Our client is a UK healthcare provider delivering a broad range of care services, from staffing solutions and supported living through to specialist support for children, young people, and individuals with complex or acquired brain injuries. Operating across residential homes, NHS hospitals, SEN schools and community settings, they run a digital-first operation, using app-based tools for shift booking, compliance tracking and recruitment management. Reliable, well-organised data isn’t a nice-to-have for a business like this, it’s fundamental to safe, compliant care delivery.
The Challenge
The provider had already moved their mailboxes over to Microsoft 365 and wanted to complete the job by migrating their file storage from Google Drive to SharePoint. Simple in theory, but in practice it had turned into a months-long headache.
They’d been working with another IT provider to make the move, but months in, only a portion of the data had actually made it across. With a growing, multi-site care organisation depending on quick, reliable access to files, a stalled migration wasn’t just inconvenient, it was a genuine operational risk. After repeated attempts with limited progress, they came to us to get the job finished properly.
Our Approach
We followed our established migration process rather than picking up where the previous attempt had left off blind:
- Assessed the existing Google Drive environment to understand the full scope, structure and volume of data that needed to move.
- Reviewed the SharePoint site they’d already set up, and used working demo sites to show them what good practice looks like for structure, permissions and navigation.
- Agreed a recommended approach together, making sure the new setup would actually work for how their teams operate day to day, not just replicate the old Google Drive folder structure.
- Restructured the SharePoint site based on those recommendations before any data moved.
- Booked a fixed switchover date, giving the business certainty and a clear point to plan around, rather than the open-ended uncertainty of the previous attempt.
- Completed the full migration on schedule, moving the entirety of their data across in one clean cutover.
The Result
Where months of prior effort had only delivered a partial migration, a full, structured switchover was completed on a defined timeline. Once the switchover date passed, every file was exactly where it should be in the new SharePoint site, correctly structured and ready to use, with nothing left behind on Google Drive.
The client’s reaction summed it up:
“How did you do that?”
For a healthcare provider managing sensitive data across residential, hospital, education and community settings, having a properly structured, fully migrated SharePoint environment means faster access to the information staff need, cleaner permissions management, and one less thing standing between their teams and the people they care for.
Why It Matters
Migrations that stall midway are a common problem, and they tend to leave organisations with the worst of both worlds: two systems to manage, inconsistent data, and no clear path to finishing the job. Getting it right the first time, with a proper assessment, a clear plan and a fixed cutover date, is what turns a project like this from an ongoing drain into a completed win.