Down To Earth Trees

Windows File Server To SharePoint Migration

Akita migrated company data for Down To Earth Trees; a leading arboricultural services organisation from an on-premise Windows file server to a more advanced SharePoint Online solution.

Taking Advantage Of Having Access To SharePoint

Down To Earth Trees was initially in the process of migrating its email system to Microsoft 365 Exchange and in doing so, Akita highlighted the fact that as part of their current Microsoft Licensing, they also had free access to SharePoint and OneDrive. Down To Earth Trees was using a legacy Windows file server which wasn’t supporting their operations in addition to part use of a Dropbox instance. Finding out that they had access to a SharePoint Online setup which could be used to consolidate their siloed data sources and act as a cost-effective server replacement was a timely convenience.

SharePoint Migration Process

Our SharePoint migration process began with a day of scoping to understand the most effective way for the transition to take place. Down To Earth Trees’ data was structured in their own way, but they used the migration as an opportunity to renew their structure to align with Microsoft’s best practices.

As a result of some consultancy sessions with our SharePoint Consultants, Down To Earth Trees submitted a suitable structure for Akita to review and approve. Akita Consultants then built the site structure within SharePoint, applied the relevant permissions, and also applied their branding and logos to all sites – as per the requirements highlighted in the initial scoping and consultancy sessions.

Their structure was made up of a Communication Site to serve as a landing page and a Hub site, in addition to a number of Microsoft 365 Team sites (with and without Microsoft365 Groups) to make up the areas for data storage.

On the agreed migration date, Akita started the transition at 19:00 after their operations had rounded up before the weekend. Akita spent the weekend completing the process ready for users to access their new platform and use its full functionality on Monday morning.

Results Of SharePoint Migration

From the go-live date, Akita were on-hand to resolve any issues that arose with the new application and answer any queries about its functionality. Down To Earth Trees engage in a lot of fieldwork and as such, their field agents could utilise the new SharePoint solution remotely through 4G tablets to access files, send reports, retrieve job info and also collaborate in real-time.

The new system simplified their previous disparate file storage system and also streamlined working processes for both field agents, and those working behind the scenes.

Akita is an experienced SharePoint migration partner. Find out more about our capabilities in SharePoint