SharePoint Migration Checklist for Australian Organisations

Phase 1: Pre-Migration Inventory & Clean-Up

Never "lift and shift" disorganized network folders directly into the cloud. Use discovery and assessment tools (such as the SPMT scan and assessment workflow or another suitable migration utility) to establish your baseline:

• Identify Redundant Data: Ask each business owner to classify obsolete, duplicate, and active content against the organisation's retention and disposal rules before deciding what to migrate.
• Path Length & Blocked Characters: Check the entire decoded file path, including folders and the file name, against SharePoint's 400-character limit. Review invalid names and characters for the source and chosen migration tool (e.g. # % * : < > ? / \ |).
• Large File Inventory: Record file sizes and workloads such as OneNote, cross-site moves, and cross-geo operations that may need special handling. Apply the current Microsoft service limits and the selected tool's limits for the specific operation rather than a single threshold to every migration.

Phase 2: Target Information Architecture & Taxonomy

Design the target modern SharePoint structure before writing a single byte. If the project includes an intranet, review SharePoint intranet development considerations alongside the migration plan:

• Flat Site Hierarchy: Create distinct Modern Team and Communication site collections rather than deep subsite trees.
• Hub Site Associations: Group departmental sites under logical Hub Sites for cross-site search and unified navigation.
• Managed Metadata & Content Types: Define standard document columns (e.g. Document Category, Retention Schedule, Department Owner) to replace nested folder mazes.

Phase 3: Permissions Restructuring & Entra ID Mapping

Remap legacy Active Directory NTFS permissions to modern Microsoft 365 security groups:

• Eliminate Item-Level Permissions: Group access at the site and document library level to avoid performance throttling and broken inheritance.
• Audit External Sharing Defaults: Disable public anonymous link sharing on sensitive financial, legal, and HR libraries in alignment with SharePoint governance policies.
• Entra ID Role Alignment: Map legacy security groups to dynamic Microsoft 365 security groups before running migration waves.

Phase 4: Tooling & Migration Wave Scheduling

Select the appropriate migration utility and structure segmented batches using assessment results, dependencies, business criticality, source change rate, and an agreed cutover approach. Microsoft's SharePoint Migration Tool guidance describes supported sources, while its scan and assessment workflow can surface source risks before tasks are scheduled:

Phase 5: Cutover, Redirection & Adoption

• Set Source to Read-Only: When agreed with the source owners, restrict legacy network file shares or on-premises locations during the final reconciliation to prevent split-brain edits.
• Plan OneDrive Known Folder Move (KFM) separately: Where it fits the device and identity policy, KFM can redirect and synchronise selected Windows or macOS known folders such as Desktop and Documents to OneDrive. Review Microsoft's Windows and macOS guidance. This user-file sync and redirection option is separate from migrating shared SharePoint content; confirm prerequisites and ownership before rollout.
• Deliver Role-Based Staff Training: Use a format and cadence matched to each audience, covering co-authoring, version history, Teams file locations, support routes, and the new information architecture. Validate readiness before cutover.