Imagine moving your entire office without sorting what you need, where it should go, or if it even fits. Sounds messy, right? The same applies to migrating your Enterprise Content Management (ECM) system. Without a proper pre-migration analysis, you risk losing important files, breaking compliance rules, and facing costly downtime. This first step will help you with a smooth and hassle-free migration. Let’s understand why pre-migration analysis sets the foundation for an ECM transition.
Why Pre-Migration Analysis Matters?
A pre-migration analysis provides a clear understanding of the existing ECM environment, meaning that only relevant, structured, data moves to your new system. Key benefits include:
- Identifying Data Volume and Structure – Large ECM systems often contain redundant, outdated, or trivial (ROT) data. Analyzing file types, sizes, metadata, and hierarchy helps with streamlining the migration process.
- Assessing Permissions and Security – ECM systems have complex permission structures. They generate user and permission reports which helps in security mapping.
- Evaluating Metadata and Versioning – Many ECM platforms support rich metadata and version history. Understand these elements as it helps in mapping them accurately.
- Estimating Migration Effort – Your thorough analysis will help in selecting the right migration approach (bulk, incremental), estimating timelines, and preventing unexpected downtime.
Key Steps in Pre-Migration Analysis
- Inventory Data & Structure – Use automated tools to scan repositories, identify active/inactive content, and analyze metadata dependencies.
- Security & Permissions Audit – Understand current security settings and map them to the new system to avoid access problems after migration.
- Validate Metadata – Metadata and content integrity are the usability and searchability of data in your new system.
- Define a Migration Strategy – Choose between a full migration, phased migration approach based on your preference.
How Tzunami’s Pre-Migration Analyzer Helps in Migration Planning?
Tzunami Pre-Migration Analyzer provides a deep scan of your existing ECM system, allowing organizations to:
✅ Assess Data Volume & Complexity – Identify the total size, number of files, and distribution of data to determine storage and resource needs.
✅ Detect Migration Risks Early – Spot problematic files, such as those exceeding your target system’s character limits or containing restricted characters, before they cause issues.
✅ Classify & Organize Content – Analyze metadata, file types, and folder structures to map out how data should be arranged in the new system.
✅ Optimize Performance – Identify redundant, outdated, or unnecessary files that can be archived or deleted, preventing bloat in the new environment.
Steps-by-step Process
1️⃣ Launch Tzunami Pre-Migration Analyzer
- Open the tool and select your ECM system (e.g., SharePoint, Documentum, OpenText).
2️⃣ Connect to Your ECM System
- Enter authentication details to establish a secure connection.
- Load repositories to analyze file structures, metadata, and permissions.
3️⃣ Configure Analysis Settings
- Choose the target SharePoint version and set rules for detecting invalid characters, file size limits, and security settings.
4️⃣ Select Content for Analysis
- Expand the tree view and choose specific files, folders, or entire repositories for scanning.
5️⃣ Run the Analysis
- Click “Analyze ECM” to perform a full scan.
- Use filters (e.g., date ranges, file types) to analyze specific data subsets.
6️⃣ Identify Problematic Items
- The tool flags issues such as:
✅ Invalid file names & long URLs (not supported in SharePoint)
✅ Blocked file extensions (e.g., .exe, .dll)
✅ Oversized files that exceed SharePoint limits
✅ Checked-out or zero-byte files
7️⃣ Analyze Permissions & Security
- Review user access reports to ensure permissions are correctly mapped in the new system.
8️⃣ Check Metadata & Versioning
- Validate metadata fields (e.g., author, timestamps, document types).
- Ensure version count.
9️⃣ Generate Reports
- Export findings as CSV reports for migration planning and team review.
🔟 Optimize & Plan Migration
- Use analysis insights to clean up unnecessary data.
- Adjust security settings, metadata mappings, and folder structures.
- Define the best migration strategy (bulk or phased approach).
Final Thought
Run a pre-migration analysis well in advance to allow time for cleanup and adjustments. The better you prepare, the smoother your transition will be. Take advantage of Tzunami Pre-Migration Analyzer to eliminate migration risks.
