A Guide to Migrating Public Folders to SharePoint

Learn how to migrate Microsoft Exchange public folders Microsoft SharePoint Server as easily as possible.

Microsoft Exchange Server public folders have long been a destination for users to share information, and they have served as a central repository to store messages, files, calendars, contacts, and more.

More recently, however, as more and more organizations have realized the value of Microsoft SharePoint as a preferred online collaboration and portal platform, organizations have begun to search for reliable ways to migrate business-critical content onto Microsoft SharePoint.

For the time being, there’s no time pressure for organizations to do so, because public folders will continue to exist and be supported until the end of the Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 product life cycle in 2016 or 2017. But there are compelling reasons for adopting a SharePoint-based solution:

• better presentation
• search
• and mobile access

Expectations must be managed carefully because migrating is a complex labor-intensive undertaking that if handled incorrectly can result in significant business interruption.

This guide to migrating public folders to SharePoint Server, brought to you by Windows IT Pro and AvePoint, will provide a general overview of the process that will help you plan, design, and carryout your migration with as few problems and pitfalls as possible.