Preparing to Migrate: Questions to Consider
Migration: Things to Consider Before You Begin
Prior to performing a migration, it is important to consider and determine your organization’s desired state for data at its new destination. Answering the following questions can help guide you through this process:
What data will be migrated?
What is the desired taxonomy for the destination source?
Which available additional details will be part of the migration?
What data will be migrated?
While a full “lift and shift” migration is possible, additional options may better meet your organization’s needs. For example, you may want to leave content flagged as ROT behind and migrate everything else. Or you may want to migrate only primary duplicates and quarantine non-primary duplicates. Perhaps you only want to migrate content that was modified since a specified date. Determining what data to migrate helps provide clarity when finalizing taxonomy and what additional content details, such as categories, attributes, or owner information, will be included.
What is the desired taxonomy for the destination source?
Determining what taxonomy your organization wants to use in the destination source will enable you to create this information architecture as part of the migration process. For example, do you want the folder structure at the destination to mirror the previous folder structure? Or is a change in the taxonomy required? Once known, the folder(s) need to be created in the new destination. If OpenText™ Content Server is the destination source, it is also important to note the nodeID for the destination folder(s) so they can be incorporated into the migration activities.
Which additional details will be part of the migration?
Depending on the migration source and destination, additional details associated with the content can be included in the migration. For example, if migrating from a file share to OpenText™ Content Server, index insights can be mapped to categories and attributes in Content Server. Is this a desired inclusion for your team, organization, or initiative? Classifications, RM classifications, owner/user information, created/modified date, metadata, and permissions are all examples of additional details that can be included in a migration, depending on the source and destination. Once these additional details are determined, preparations to include them in a migration, such as creating a mapping file, can begin.
Summary
Migrating your data can be a highly customized activity based on your organization’s plans for existing content, current and desired taxonomy, and the amount of additional information to be included as part of migration activities. Considering these questions in advance and determining your organization’s approach helps lead to an efficient and effective migration.