I was extremely impressed by the simplicity and ease with which DocAve allowed us to carry out the migration to SharePoint 2010.
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.
Alegri administrators examined and tested several thirdparty products, but ultimately found the ideal solution in AvePoint’s DocAve Migrator for SharePoint. Already an AvePoint partner and value-added reseller, the company knew DocAve’s innovative and reliable data transfer tool could granularly migrate content down to individual items while retaining associated metadata. This enables administrators to easily automate the process of upgrading to a newer version SharePoint, as well as maximize return on investment for content residing in legacy repositories.
After a smooth and simple installation process, DocAve's Pre-Migration Scanner provided Alegri administrators with detailed analyses of the migration before it was performed, including an itemized report of all elements that would not migrate successfully unless addressed further. “DocAve allowed us to clearly define what should be allowed into the new platform and what should not,” said Guido Klein, Senior Consultant and IT Manager at Alegri. “We felt assured before the migration even began because of the amount of control DocAve allowed over the project. Other tools we investigated did not provide this amount of control and, consequently, would have exposed the migration process to much more risk.”
DocAve also met Alegri’s needs for data pruning with its granular migration abilities. “With DocAve we were able to systematically sort and purge data that did not need to be moved to the new environment,” said Mr. Klein. “This saved us an immense amount of time, as we would have needed to carry out this process manually were it not for DocAve.”
Once the pre-migration process was complete, Alegri immediately put DocAve to work on carrying out the migration and took full advantage of the platform’s convenient scheduler. The company was able to ensure the migration process was performed outside of regular office hours to eliminate business disruption entirely. “DocAve’s scheduler worked so well that our end-users hardly knew the migration was taking place throughout the whole process,” said Mr. Klein
When the job was finished – in addition to safely transferring over 100 gigabytes of data to the new environment with all customizations, metadata, and field values – DocAve enabled Alegri to reduce its projected migration time from six months to one month. With this significant amount of time saved, Alegri experienced a tremendous return on investment: the company was able to benefit from the new functions and possibilities offered by SharePoint 2010 five months sooner.
As a SharePoint solutions provider, Alegri knew that a well-planned, successful SharePoint 2010 migration would require the right third-party solution. AvePoint’s DocAve Migrator for SharePoint proved to be the perfect tool for the job with its convenient scheduler, granular migration abilities, informative Pre-Migration Scanner, and ability to safely transfer all SharePoint data in full fidelity. The amount of time saved through DocAve ultimately enabled Alegri to unleash the full potential of its upgraded platform much sooner than expected. “I was extremely impressed by the simplicity and ease with which DocAve allowed us to carry out the migration to SharePoint 2010,” said Mr. Klein.
Throughout the migration process, Alegri administrators were also fully satisfied with AvePoint’s live global technical support. The support team consistently provided fast responses to telephone requests and offered advice that was both helpful and clear.
Because of the tremendous success of its SharePoint 2010 migration, Alegri plans to implement additional AvePoint solutions to optimize and scale its internal SharePoint infrastructure. The company will soon begin to utilize DocAve Report Center for business intelligence and DocAve Archiver for intelligent storage optimization.
The Alegri International Group is a leading IT consultancy with focus on Microsoft technologies specializing in CRM, BI, project management, ECM/DMS, IT management, and software development. As a thought leader, Alegri conceptualizes and realizes professional strategic and operative solutions for large and mid-sized organizations. Founded in 2001, Alegri today employs 160 staff members and has six offices throughout Europe in Munich (Headquarters), Stuttgart, Frankfurt, Cologne, Vienna, Zurich, and London.
I was extremely impressed by the simplicity and ease with which DocAve allowed us to carry out the migration to SharePoint 2010.