IT Tips & Tricks
Software Tools & Migrations: The Future of SharePoint
How the SharePoint Metamorphosis Affects You
19 June 2023
If you’ve heard a rumor that SharePoint® might become obsolete, we’re here to tell you — definitively — that it ain't so. Yes, there have been rumors — obviously started by people who didn’t fully comprehend the situation — but here are the facts. The end of extended support for SharePoint 2013 in April of this year and the end of extended support for SharePoint 2016 and 2019 on 14 July 2026 have apparently caused some confusion, but rest assured, it is only the on-premise versions that are gradually being retired.
Ignore whatever you’ve heard on the grapevine. SharePoint is categorically not obsolete. Clearly, for those with on-premise versions of SharePoint, migrating to SharePoint Online is the obvious solution. It continues to be part of Office 365® and its big, bright, beautiful future is in the Cloud.
Need to make a change? Moving to SharePoint Online might be a good idea.
And that’s good news for you. Why? Because when you migrate to SharePoint Online, Microsoft® takes care of any required updates and upgrades, all of which are automatically integrated with the Cloud version. All you need to do is purchase the license and leave the rest to Microsoft. No more dealing with patches or budgeting for upgrades. Overall, this simply makes life easier for IT managers and IT departments. And we like easy.
You only have to look at SharePoint’s growing adoption rate with users numbering in the hundreds of millions, to know that SharePoint is here to stay. Another indicator of global confidence in the future of SharePoint is the increase in third-party SharePoint migration software and tools.
Below are some compelling facts about SharePoint that you may or may not be familiar with. After that, we’re going to take a look at some software that can be incredibly helpful during a SharePoint migration. If you’re already familiar with all the virtues of SharePoint, you may prefer to skip ahead to The LinkFixer Advanced Phenomenon section. But for now, you can relax knowing that SharePoint isn’t going anywhere. The bottom line is that it has consistently seen such growth that we could, in fact, easily have titled this article, “The Future is SharePoint,” and here’s why.
80% of Fortune 500 companies use SharePoint.
SharePoint currently has an estimated 200 million active users. 80% of Fortune 500 companies use SharePoint. In terms of market share for content collaboration software, SharePoint holds an impressive 75% of the market. Those are not the vital statistics of something that’s going to disappear anytime soon.
If you’re not yet a SharePoint user but are considering it, these facts may or may not sway your decision. If you’re one of those people who enjoy statistics and facts, here are a few more things to consider:
- Three out of five organizations prefer SharePoint Online over on-premises solutions.
- The platform generates an average annual revenue of around $2 billion.
- The retail and healthcare sectors are the two fastest-growing industries in terms of SharePoint adoption.
- There are roughly 17,000 jobs related to SharePoint available on LinkedIn® at almost any time, which accounts for 42% of Manager/Supervisor/Director roles among US users alone.
- Need a mobile enterprise app? Check. SharePoint is a trusted and reliable mobile platform.
- Want an online platform that will streamline your operations and increase collaboration? Check. With SharePoint, consider it done.
- Think that as a small or medium-sized business, SharePoint may be overkill for you? Nope. 65% of small to medium-sized businesses choose SharePoint Online.
The bottom line is that SharePoint works for just about any organization. This means that organizations are migrating to SharePoint at an impressive rate, or are migrating from SharePoint On-Premises to SharePoint Online. This naturally raises questions such as, “What SharePoint migration software should we use?” Maybe you’ve already chosen your migration software, but you’re still on the lookout for something to help you with a particularly tricky aspect of your migration, some kind of SharePoint migration tool. More on that in a minute.
Regardless of your chosen platform, your chosen migration software, or the tools you’re adding to your IT “toolbelt,” there’s a caveat that applies to any migration or file system reorg. If your data contains links — and these days, whose data doesn’t? — the minute that data is moved or renamed, the links have a tendency to go belly-up and break. This results in lost data, downtime, upset end-users, displeased bosses and execs, and potential loss of revenue. Talk about disruption. To add insult to injury, depending on the scale of your migration, finding and fixing those broken links can require a small army and a big budget. Truth is, it’s a situation that is best avoided. But how?
If your organization is one of those that are migrating to the Cloud, there’s one tool you should know about that is particularly beneficial in any migration — including to or from SharePoint — and continues to offer benefits far beyond the migration process. More on that below.
Links have a tendency to go belly-up and break.
SharePoint Migration: Posterior Protection
As organizations grow, they may need to migrate their SharePoint environment to a new version or to a different platform altogether. A SharePoint migration can be a complex and time-consuming process, and it’s important to use the right tools and strategies to ensure a smooth transition.
One of the most critical aspects of a SharePoint migration is ensuring that all links within the content are updated to reflect the new environment. Links can be embedded in documents, web pages, and other types of content, and they can point to various other resources such as other pages, documents, or external websites. If these links are not updated correctly during the migration, users may encounter broken links and missing data which can affect productivity and overall user satisfaction.
Users can’t do their jobs if they can’t access their data. Sooner or later all eyes turn to the IT department.
In other words, if you want to eliminate this kind of disruption from your next migration and cover your a**, you need LinkFixer Advanced™.
The LinkFixer Advanced Phenomenon
We could tell you that LinkTek’s software has been fixing broken links for almost a quarter of a century, or that LinkFixer Advanced has processed over 2 billion files and 4 billion links. Both are true. But none of that means anything until you know why LinkFixer Advanced is essential to any data migration. So, what is it and what does it do?
LinkFixer Advanced is specifically designed to help organizations deal with the problem of broken links when migrating files and data from one platform to another. It is capable of automatically taking care of links in files, spreadsheets, presentations and other types of documents. The result is a migration rarity: linked content in the new environment that is immediately accessible by the users after the migration.
LinkFixer Advanced is particularly useful for those who are migrating from SharePoint to other platforms, or from other platforms to SharePoint, to minimize the risk of broken links and related issues that can arise during the migration process.
You wouldn’t jump without a ’chute. Why migrate without LinkFixer Advanced?
LinkFixer Advanced features a range of functions that make it an ideal tool for SharePoint migration. These functions include:
Protecting and Auto-Repairing File Links
LinkFixer Advanced sets up your links before your migration so that you can do all the moving, renaming and restructuring you want — using whatever app you like — with total impunity as far as your links are concerned. After the migration is complete, LinkFixer Advanced will automatically repair any broken links so that you never have to deal with this issue.
Moving and Renaming Files
Another way you could benefit from LinkFixer Advanced is to use it to move and rename your files and folders. The magic here is that it can do this while automatically maintaining all your good links in the process. Again, zero data loss due to broken links.
Disaster Recovery Mode
If you’ve already completed a migration and didn’t know about LinkFixer Advanced in time to protect your links ahead of your migration, you probably now have thousands of broken links — or more. But you can relax because LinkFixer Advanced has this situation covered too. No matter why your links got broken, LinkFixer Advanced has a process called “Modify Links” that can fix already-broken links faster than any other method you can think of.
Overall, LinkFixer Advanced is a unique and powerful SharePoint migration tool that can help organizations to migrate their SharePoint environment with confidence. Its link protection and automatic repair capabilities make LinkFixer Advanced an essential tool for any SharePoint migration.
The result is a migration rarity: linked content in the new environment that is immediately accessible by the users after the migration.
Get Some First-Class Protection
If you want to repair broken links, or better yet, make sure you never have to deal with this particular problem again, visit LinkTek.com for more information on how to protect your links or to access a free trial (no credit card required). Alternatively, if you’d like to pick the brain of a knowledgeable Service Consultant, call 727-442-1822.
LinkTek. Why fix links when you can prevent breakage in the first place?
Want to get out of the office? Protect your linked data.
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