Tag - file shares

Alternatives to SharePoint and OneDrive

Alternatives to OneDrive and SharePoint (and when to consider them)

One of the things I often get asked about is how to deal with various limitations in OneDrive and SharePoint Online. For those who don’t know, SharePoint Online is the file storage & sharing solution underpinning the Microsoft 365 universe of applications, including the popular Teams application, while OneDrive for...
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The “Five Rules of Fields” for File Server Migrations to Microsoft 365

What a fun tongue twister, and such a practical resource that I am excited to share with you today! Well, actually a lot of this information you might have already gleaned by following my past posts about file server migration. But I still find that when I consult with folks...
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The importance of starting with OneDrive

I am going to make an argument that OneDrive is the most important application for you to focus on when starting a new migration of files to Microsoft 365. Not Teams, and not SharePoint. OneDrive. I recommend starting here for a variety of reasons--and maybe not all of the ones...
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Understanding file server migrations to Microsoft 365

In my opinion, there is only one viable migration path to move data from old file servers to Microsoft 365: it has to be a user-engaged migration. IT people always ask me about tools--stuff like the SharePoint migration tool or Microsoft's recent acquisition of mover.io, and there are even fancier...
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Replacing folder redirection and mapped network drives: Controlling the OneDrive client experience on Windows 10 with Intune

For as long as we can remember, the primary way to share files in an organization was mapped network drives. This may have included a "Public" or "Company" drive (e.g. P:\ for Public), as well as a "Home" or "User" drive (H:\ or U:\ respectively). As well, there may have...
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How to migrate company file shares and mapped drives to Office 365 using the SharePoint Migration Tool

I debated on writing about this tool for a long time. Because here's the thing: most file servers in production today are just huge garbage piles, built out of years of half-completed thoughts and haphazard document collaboration. Therefore, before we get into it, I first want to cover off on...
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How to migrate from Windows Server Active Directory to Azure AD and Microsoft 365 Business (including Teams) in 5 easy steps

Microsoft 365 Business is a very compelling platform for the small business, particularly those that are "born in the cloud," or, those who have shed most of their on-premises server weight already, by moving their line of business apps to cloud-based alternatives. I can't tell you how many clients I...
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Replacing your traditional file server with Microsoft Teams and OneDrive, part 2: How to make it happen fast

As promised, today I am going to show you how easy it is to replace your legacy file server and network drive experience with Microsoft Teams and OneDrive. Seriously, anyone can set this up, and it takes just a few minutes. Pre-requisites are: Windows 10 Pro (Creators Update or later)...
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Replacing your traditional file server with Microsoft Teams and OneDrive, part 1: Overcoming the hurdles

There is no doubt about it, more and more workloads are moving to the cloud these days, especially in the SMB space. Nevertheless, more often than not organizations (even small ones) remain completely disorganized when it comes to their legacy file servers, and this can be the most difficult piece...
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Can OneDrive and SharePoint replace my file server? Probably, with Files On-Demand.

The real answer to this question is: it depends. But the shorter version is: probably. You'll just want to enable Files On-Demand first.* OneDrive has been great for personal files for a long time--I usually recommend clients start by replacing redirected "Documents" folders with OneDrive for Business. The problem with SharePoint,...
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