergy	Bulk Loader for SharePoint
LiveLink	Syntergy	LiveLink Exporter and Bulk Loader for SharePoint
SharePoint 2003/2007 to 2003/2007	Syntergy	Cut and Paste
Aqualogic/Plumtree	Tzunami	Deployer
Custom Repository/ECM API	Tzunami	Deployer
Documentum	Tzunami	Deployer
DocuShare	Tzunami	Deployer
eRoom	Tzunami	Deployer
File Shares	Tzunami	Deployer
Hummingbird	Tzunami	Deployer
Hyperwave	Tzunami	Deployer
LiveLink	Tzunami	Deployer
Notes	Tzunami	Deployer
Public Folders	Tzunami	Deployer
SharePoint 2001/2003/2007 to 2003/2007/2010	Tzunami	Deployer
Documentum	Valiance Partners	TRUmigrate
CMS 2002	Vamosa	Vamosa Solution for SharePoint 2007
Custom Repository/ECM API	Vamosa	Vamosa Content Migrator
SharePoint 2003 to 2007	Vamosa	Vamosa Solution for SharePoint 2007
Documentum	Vernion	Easy2Share
eRoom	Vernion	Easy2Share
Notes	Vernion	Easy2Share
Oracle/Stellent	Vernion	Easy2Share
Notes	Visionet systems	VisiMigrate Enterprise
Custom Repository/ECM API	Vitalpath	Path Builder for SharePoint
DocuShare	Vitalpath	Path Builder for SharePoint
SharePoint 2003/2007 to 2007/2010	Xavor	SharePoint Migrator (XSPM)