Before you migrate anything, pressure-test your plan. Too many teams only discover data migration perils after the move, when files are missing, links are broken or users can’t work. By then, repairs are expensive and disruptive.
Use this checklist to discover risks early, avoid rework and keep your migration on track.
1. Know Exactly What You’re Moving
You can’t migrate what you don’t fully understand. Map your entire current data landscape, including:
- File shares (New Technology File System on Windows, Network File System on Unix/Linux).
- Document repositories (OpenText, Documentum, Alfresco).
- SharePoint sites (On-Prem or Online).
- Cloud storage platforms (OneDrive, Box, Dropbox, Google Drive, AWS S3 buckets).
- Collaboration hubs (Teams channels, Slack file stores, Confluence spaces).
- Legacy systems (Enterprise Resource Planning, Customer Relationship Management, custom line-of-business apps with embedded file stores).
If you skip this step, you’re guessing. And guessing leads to gaps.
Tip: Run a storage and collaboration environment mapping tool (such as TreeSize or platform-native audit reporting tools) to identify file locations and dependencies before migration.
2. Clean Before You Move
Don’t migrate junk. Audit your data and decide what actually deserves to move.
- Remove duplicates.
- Archive or delete outdated content.
- Fix naming inconsistencies.
- Clean up incomplete or incorrect metadata.
- Exclude low-value data.
Less data = faster migration, lower costs and fewer inherited problems.
3. Other Types of Dependencies to Check
Not all dependencies are created by links inside files. As you plan a migration, make sure you also account for:
- Application dependencies. Systems that rely on Application Programming Interfaces, services or integrations from other applications.
- Process dependencies. Business workflows that require data or actions to occur in sequence.
- Infrastructure dependencies. Shared authentication, storage or network resources that multiple systems depend on.
- Metadata dependencies. Permissions, ownership or classification tags that control access and usage.
- Temporal dependencies. Scheduled jobs, batch processes or time‑based triggers tied to data availability.
- External system dependencies. Connections to third‑party platforms or legacy systems that may not migrate cleanly.
- User behavior dependencies. Informal practices, shortcuts or manual routines that assume certain structures remain in place.
4. File Links
Your data contains embedded file links. When you move those files, the links break. And when those links break, business can grind to a halt. LinkFixer Advanced automatically protects links before a migration or repairs broken links after a migration, eliminating one of the most common (and painful) migration risks.
The free trial of LinkFixer Advanced can scan your environment and discover all your embedded links, and their status, before you migrate.
5. Test Before You Commit
Never go all-in without a test run. A pilot migration reveals problems early, including:
- Broken links (embedded references, hyperlinks, cross-site navigation).
- Compatibility issues (legacy file formats, unsupported macros, deprecated APIs).
- Permission conflicts (misaligned Access Control Lists, group memberships, inheritance errors).
- Unexpected errors (script failures, timeout conditions, throttling limits).
- Workflow disruptions (automated processes, scheduled jobs, Power Automate/Flow triggers).
- Integration failures (line-of-business apps, Enterprise Resource Planning connectors, CRM plug-ins).
- Performance bottlenecks (network throughput, latency, large file handling).
- Metadata loss (version history, audit trails, custom tags).
- Security gaps (orphaned accounts, broken conditional access policies, Multi-Factor Authentication enforcement lapses.
Test small. Fix fast. Then scale with confidence.
6. Verify Everything After Migration
Done doesn’t always mean done. Validate your migration to ensure nothing was lost or broken.
- Confirm file counts: Compare source versus destination totals for files, folders and versions to detect silent losses.
- Check permissions and metadata: Validate ACLs, group memberships, inheritance rules and metadata such as version history, tags and audit trails.
- Test document links: Ensure that embedded hyperlinks, Excel formulas, PowerPoint references and SharePoint navigation remain intact.
- Verify integrations: Confirm that connections to ERP, CRM, HR systems, APIs and workflow engines are still functional.
- Validate workflows and automations: Check scheduled jobs, Power Automate flows and legacy scripts for continuity after migration.
- Assess performance under load. Measure response times, concurrency handling and large file operations to ensure operational stability.
Don’t let post-migration problems cause downtime or reduce user productivity.
7. Don’t Go It Alone
Complex migrations need experience. Specialist support can help you:
- Identify hidden risks.
- Map document dependencies.
- Prevent link breakage.
- Validate outcomes.
- Prepare users for the transition.
Explore LinkTek’s migration expertise:
1805 Drew Street
Clearwater, Florida 33765
Phone: 727-442-1822
E-mail: LinkMail@LinkTek.com
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