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Alegri has utilized Microsoft SharePoint since the release of the platform in 2001. From the beginning, SharePoint has been an important tool for Alegri both for its internal and external operations. Internally, Alegri harnesses SharePoint as a collaboration platform, document repository, company intranet, and ECM system. Alegri’s customer-facing website was also built on top of SharePoint. Utilized by both employees and select customers, Alegri has approximately 250 SharePoint end-users, and its environment consists of a virtual front end server, search server, and physical SQL server.
Externally, the company’s role as an IT consultant and SharePoint service provider requires Alegri to have a deep understanding of the latest technologies internally so first-hand experience can be shared with clients. Aside from maintaining this early adopter status that was vital to its role as a thought leader and technology strategist, Alegri found many reasons to migrate from its existing Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 environment to SharePoint 2010. New functions in SharePoint 2010 would enable the company to improve a great deal of its SharePoint-based internal processes.
Because of its vast experience with the platform and Microsoft technology expertise, Alegri knew a SharePoint migration could be extremely complex and significantly interrupt business if not properly managed. In addition to making certain that all data migrated to the new system safely, company administrators understood upgrading to a new SharePoint environment with native tools could not be easily scheduled or customized. Migration processes occurring during standard operating hours could have a major impact on the overall deployment, slowing platform access, disrupting business, and potentially damaging the enduser experience.
Alegri’s SharePoint environment contained many customizations that would be especially difficult to transfer with native tools. Additionally, the company hoped to utilize the migration process as a chance to restructure its existing SharePoint design and optimize the new environment from an organizational and storage perspective by removing older data that was no longer useful to its business.
The goals Alegri set for the migration were both wise and sensible, but the limitations of SharePoint’s native tools would either make the process extremely complex or, in some cases, not accommodate the company’s needs at all. In order to perform a successful SharePoint migration, Alegri knew it would need to enlist the help of a third-party solution.