Challenges of Transferring ShareFile to SharePoint Online

Most businesses are transitioning from traditional file-sharing systems like  ShareFile to modern and more integrated ecosystems like SharePoint Online for availing the advanced features of SharePoint. Since the transition is a complex process, they face several challenges during the ShareFile to SharePoint Online migration.

In this write-up, we are going to highlight these challenges and simultaneously provide solutions to overcome them.

1. Restrictions in SharePoint Online

SharePoint Online has certain limitations on characters, files, and folder names. For example, “ * : < > / \ | these characters are not supported in SharePoint Online. Also, .lock, CON, PRN, AUX, NUL, COM0 – COM9, LPT0 – LPT9, _vti_, desktop.ini, and any filename starting with ~$, these names are not allowed for files or folders.

Solution – CloudFuze professional migration tool is the one-stop solution to overcome this challenge. It identifies the source cloud file with unsupported names and transfers them as _CON to SharePoint Online. Also, it offers an automatic special character replacement option through which the special characters are replaced with Underscore (_) as shown in the screenshot.

2. Long File Path Limitation

Another common challenge encountered while transferring ShareFile to SharePoint Online is the restriction on long path length. SharePoint Online imposes a limit of 400 characters for file paths. Furthermore, manually trimming them would not be a feasible option.

Solution – At CloudFuze, we have integrated a function that automatically identifies the long file paths. It creates a folder named ‘Long File Names” at the destination and transfers the files with long paths to this folder.

3. File Permission Mapping

Transferring file permission settings is essential to ensure data integrity post-migration. However, transferring these permissions from ShareFile to SharePoint Online can be complex due to variations in permission models.

Solution – Our migration tool helps retain sharing integrity by migrating permissions. For example, Owner, View, Upload, Download – these permissions on ShareFile are converted to Owner, View, Edit, and Edit and reflected on the point after migration.

4. Timestamp Preservation

Preserving the Timestamp while transferring data from ShareFile to SharePoint Online is crucial. It helps in tracking the sequence of events that occurred in the past. However, differences in Timestamp formats pose a challenge when transferring data between these cloud platforms.

Solution – Our migration solutions can easily overcome this challenge. It can preserve the Timestamp after the migration. Here is an example for your reference.

At ShareFile: The screenshot below displays the Timestamp of the source file named ‘Artificial Intelligence.docx.’

At SharePoint: The screenshot below displays the preserved Timestamp of the file ‘Artificial Intelligence.docx’ at the destination.

5. User Adoption of the New Environment

Transitioning to a new platform can be challenging for some users, especially if they are accustomed to the interface and features of ShareFile.

Solution – Arrange training sessions and provide support to users on SharePoint Online’s functionalities. In this way, the users can get used to SharePoint Online and leverage the full potential of it.

Overcome ShareFile to SharePoint Online Challenges with CloudFuze

Transferring data from ShareFile to SharePoint Online presents several technical challenges. From handling special characters and long path files to preserving file permissions and timestamps, the migration process can have these hurdles. However, with a systematic approach and robust migration solution, one can overcome these challenges effectively. For a seamless transition from ShareFile to SharePoint Online, contact our migration team today!