Always in a state of transition, IT departments around the world are continually deploying new systems, applications and hardware. However one of the biggest changes, and challenges, is the successful migration from an existing infrastructure to a whole shiny new one with all the bells and whistles it comes with.<\/p>\n
Let me quickly introduce myself, I\u2019m Zulf and I currently work for Fujitsu as a Solution\/Technical Architect mostly on migrations with a particular focus on Active Directory, Exchange and SharePoint.<\/p>\n
Preparation, preparation, preparation! That there is my mantra, the first word that comes out of me when looking at any migration. It really doesn\u2019t matter whether the migration is large or small, preparation is key and I\u2019ll tell you why.<\/p>\n
Without it you will undoubtedly fail, or if you to manage to somehow struggle through, the stress and strains upon the shoulders of those tasked with the migration will lead them to breaking point. I can truly say I have \u201cbeen there, done that\u201d, I worked on one of the biggest migrations in the UK \u2013 125,000 seats over a 30 month period \u2013 yet the migration of the data (filestore and email) was treated as a minor irritation by the project planners as it was deemed straightforward \u2013 copy and paste anyone?<\/p>\n
The result? An inefficient, trouble strewn, terrible state of affairs that ended up using more resources than it needed, took twice as long as it should and resulting in levels of stress and anger never before seen in the user environment. The \u2018planning\u2019 time set aside for this monumentous migration task (which spanned the whole UK) was a truly dismal 6 weeks.<\/p>\n
The fix? Prepare! It is actually quite simple, follow my easily digestible non-technical guide to running a technical migration. Here goes:<\/p>\n
Understand what you want to do<\/strong><\/span>: What are you trying to achieve? What are your outcomes, timeframe and budget. Your timeframe? Double it now!<\/p>\n Understand how you are going to do it<\/strong><\/span>: Identify the tools, resources, expertise and finances needed to effect your change.<\/p>\n Prepare<\/strong><\/span>: Lay the groundwork, communicate with the affected parties and create a plan of action in your chosen project methodology. Be realistic with your timelines.<\/p>\n Prepare again<\/strong><\/span>: Purchase the products and tools you need, book in the resources and ensure the right equipment and tools are available and accessible.<\/p>\n Prepare once more<\/strong><\/span>: Prepare for the unknown. Yes, that\u2019s right \u2013 prepare for something you\u2019re not even aware of yet. How? Purposely set aside delays in your project (catch-up days, firebreaks) for the infamous Rumsfeld \u2018unknown unknowns\u2019 \u2013 use them if you need them, finish up early if you don\u2019t.<\/p>\n Pilot<\/strong><\/span>: Once you\u2019ve got what you need find a sample (whether it is users, computers, servers etc. etc.) and run through a mini version of your end to end migration. Yup, the whole thing from start to finish \u2013 in some cases you may not be able to go the whole way, but if that means you have to pilot a further change at a later time DO SO!<\/p>\n Deploy & Migrate<\/strong><\/span>: Finally that point when you can approach a migration with confidence<\/p>\n If you are indeed planning or going through a migration and need assistance get in touch with me here at my Blog and you can be assured that a friendly and experienced consultant (me!) will respond.<\/p>\n Too often an organisation changes only when forced to, either by policy, necessity (end of life, end of support) or organisational change. It is always best to change when you have the control, so be proactive, look at what\u2019s coming over the horizon and act quickly.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Always in a state of transition, IT departments around the world are continually deploying new…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"footnotes":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[3,5,7,9],"tags":[420,138,187,190,137,189,188,191,33],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p502c8-7K","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/zulfikar.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/480"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/zulfikar.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/zulfikar.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/zulfikar.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/zulfikar.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=480"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/zulfikar.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/480\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":481,"href":"http:\/\/zulfikar.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/480\/revisions\/481"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/zulfikar.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=480"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/zulfikar.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=480"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/zulfikar.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=480"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}