DocuWare to SharePoint Migration: What You Need to Know 

One in every 10 migrations that we help our clients with, is a DocuWare to SharePoint Migration. DocuWare is a good platform, but when most businesses already use Microsoft 365 applications like Teams and Outlook, DocuWare starts to look like a disconnected tool. Therefore, businesses consider DocuWare content migration to SharePoint. In this article, we take a deep dive into the process and some of the important things that you should know. 

How to Execute DocuWare to SharePoint Migration? 

Let us give you a look into the process we follow when it comes to DocuWare to SharePoint migration. However, before we start, let us clarify that this is an overview. The actual process might have some subtle, yet critical differences. So, make sure that you speak with a SharePoint migration consultant. 

PHASE 1: Discovery & Mapping 

As per our experience, more than 20% to 30% of DocuWare data doesn’t need to be migrated. Therefore, it is recommended to start with an analysis. 

Begin by auditing all DocuWare cabinets, file structures, and indexing schemas. 

When you are working with our team, we help you identify: 

• Document types and classifications. 

• Critical and redundant metadata fields. 

• User roles and permission hierarchies 

Once that is done, we move to map DocuWare Structure to SharePoint 

DocuWare Structures	Corresponding SharePoint Structure
Cabinets	Document Libraries
Index Fields	SharePoint Columns
Workflows	Power Automate flows

At the end of this stage, we should be clear about what to and what not to migrate. 

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PHASE 2: Designing the Information Architecture 

As per experience, more than 80% of DocuWare to SharePoint Online migrations fail because they try to replicate everything. These are two quite different platforms. 

Therefore, it is necessary to design a new IA for SharePoint, based on: 

• Separate SharePoint sites based on departments. 

• Logical document grouping via libraries. 

• Navigation is based on metadata. 

• An established naming convention and file taxonomy. 

Focus Area: Metadata Migration Strategy 

Migrating metadata is critical to preserve data integrity. Here are the steps that need to be followed: 

• Normalize inconsistent metadata. 

• Eliminate duplicate or unused fields 

• It is also recommended to convert index fields into 

• Managed metadata 

• Choice fields 

• Lookup columns 

PHASE 3: Security & Role Mapping  

You need to make sure that the same people who could use the DocuWare files could use the SharePoint files as well. This is easier said than done. Here are some of the things that needs to be done: 

• Extract user roles and permission sets from DocuWare 

• Map Permission Roles to SharePoint 

Role in DocuWare	Privileges in SharePoint
Owners	Full Control
Contributors	Edit
Viewers	Read

 

• Use Entra Groups instead of individual IDs 

• Use logic to rebuild permission inheritance. 

One thing that you can try out is to avoid granting ‘over permissions. This will save you at least 2X on the long-term governance issues. 

PHASE 4: Choosing the Right Migration Method

By this stage, most of the prep work is done. The only critical step that is left is to choose the right method. Now, when it comes to file migration from DocuWare to SharePoint, you have three options 

• Manual Migration 

Here, you export the files from DocuWare and upload them manually on SharePoint. This is suitable for small datasets only. 

• Script-Based Migration 

In this approach, we use custom PowerShell Scripts for a more structured transfer data transfer. This gives you better control and flexibility but requires a higher level of technical expertise. 

• Tool-Based Migration 

This is the most preferred way for most of our clients. You get the benefit of automated mapping, validation, and transfer. At the same time, it also supports metadata migration, permission migration, and incremental sync. 

At Evolvous, we use a hybrid migration method, where we combine the best DocuWare to SharePoint migration tool with a custom coding in parts to give you the best of both worlds.

Also read: – NetSuite to Business Central Migration

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PHASE 5: Conduct Pilot Migration 

To test things out, small, representative datasets will be migrated. At this stage, the following things will be validated: 

• Metadata accuracy. 

• Permissions consistency. 

• Document integrity 

At this stage, we will also collect user feedback and make changes if necessary. This prevents large-scale failures later. 

PHASE 6: Phased Migration Rollout 

Now, the files will be migrated from DocuWare to SharePoint Online. Instead of migrating everything at once, we will: 

• Move files department wise 

• Schedule migrations during low usage periods. 

• Maintain access to both the systems 

This approach ensures minimal downtime and also provides for faster issue resolution. 

PHASE 7: Validation, Cleanup & Optimization 

After migration, the migrated data needs to be validated. We focus on validating the following key aspects: 

• Verifying document count and integrity 

• Checking the mapping accuracy of metadata  

• Audit the migrated permissions 

• Once everything is completed, decommission DocuWare 

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How to Migrate Faster and Minimize Disruption?

System downtime and operational disruption remain two of the biggest concerns of organizations looking to migrate from DocuWare to SP Online. Here are some of the things that you can do to minimize time and disruption. 

Pre-Classify Content Before Migration 

Here is a quick way to reduce migration load by 20% to 40% 

You need to run specialized content audits to identify duplicate documents, outdated records, and files with no clear ownership or business value.  

Another smart thing to do will be to apply classification tags like ‘Active’ ‘Archive’ ‘Dispose’ to the documents. This will make it easier to classify the documents. 

Know How to Throttle the Migration 

Uncontrolled, high-speed migrations can often lead to failed jobs and retries. At the same time, they can impact live business operations.  

At Evolvous, our migration team will monitor: 

• Utilization of network bandwidth. 

• Throttling limits of SharePoint Online. 

• API request thresholds 

To control the speed of migration intelligently, here are some of the things you can do. 

• Schedule large jobs during off-peak hours. 

• Break migrations into smaller batches 

• Use incremental migration. 

Automate the Validation Checks 

Manual validation takes time and is also error prone. To avoid that, you can automate critical migration data validation checks. 

We automate checks for 

• File count parity 

• Metadata accuracy 

• Permission consistency 

• Scripted comparisons between DocuWare and SharePoint 

In some cases, we also implement 

• Hash-based file integrity checks 

• Exception reporting dashboards 

How to Ensure Data Security and Compliance?

To ensure data security and compliance during SharePoint migration, it is recommended to execute certain actions at every stage of the process 

Before Migration 

Classify data into

• Public 

• Internal 

• Confidential 

• PII or other regulated data 

Map compliance requirements based on  

• GDPR 

• HIPAA 

• Financial regulations 

Encrypt data In Transit and At Rest 

• Ensure data transfer through TLS-encryption 

• Establish secure API connections 

• Enforce encryption at rest by default 

During Encryption 

Use Secure Data Transfer Protocols 

• Use encrypted APIs 

• Avoid local file staging without encryption 

• Don’t transfer files manually through unsecured channels. 

Maintain full audit trails 

• Track the entire migration process 

• Enable unified audit logging 

• Keep the logs safe for compliance audits 

After Migration 

Apply retention policies 

• Apply retention labels across libraries 

• Automate document lifecycle management 

Apply sensitivity labels 

• Classify documents as ‘confidential’ and ‘highly confidential’ 

• Restrict sharing and enforce encryption. 

Data Loss Prevention (DLP) policies 

• Detect sensitive data 

• Block unauthorized sharing 

• Do not allow extensive access 

• Apply DLP policies across Teams and Outlook, along with SharePoint 

SharePoint Enhancements Post Migration 

To truly leverage the capabilities of your new SharePoint environment, you need to go beyond libraries and lists. Here are some of the enhancements that you can do 

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If you are planning for DocuWare to SharePoint migration, connect with our dedicated team of migration partners.  

Here are some of the actions that you can take 

• Get a detailed migration assessment 

• Identify the key risks 

• Build a custom roadmap for your project 

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Frequently Asked Questions 

• How long does it take to migrate from DocuWare to SharePoint? 

In most cases, it takes around 4 to 8 weeks to migrate the data. However, the actual timelines might vary based on the volume, classification, and complexity. 

• What is the cost/price of DocuWare to SharePoint migration? 

The cost can start from $15000 to more than $100,000 depending on the extent of transformation, the data complexity, and the volume of data. 

• Can I migrate to hybrid SharePoint environments? 

Yes. It is possible. However, the process will be a bit different, and the costs will be a bit higher, as you might have to invest in additional infrastructure.