Best Practices For Migrating Documents With Full Fidelity In Sharepoint

Maintaining Document Integrity During Migration

When migrating documents into SharePoint, it is critical to preserve the integrity of those files to ensure no data or metadata is lost in the process. Before beginning a migration, do a complete assessment of the current file formats, metadata requirements, access permissions, and content structure. This analysis will uncover any risks or blocking issues before they impact the migration.

Assessing Current File Formats and Metadata

Conduct an audit of the file share or content repository to categorize all existing file formats. Note the percentage breakdown across formats like Office documents, PDFs, images, AutoCAD drawings, etc. Identify any obsolete or proprietary formats that may require special handling in SharePoint. Examine the metadata requirements and confirm what metadata properties need to be retained. Determine tagging standards, document naming conventions or content types that must persist through the migration process. Understanding the full landscape current file composition and attributes ensures the right migration tools and procedures are applied.

Strategies for Preserving Format Fidelity

Converting to PDF/A for Long-Term Archiving

For files that need to persist unchanged for compliance, legal discovery or audit purposes, convert files to PDF/A which is designed for long-term preservation. PDF/A supports text, graphics, images, metadata embedding and compression features for archival-friendly files. Build an automated workflow using PowerShell scripts to convert designated documents from their native Office and image formats into PDF/A prior to ingesting into SharePoint. This PDF conversion workflow preserves the visual fidelity, text content and file attributes in an unalterable format protected from file degradation over decades. Maintain links back to the original native files as supplementary assets if needed.

Table of Contents

Using File Format Conversion Services

For actively edited documents, leverage file format conversion services to automatically translate documents into supported Office file types as they are uploaded into SharePoint. Install a file handler like the Office File Converter from the SharePoint app store which can detect format types and convert files to recommended formats like DOCX, XLSX and PPTX on upload. This on-the-fly conversion simplifies end user access, ensures document compatibility across devices, and reduces file storage complexity for IT. Define targeted conversion settings rather than applying global defaults to give users access without disrupting specialized formats.

Configuring Metadata Extraction Settings

Proactively configure metadata extraction and mapping settings based on the audit of metadata requirements prior to migration. The SharePoint Migration Tool allows admins to specify metadata mapping rules to capture key fields like client name, case number, document owner, copyright and project details from the source system. Create content types in SharePoint to persist specific metadata fields needed for search, compliance and lifecycle management post-migration. Validate metadata extraction accuracy by sampling files pre and post-migration to confirm all labels are accounted for properly.

Securing Access and Permissions

Preserve access permissions and restrictions by extracting user and group permissions from on-premises file shares or network drives and applying equivalent access controls in SharePoint post-migration. Use tools like Sharegate, AvePoint or Quest to scan current folder and document permissions during the migration process and enact those users and access levels in the target SharePoint environment based on the source system. For confidential records subject to privacy regulations, multi-factor authentication and document encryption may need to be enforced through Azure Rights Management integration in SharePoint as well.

Automating Migration with PowerShell Scripts

Example Script for Batch Processing Files

Speed up bulk processing of file conversion and migration through PowerShell scripts that can run as scheduled background jobs for hands-free automation. Script key tasks like:

Iterate through all files in a document library to check format type
Filter for targeted formats to route into conversion workflows
Convert Word, Excel and PDF documents into PDF/A standards
Replace originals with converted PDF/A versions in SharePoint post-conversion
Output logs detailing files processed and conversion accuracy rates

This approach enables admins to define policies that ensure properly formatted and protected documents get ingested at scale across enterprise portals.

Example Script for Setting Metadata

Ingest metadata directly during scripted migration workflows using the SharePoint PnP PowerShell library’s commands to assign metadata based on document naming patterns and embedded info:

Extract creation date, author and title from native Office documents
Parse invoice number, accounting codes and client ID from PDF naming conventions
Set Content Type based on matching metadata labels like Invoice#, Case#, etc.
Stamp documents with Record Retention labels based on Content Types
Assign Site Columns like Client Name, Account Manager and Location Taxonomy terms

This level of automation consolidates disparate sources accurately while simplifying end user search and organization.

Validating Migration Results

Once document migration is complete, conduct spot testing to validate files have been ingested accurately into SharePoint with the right fidelity. Check for errors including:

Missing documents from the source repository
Incomplete metadata capture or mapping
Faulty format conversions and unmigrated formats
Broken links to ancillary resources like fonts, images and scripts
Issues opening converted files like Excel spreadsheets and PowerPoint decks

Examining these factors on a sampling of documents provides quality assurance and identifies any gaps needing remediation before closing out the migration project.

Troubleshooting Common File and Metadata Issues

During validation, isolate the root causes of any file or metadata errors uncovered to fix system weaknesses:

Unsupported characters – Scrub file names and metadata texts of special characters which can interrupt migration scripts.
Broken links – Relink connected files to master documents prior to cutover to SharePoint.
Format conversion failures – Tune format translator tools settings to troubleshoot conversion problems by file type.
Metadata gaps – Expand default metadata extraction channels to fully cover specialized fields.
Access denied errors – Confirm migration tools leverage proper admin permissions to enable read/write/edit during ingestion.

Triaging these typical issues improves system stability and continuity for future data migrations.