Editor's note
SharePoint migration decisions have become more complicated due to the rapidly expanding volume of enterprise content and evolving user needs and expectations. Trends like social media, mobility and cloud computing have influenced enterprise collaboration and content management, prompting new features in SharePoint 2013 and making SharePoint Online an appealing option for some workloads.
While companies may find that SharePoint 2010 meets their content management and collaboration needs, some are considering SharePoint 2013, while others have questions about migrating content from third-party content management systems to SharePoint environments.
Others are considering SharePoint Online, the cloud-based version of the platform. It can reduce maintenance and management headaches and ease the experience for remote workers or third-party contractors. But migrating to SharePoint Online can also break site customizations, so user beware.
No matter the type of migration, concerns about SharePoint architecture, data integrity, governance and performance remain important. The growing significance of metadata as a way to categorize information and make it more findable adds another layer of complexity to any SharePoint migration.
Beyond the technical challenges, IT and content management professionals must also make the business case for upgrading SharePoint and encourage user adoption of new features. Without solid business buy-in and cooperation from end users, even the smoothest SharePoint deployment can fail.
Below, check out our guide on issues related to SharePoint migration, as well as our coverage of the 2014 SPTech conference.