Migration From SAN to Google Drive

Functional Areas

Training, Communication, File Storage, Google Doc Migration

Client

A luxury fashion house based in Great Britain that manufactures clothing, fragrance and fashion accessories as well as having a global retail presence.

Challenge

Migrate from SAN.

The client had 15 terabytes of files stored on SAN space across multiple locations and between maintaining and upgrading the system they found themselves with an IT nightmare. Their goal was to reduce the storage space to reduce costs on their SAN, as well as refreshing what was a 5-year-old system.

The client had previously attempted to migrate on its own from SharePoint to Google Drive. The process was deemed unsuccessful due to both processing limitations and other technical issues.

Approach

A White Stratus team made up of Solution Architect Rowan McCann, Project Lead Willie Chiu, and Migration Expert Burak Basoglu, carried out a series of feasibility interviews with individuals who used SAN at Burberry. Through discussions with both business and IT personnel, greater understanding was gained of how files were organized across multiple storage sites. Initial objectives were to understand the client’s network bandwidth, determine a strategy for global doc migration and develop an initial roll out plan for implementation. A target presentation of the feasibility analysis was slated 11 days after the project kickoff.

The White Stratus Team found that a main reason the initial attempt to migrate from SharePoint to Google Drive failed was a lack of training and communication between old and new management. Many employees reported not even knowing that the migration was taking place.

The solution team recommended the use of an automated process to transfer ownership into the Google Drive. The implementation of Q: drives for personal use would assist in this process. Involvement from Burberry IT and clear communication and training would be essential for a seamless migration.

The migration would be performed over multiple releases using an automated approach. The White Stratus team will document and analyze stats from migration throughout, so as to resolve any issues during migration.

• Release 1A:  Migrate drive for Core IT group
• Release 1B:  Migrate drive for early adopters 
• Release 2:    Migrate drive for all users via a Global Go Live
• Release 3:    Migrate shared drive for team user groups

The challenge of internal communication would be addressed through a simultaneous top-down and bottom-up approach. Initial training would need to be at the senior leadership level, followed by quick responses from department managers and the Google Docs Project Team for lower level users.

Training needs for the adoption of Google Docs and other features of gDrive will have to be met through face-to-face classroom sessions on location in the client’s many locations. The White Stratus team felt that face-to-face training would facilitate the highest level of adoption. Executives and IT Helpdesk representatives would require the most in-depth levels of training, to facilitate the trickle down of knowledge to migrated SharePoint users, retailers and creative personnel.

The target migration time was laid out in a 6-month release format.