• Enhanced functionality with out-of-the-box features such as:
  • The ability to set up more attractive, user-friendly pages.
  • Easier navigation.
  • Better search with fewer clicks.
  • A simple analytics function allowing you to see how users engage with your site.
  • Improved ability to tag meta data against your documents such as ‘owner’, ‘subject’ and ‘delete/review by dates’.
  • Interface with the Microsoft Power Platform applications including Power Automate and Power BI.
• Cost savings for the University by removing SharePoint 2010.
• Removal of risks associated with key business functions working on unsupported, out-of-date platforms that are not fully backed up. (Currently about 200 sites and 4.5M applicant/student documents are located on SharePoint 2010).
• Improved regulatory compliance with all relevant legislation relating to Data Protection and GDPR. (SharePoint Online also makes it easy for colleagues to manage retention by tagging documents and adding ‘Review By’ dates).
• Information and advice provided for site owners and managers to support the move to SharePoint Online.
• Improved guidance on how to set up and manage your site effectively and securely (See M365 Help and Support).

More information is available on the SharePoint Migration Project SharePoint site.

• Owners and managers of more complex sites will be asked to review content, add metadata (such as keywords) to support content searches and remove obsolete content.
• We will move the content for less complex sites to SharePoint Online with minimal or no support required from site owners and managers.

• We are working to identify all site owners and managers before moving sites.
• We are contacting site owners and managers before each move to provide information and advice about moving content.
• There is a bespoke template, with a new look and feel, for University of Manchester Sharepoint Online sites.
• Each new SharePoint Online site will have a new web address (URL, Uniform Resource Locator). A redirection is being set up for each site to ensure minimal disruption for users. 
• The work is supported by our strategic delivery partner, CDW.

SharePoint 2010 sites may be removed if not accessed for several months, if site owners fail to respond to repeat communications, or cannot be identified.

Moves to SharePoint Online are scheduled for the early hours of the morning. These are completed before the start of usual local business hours which mean there should be no disruption for site users.

Phase 1 of moving sites from SharePoint 2010 to SharePoint Online is due to be completed in January 2024. We will be moving to Phase 2 after that.