Migrating a huge SharePoint Environment with Multiple Farms

Curious_Kevin16, I hope you are doing amazing. Migrating from a large SharePoint environment with multiple farms to Office 365 (O365) can be a complex and challenging task. It requires careful planning, preparation, and execution to ensure a successful migration.

Here are some steps and considerations to help you with the migration:

1. Assessment and Inventory:
- Conduct a thorough assessment of your current SharePoint environment, including all farms, sites, and customizations.
- Create an inventory of all sites and content, including their sizes, usage, and dependencies.

2. Migration Strategy:
- Define your migration strategy and decide whether you want to move all farms together or migrate them in a phased approach.
- Consider the order of migration based on dependencies, usage, and importance of each farm.

3. SharePoint Online Tenant Setup:
- Set up your SharePoint Online tenant in O365.
- Configure the necessary settings, such as site structure, permission levels, and authentication options.

4. Data Migration:
- Determine the data migration method based on the size and complexity of each farm. Options include using third-party migration tools, SharePoint Migration Tool (SPMT), or custom PowerShell scripts.
- Plan for the migration of content, documents, lists, libraries, and custom solutions.

5. URL Segregation:
- In SharePoint Online, you can use Managed Paths and Host Named Site Collections to segregate URLs.
- Configure Managed Paths to define URL structures (e.g., /sites/farm1, /sites/farm2) within the same domain.
- For Host Named Site Collections, you can create site collections with unique hostnames (e.g., https://farm1.company.com, https://farm2.company.com).

6. SharePoint Online Governance:
- Establish governance policies for your SharePoint Online environment to ensure consistency and security.
- Plan for site provisioning, permissions, and content organization.

7. Testing and Validation:
- Perform extensive testing of the migrated sites and content to ensure they function correctly in SharePoint Online.
- Validate permissions, customizations, and workflows.

8. Communication and Training:
- Communicate the migration plan and timeline to all stakeholders.
- Provide training and support for users to adapt to the new SharePoint Online environment.

9. Backup and Rollback Plan:
- Implement a backup plan for both on-premises data and SharePoint Online.
- Have a rollback strategy in case of any unforeseen issues during migration.

10. Post-Migration Support:
- Provide ongoing support and assistance to users after the migration is complete.
- Monitor the performance and usage of SharePoint Online to address any potential issues.

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