3 Ways to Assure Successful Migrations

The number one way to assure a successful data or email migration is to put MigrationWiz to work for you. MigrationWiz is a top-rated SaaS tool that gives you extensive options for executing almost any kind of migration, whether you’re changing tenants, moving to the cloud, or supporting a merger or acquisition. But MigrationWiz is more than an extremely robust, customizable tool. It’s backed by years of experience and expertise—free education and advice you can use to make every migration a smooth one. Here’s a quick overview of what it takes to have a successful migration, from BitTitan experts:

Start Early

Build plenty of time into your project planning, especially if you’re facing a sizable or complex migration. This will help you avoid unnecessary stumbling blocks. You and your team should review BitTitan documentation and MigrationWiz tools days or even weeks before your migration start date to make sure all the pieces are in place. Pre-migration preparation should include the following:

• Check your credentials to access the source data you plan to migrate and the destination environment to make sure they’re set up and working before you purchase licenses.
• Request updated credential permissions, if needed, well in advance of project launch. In many organizations this can take days to get approved and granted.
• Migrate test accounts to make sure they go as expected.
• After you purchase licenses, you can run a pre-stage pass on your data to move older items in advance of the cutover date. The final data migration pass can then be relatively brief.

By starting early and following these recommended steps, you can ensure a smooth, controlled migration. Of course, if problems do arise, contact BitTitan Support to work through it—good preparation means less chance of last minute emergencies that could have you on edge on a cutover weekend.

Follow Instructions Carefully

 Prior knowledge and experience goes a long way in helping assure a successful migration. A good background in the administration of a Microsoft or Google tenant environment will help you set up your migration in MigrationWiz. It’s also beneficial to have prior experience performing BitTitan migrations. But be aware that the constantly evolving nature of Microsoft and Google products means that each migration could be somewhat different from the last one—especially if you aren’t doing migrations frequently.

For example, both Microsoft and Google have beefed up security by significantly changing the authentication requirements for their environments. MigrationWiz has been updated to support these changes, and BitTitan maintains detailed instructions on how to perform migrations under the prevailing requirements. Even with a lot of previous migration experience, you should read the relevant migration guides carefully and follow the steps like a recipe. It’s not wise to assume your history and prior knowledge will carry you through.

If you’re new to MigrationWiz, you can learn about migration scenarios with our quick video tutorials or get certified at the BitTitan Online Learning Center.

Know Your Data

Data migrations are done using APIs provided by the source and destination environments. These API connections are subject to restrictions set by their owners. They may limit the amount of data that’s allowed to pass in a specific timeframe. Your migration will also subject to congestion caused by others moving data at the same time as your project.

Most volume limitations are not set by BitTitan. If you have a large amount of data, MigrationWiz can’t change the capacity or API rules to allow more throughput. To avoid issues that could impact your timeline, make sure your project plan includes these steps:

• Determine the amount of data that needs to be moved and set realistic goals on the time this will require. Build this into your project timeline.
• If you’re moving files and folders with a complex folder structure—many folders and/or many levels—this will take more time since the data has to be indexed before it can be moved.
• If your source data structure is complex, temporary restructuring into smaller groups at the source can increase your project’s speed. The data can then be regrouped when it reaches the destination.
• Be sure to follow the guidance in our BitTitan migration guides for how many items can be migrated at a time in order to get the best results.

We’re happy to dig into these topics in detail to help you plan your project. Please feel free to reach out to BitTitan with questions.