SharePoint On-Premises to SharePoint Online Migration Center¶

The definitive resource for migrating from SharePoint Server 2010/2013/2016/2019 to SharePoint Online, with CSA-in-a-Box integration for governance, analytics, and AI.

Who this is for¶

This migration center serves SharePoint administrators, M365 architects, governance specialists, IT directors, federal CIOs, and collaboration platform owners who are planning or executing a migration from SharePoint Server on-premises to SharePoint Online. Whether you are driven by end-of-support timelines, a cloud-first mandate, Copilot for Microsoft 365 enablement, or the need to consolidate collaboration onto a single modern platform, these resources provide the assessment tools, migration patterns, and step-by-step guidance to execute confidently.

Quick-start decision matrix¶

Strategic resources¶

These documents provide the business case, cost analysis, and strategic framing for decision-makers.

Migration guides¶

Domain-specific deep dives covering every aspect of a SharePoint on-premises to SharePoint Online migration.

Tutorials¶

Hands-on, step-by-step walkthroughs for specific migration tools.

Technical references¶

Government and federal¶

How CSA-in-a-Box fits¶

CSA-in-a-Box provides the governance, analytics, and AI integration layer for SharePoint Online content. While the migration itself moves content from on-premises farms to SPO, CSA-in-a-Box ensures that content is properly governed and available for analytics and AI consumption:

• Microsoft Purview scans SPO sites for classification, sensitivity labels, and data loss prevention. Content types, metadata, and document properties flow into the Purview data catalog for enterprise-wide governance visibility.
• Sensitivity labels applied through Purview protect documents containing CUI, PII, PHI, and other regulated content. Labels persist across Teams, OneDrive, and SPO -- governing content wherever it travels in M365.
• DLP policies enforced through Purview prevent sensitive content from being shared externally or with unauthorized users. Policies can target specific SPO site collections, document libraries, or content types.
• Power BI connects to SharePoint list data and document metadata for operational reporting. Usage analytics, storage trends, and compliance dashboards provide visibility into the migrated content estate.
• Copilot for Microsoft 365 surfaces SharePoint Online content through natural language queries, but only when content is properly labeled and governed. Without Purview governance, Copilot may surface sensitive content to unauthorized users -- making the Purview integration a prerequisite, not an optional enhancement.
• Azure Monitor provides centralized health monitoring for the M365 tenant, including SharePoint Online service health, storage consumption, and API usage metrics.

For capabilities beyond CSA-in-a-Box's current scope (e.g., Power Platform governance, Teams governance, Viva Engage integration), this migration center provides direct guidance using the broader M365 ecosystem.

Migration timeline overview¶

gantt
    title Typical SharePoint On-Premises to SPO Migration (24 weeks)
    dateFormat  YYYY-MM-DD
    section Assessment
    Run SMAT across all farms              :a1, 2026-06-01, 2w
    Inventory sites, workflows, forms      :a2, after a1, 2w
    section Preparation
    Provision SPO tenant                   :p1, after a2, 1w
    Configure Entra ID Connect             :p2, after a2, 1w
    Design modern site architecture        :p3, after p1, 2w
    Remediate SMAT findings                :p4, after p1, 3w
    section Migration
    Wave 0 - Pilot (5 sites)               :m1, after p4, 2w
    Wave 1 - Team sites                    :m2, after m1, 3w
    Wave 2 - Project sites with metadata   :m3, after m2, 3w
    Wave 3 - Publishing / intranet sites   :m4, after m3, 2w
    Wave 4 - Complex sites                 :m5, after m4, 3w
    section Optimization
    Deploy Power Automate flows            :o1, after m3, 4w
    Deploy Power Apps forms                :o2, after m3, 4w
    SPFx solution deployment               :o3, after m4, 3w
    Purview governance configuration       :o4, after m5, 2w
    Decommission on-prem farms             :o5, after o4, 2w

Migration tool comparison¶

SPMT vs Migration Manager vs FastTrack¶

When to use third-party tools¶

Third-party tools (Sharegate, AvePoint, Quest/Metalogix) are warranted when:

• Permission remapping requires granular control beyond AD-to-Entra mapping
• Workflow analysis needs deeper inventory than SMAT provides
• Pre-migration reporting must satisfy compliance or audit requirements
• Multi-tenant migrations or tenant-to-tenant moves are in scope
• Hybrid coexistence requires ongoing synchronization between on-prem and SPO
• Content transformation (e.g., classic-to-modern page conversion) must happen during migration

Content structure¶

sharepoint-to-online/
    index.md                        # This hub page
    why-sharepoint-online.md        # Executive brief
    tco-analysis.md                 # Total cost of ownership
    feature-mapping-complete.md     # 50+ feature mapping
    site-migration.md               # Site collection migration
    content-migration.md            # Documents, lists, metadata
    workflow-migration.md           # Workflows to Power Automate
    infopath-migration.md           # InfoPath to Power Apps
    customization-migration.md      # Farm solutions to SPFx
    security-migration.md           # Permissions and security
    tutorial-spmt-migration.md      # SPMT step-by-step
    tutorial-migration-manager.md   # Migration Manager at scale
    federal-migration-guide.md      # GCC / GCC-High / DoD
    benchmarks.md                   # Performance and throughput
    best-practices.md               # Assessment-first approach

Best practices and operational guidance¶

End-of-support timeline¶

Migration urgency varies by SharePoint version:

Organizations running SharePoint 2016 have approximately 3 months to begin migration. After July 2026, no security patches will be available. There are no Extended Security Updates (ESU) planned for SharePoint Server. Migrate to SPO or upgrade to SharePoint Subscription Edition.

Quick-start: 30-minute assessment¶

Run these three commands to generate a migration readiness snapshot:

# Step 1: Get site inventory (2 minutes)
Add-PSSnapin Microsoft.SharePoint.PowerShell
Get-SPSite -Limit All | Select-Object Url, @{N='SizeMB';E={[math]::Round($_.Usage.Storage/1MB,2)}},
    LastContentModifiedDate, @{N='Webs';E={$_.AllWebs.Count}} |
    Export-Csv -Path "C:\Assessment\sites.csv" -NoTypeInformation

# Step 2: Run SMAT (10-30 minutes depending on farm size)
.\SMAT.exe -SiteURL https://sharepoint.contoso.com -OutputFolder C:\Assessment\SMAT

# Step 3: Review SMAT summary
Import-Csv "C:\Assessment\SMAT\ScanSummary.csv" | Format-Table -AutoSize

References¶

• SharePoint Migration Tool documentation
• Migration Manager documentation
• SharePoint Migration Assessment Tool (SMAT)
• FastTrack for Microsoft 365
• SharePoint Online service description
• PnP PowerShell
• SharePoint Framework (SPFx) documentation
• Power Automate documentation
• Power Apps documentation
• Microsoft Purview compliance documentation

Maintainers: csa-inabox core team Last updated: 2026-04-30