SharePoint 2010 Upgrade Assessment
The great new features and capabilities of SharePoint Server 2010 may have you salivating for an upgrade but before scheduling your migration, take a moment to consider the complexity of your current SharePoint 2007 or earlier environment. The list on the right will give you some guidance on the right questions to ask.
Careful evaluation of these questions and many more can help your business prepare for a successful upgrade to SharePoint 2010. Our consultants have been evaluating upgrade paths to SharePoint 2010 since long before the product launch and can help ensure the success of your deployment with Abel Solutions’ SharePoint Server 2010 Upgrade Assessment.
Our Approach
In order to gain a better understanding of your current SharePoint environment, we’ll begin by performing a complete inventory of your existing SharePoint deployment leveraging Microsoft and Abel Solutions provided tools and scripts. Along the way we’ll identify risks to the migration process and begin to plan initial mitigation strategies to those risks. Finally we’ll develop a project plan detailing the timeline and key milestones for your SharePoint migration.
At the conclusion of our assessment, we’ll deliver an Assessment Summary detailing our findings as follows:
- Inventory reports, including the identification of custom web parts, unhosted pages, hard-coded URLs, etc.
- Appropriate recommendations related to the SharePoint migration
- Identification of risks that require mitigation strategies
- Recommended SharePoint Administrator and Site/Content Administrator training
- Proposal and Project Plan for migration services
Potential Options for Upgrade
The recommended path for upgrade will depend on many of the aforementioned issues as well as the level of planning that went into your initial deployment. The following is an analysis of the upgrade approaches considered.
In-Place Upgrade
An In-place upgrade would involve upgrading the bits on all SharePoint servers then running the SharePoint configuration wizard to upgrade the content databases all at once. This approach is risky as there is no easy back out plan. All of the break-fix work would have to be accomplished during a single outage window and users would not be able to access the farm during the upgrade process.
Database Attach
The database attach method involves detaching the databases from the existing environment, restoring them to the new environment, attaching the databases to SharePoint web applications and running the upgrade. Again, this approach would involve a significant outage window where users could not access the portals, as well as a single outage window during which all fixes must be applied.
Content Migration
The content migration approach implies creating a new SharePoint 2010 farm, recreating the existing web application structure and then migrating content either manually or using a tool from a third-party vendor such as Metalogix. This approach is time-consuming and many of the components and pages would have to be recreated from scratch.
Hybrid
The hybrid approach is similar to the database attach approach, but allows for the work effort to be spread out over a reasonable period of time. Databases would be brought over into the new environment one by one, fixing all issues with a particular web application before the next one is begun. Databases are marked as read-only in the current production environment while they are being repaired in the new environment to allow users to continue accessing (but not modifying or adding) content while the work is being completed. This approach allows for the most flexibility and time to properly address issues in each web application before moving on to the next.
Clean Install
If your first deployment was not well-conceived and structured, perhaps an upgrade is actually not in order and you might consider a fresh start in SharePoint 2010 with governance, planning and oversight, along with a plan to migrate critical information from the existing environment.
Often businesses who thought they could make a successful launch of SharePoint on their own have an installation that fails to thrive within their organization. Don’t make the same mistake twice. Contact Abel Solutions to learn more about SharePoint 2010 Upgrade Assessment Services.