Planning a Notes Migration

Successfully migrating Notes Users and Applications requires careful planning, management and teamwork.

And as in any job, the right tools make it easier. The IONET Notes Pipeliner provides export and migration services for Notes® Mail, Applications and Quickr® to XML, HTML, PDF, PST, Microsoft 365™, SharePoint®, Box and Google G Suite/Drive.

Below we list common steps in any migration, and the ways in which the Pipeliner can assist.
How the Pipeliner can assist in your Notes migration.

1. Planning

Source Data. You don't need to migrate everything. For Mail you could migrate the last 3 months of Mail to production, and everything else to an archive. For Applications, you could first store little-used Apps as HTML or PDF, then migrate the remainder to SharePoint, or import Notes data into your new platform as XML. Use our Application Migration functionality to help you plan the best approach.

Experienced Resources. What will you need? Do you have sufficient staff, experience and computing power available, or do you want to outsource it?

Flexible Execution. How do you want to perform the migration? Is it best to use a big-bang migration, pre-migrate data up front then afterwards, or manage a period of co-existence between different systems?
2. Evaluate Migration Software

What software you use depends mainly on what your requirements are and how much you want to pay. The best approach is to evaluate suitable candidates and test them using your existing data. The Pipeliner allows you to test database migrations using a standard Notes Client as many times as you want, making it easier to evaluate.
3. Discover

Once you've decided the broad outline of your move, audit your environment to identify heavily-used, lightly-used and unused Applications, and the extent of distributed data such as local Notes Mail Archives.
4. Consolidate

Once you know the extent of your environment, consolidate it as much as possible, by uploading local Mail Archives invisibly.
5. Prepare

Back Up. Take a full backup - at least the most important elements - of your existing environment.
Define Roles. Define roles for the migration, including your deliverables.
Define Timelines. Define the expected timeline and milestones for events, including plenty of scope for delays.
Identify Risks and Issues. Create Risk, Issue and Progress Registers to document migration activities.
Add Contingency. Add enough leeway that you have time to adapt or backout if unexpected events occur, i.e. if key people are suddenly unavailable.
Talk to Users. Get Business commitment and sign-off. Train users in the new platform and provide regular updates on the migration status.
Hold Meetings. Hold regular Project meetings with all members of the migration team, to provide project visibility and identify any potential conflicts or problems.
5. Test

Test a subset of data to make sure you understand the timeframes, security and functionality required. The Pipeliner allows you to migrate the same data as many times as you want.
6. Pre-Migrate

Use the Pipeliner to pre-migrate data that doesn't change regularly, like old Mail or Contacts. If it does change later, it'll be migrated again, but this process means a large percentage of your workload can be performed in advance.
7. Migrate

Perform the migration - switch Mail to your new system, migrate your Notes Applications and close access to Notes Databases.
8. Backout or Continue

Use regular checkpoints and tests to ensure the main aspects are working as intended. If there are problems, decide if they're fixable or if you need to backout and restore the original environment.
IONET SoftwarePO Box 77, Paekakariki
Wellington 5034
New Zealand
Tel: +64 4212 5656
info @ ionetsoftware.com
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