From research, it has become clear that the most common way to upgrade from SharePoint Server 2003 to Microsoft Office 365 (SharePoint Online), is to first upgrade to MOSS 2007. However there are some third party tools available to facilitate the migration, this will be discussed in another post.
Good planning in advance seems to be the key thing when upgrading a large portal and there are a handful of analyses that should be conducted which are detailed below..
| Type of Analysis | Measure | Description |
| Logical Implementation | Number and Type of existing sites | Understanding this will enable the orgaisation to determine usage and whether or not the sites are used etc. |
| Logical Implementation | Audiences for existing sites | Understanding the audiences will help to determine the configuration to support the security and access structure. |
| Logical Implementation | Site access methods and requirements | Understanding methods of access, both current and future desired state enables requirements to be met with MOSS. |
| Logical Implementation | Site feature usage and requirements | A list of utilized features should collated to ensure that the current site templates are appropriate and satisfy requirements. |
| Physical Implementation | Size of existing sites content database organisation | Once numbers and types of sites has been established, a primary input to the planning of migration and organistion for MOSS will be how the physical structure of SPS exists. |
| Physical Implementation | Size and placement of existing server farm infrastructure | Both the physical layout of the servers within the farm as well as the physical implementation of sites within the virtual servers inside SPS Virtual Servers to newly design MOSS Web Applications. |
In a further blog post we will be looking at the next steps required when migrating.