Box to OneDrive Migration Guide for Large Enterprises

Migrating from Box to OneDrive can be a daunting task, especially for large enterprises. According to our research, a typical enterprise uses around 100,000 files in Box, which means a smooth migration process is crucial to avoid data loss and downtime.

The first step in the migration process is to assess the scope of the project. This involves identifying the number of users, files, and folders that need to be migrated, as well as the technical requirements for the migration. As we discussed in our previous section, the total cost of ownership for Box is around $35 per user per month, while OneDrive costs around $6 per user per month, making it a more cost-effective option in the long run.

To ensure a successful migration, it's essential to plan ahead and test the migration process thoroughly. This involves setting up a pilot project to test the migration of a small group of users and files, as we recommended in our section on "Pilot Project Planning".

Planning a successful migration from Box to OneDrive requires careful consideration of several key factors. The first step is to assess your current source environment to determine what you need to migrate and what can be left behind.

To do this, you should perform an assessment of your current source environment, which will influence your overall strategy and timing. This includes determining the amount of content you migrate, identifying redundant or outdated content, and mapping the design of the target environment.

A well-prepared pre-migration checklist is crucial for a seamless move from Box to OneDrive. This checklist should include a comprehensive audit of your Box content, understanding what data you have, its volume, and importance.

You should also evaluate the current data structure in Box and how it can be mapped to OneDrive, which may involve reorganizing files, folders, and permissions. Additionally, identify key stakeholders across departments who will be affected by the migration and gather their input and requirements.

To ensure the move aligns with everyone's needs, set clear, achievable goals for the migration, including timelines, expected outcomes, and criteria for success. Review OneDrive's features and limitations compared to Box to ensure it supports all necessary functionalities your business relies on.

Here is a summary of the key considerations for your pre-migration checklist:

Before migrating your content from Box to OneDrive, it's essential to assess and remediate your content to save time and effort later. This involves identifying and fixing issues with file extensions, file and folder name characters, and file and folder path length.

You can use Box's Folders and Files admin report to perform these assessments. For example, if you find files with blocked file types, such as scripting files, you can turn on scripting capabilities to allow these file types. Similarly, if you find files with invalid file names or file types, you can work with your migration vendor to substitute these characters.

Here are some specific issues to look out for:

By addressing these issues upfront, you can ensure a smoother migration process and reduce the risk of errors or data loss.

Assessing your current data is a crucial step in content preparation. It's essential to take the time to identify crucial files and folders that will be migrated.

To start, you'll want to categorize your data based on importance and access levels. This will help you prioritize which files and folders to focus on during the migration process.

Cleaning up obsolete data is also a key part of this step. Reducing clutter will make it easier to find and manage your important files.

Let's break down the key tasks involved in assessing your current data:

Assessing and remediating your content is a crucial step in the migration process. It's essential to identify potential issues before migrating to avoid complications later on.

You can use Box's Folders and Files admin report to perform the necessary assessments. This report can help you identify files with blocked extensions, such as scripting files, which are blocked by default in OneDrive.

To allow these file types, you'll need to turn on scripting capabilities in OneDrive, as described in the article. This will ensure that your files can be migrated successfully.

You should also check for file and folder name characters that are not supported in OneDrive. The # and % characters are supported but not enabled by default, so you may need to enable them to ensure smooth migration.

Here's a list of potential issues to look out for:

By addressing these potential issues upfront, you can ensure a successful migration and avoid costly rework later on.

Before you start the Box to OneDrive migration, you need to prepare your environment. This involves pre-provisioning your users in OneDrive, which is a crucial step.

You can do this by following the guidance on pre-provisioning users through directory synchronization to Microsoft 365, and then pre-provisioning OneDrive for users in your organization.

To ensure a smooth migration, it's essential to have a clear plan in place. This includes determining what data you need to migrate, who needs access to it, and which migration tool to use.

Here are the key steps to consider:

By following these steps, you'll be well-prepared for the migration process and can ensure that your data is successfully transferred to OneDrive.

The migration process is a crucial step in moving your files from Box to OneDrive. It's essential to follow a structured approach to ensure a smooth transition.

A typical migration process involves selecting a small set of users for a pilot migration, which helps validate the process and gather user feedback. This pilot migration should use an incremental migration method to minimize user impact.

You'll need to understand the data from the pilot migration to determine the remainder of your migration schedule and make any necessary changes. For example, you might update your user communication template to address questions from pilot users.

CloudsLinker's transfer interface allows you to schedule transfers, filter file types and sizes, and adjust your migration strategy according to your preferences.

The Box to OneDrive migration process typically involves five steps: creating connectors, managing the user migration list, running an audit (optional), running a pre-processing task, and running the migration.

To set up connectors, you'll need to configure a Box connector and a Microsoft 365 connector. You can do this by following the steps outlined in the Cloudiway documentation.

Here's a summary of the pre-migration steps:

By following these steps, you'll be well-prepared for the migration process. Remember to run a test migration on a single user first to ensure your configuration produces the expected outcome.

Cloudiway's migration platform supports delta passes, which means migrations are incremental. This means that only items that haven't already been copied to the target or have been changed since they were copied will be migrated.

You can monitor your migration from the dashboard and click on any entry in the User List to view the Audit, Logs, or Statistics.

Migration Tools can make the Box to OneDrive migration process much smoother.

Rclone is a versatile open-source tool for cloud storage management that can facilitate the migration process. Its compatibility spans various cloud services and is fully operational across key operating systems including Linux, Windows, and MacOS.

You can choose a migration tool that aligns with your business requirements. MultCloud is a cloud file manager that can help manage multiple cloud storage accounts on one platform, and transfer, sync or backup data across different cloud accounts without downloading and uploading.

MultCloud offers several features, including "Cloud Transfer" and "Team Transfer", which can transfer your personal or enterprise data from Box to OneDrive for Business automatically. It also provides up to 10 threads to migrate your Box data quickly, ensuring a fast migration process.

Another option is Migration Manager, which is Microsoft's built-in data migration tool. It can help collaborate all in one place by migrating your Box documents, data, and users to OneDrive, SharePoint, and Teams in Microsoft 365.

Here are some key features of MultCloud and Migration Manager:

Start with comprehensive planning that includes a detailed inventory of Box content and clear migration goals. This will help you stay on track and ensure a smooth transition.

Communication with stakeholders throughout the process is vital. It's essential to keep everyone informed of the progress and any changes that may affect them.

Cleaning up redundant or outdated data before the migration can streamline the process. This will save you time and effort in the long run.

Testing and validating the migration process with a subset of data before full-scale migration can help identify potential issues early on.