We compare two data migration tools, Migration Manager and Sharegate, to determine which would be the best option when moving from Google and Box to Microsoft 365.
Migration from Google to Microsoft 365 can be a challenge in many ways, but the migration of files doesn’t necessarily have to be a soul-sucking experience thanks to the reigning champion of all things – SharePoint, Sharegate, and Microsoft’s Migration Manager, formerly known as Mover. (Microsoft is in mid-transition from Mover to Migration Manager, but we’ll refer to it as Migration Manager for this blog).
Recently, I got the opportunity to migrate terabytes of data from Google Workspaces and Box to both SharePoint Online and OneDrive for Business. As always, I learned some valuable lessons that hopefully will help you align with the right migration tool to make your migration a snap.
Sharegate Vs. Migration Manager
Sharegate and Migration Manager (Mover) are both excellent applications that take a very different approach to the migration of data. If you aren’t already familiar with Sharegate, it’s been around since the early days of SharePoint. You can not only use it in migration scenarios, but it has a wide feature set of administration actions that can make a SharePoint administrator’s life a lot simpler.
From permissions management to bulk, site updates, Sharegate can simplify many of the more painful day-to-day admin tasks. Additionally, instead of a “pay by the gigabyte” pricing model, Sharegate simplifies licensing by offering a year-to-year license for unlimited use at a reasonable price.
In late 2019, Microsoft acquired Mover as a primary migration solution to copy data into Microsoft 365 service lines. Unlike Sharegate’s client install, Mover, now Migration Manager, is a cloud-based application requiring no installation and very little configuration to get that data moving in the right direction. The best feature by far – it’s completely free to use.
So, how did both applications fare when migrating Google Workspaces and Box? Let’s compare:
Sharegate: The OG
Pros:
- Sharegate’s migration tool can move Google Drive data with all the perks and configurations the product includes, such as transforms, permissions, metadata, and versions.
- Sharegate uses Azure Blob Storage to stage data and increase migration speed – aptly named Sharegate Insane Mode.
- A Sharegate migration is simple to configure.
- There is no data cap on how much you can migrate.
- It has extensive reporting capabilities.
- Sharegate fully supports automation through PowerShell.
Cons:
- It only supports the migration of personal data, a.k.a. Google Drive content. It will not support the migration of Google Shared or Team Drives. This is a huge limitation in my experience when migrating from Google Workspaces.
- Sharegate migrates data in serial, which can considerably extend a migration timeline.
- There is an associated cost.
- It is client based – typically installed on a server as a middle point between source and destination data.
- Sharegate offers limited support for the migration of alternate applications. It supports Box migration but only via PowerShell, and it does not support Dropbox migrations at all.
Migration Manager: The New Kid
Pros:
- It can migrate from a large list of applications, including Box, Dropbox and Google Shared or Team Drives.
- Migration Manager can migrate multithreaded, which drastically speeds up the data copy.
- It’s simple to configure.
- It offers advanced filtering capabilities in the migration job, including regex.
- There is no data cap on how much you can migrate.
- Migration Manager automatically runs a failed migration instance three times to ensure the failure wasn’t due to timeout, and so on.
- It’s clientless.
- Migration Manager is free.
Cons:
- It’s a web-only interface that, at times, can be buggy on refresh.
- Migration Manager does not support versions. It will only migrate the latest version.
- You cannot remove the instance from the migration project once you run a migration. For example, if the destination was incorrect when you ran it, you’ll have to create a new instance for that migration and also work around that original failed instance. This can make navigation a bit of a nightmare, depending on the size of the job.
- Google migrations require a prescan that Migration Manager technicians must request and run. Although you can create a migration job and run items without the scan, Migration Manager’s stance is that permissions are at your own risk if you don’t get the prescan. They will not run a prescan in a migration job that has any item already run.
- Migration Manager offers limited reporting capability.
Sharegate Migration Speed vs. Migration Manager Migration Speed
When it comes to speed, Migration Manager destroys Sharegate, which is in part due to its threading capabilities and simplicity. The Sharegate migration speed via desktop can be throttled up and down to run as fast as the infrastructure it’s installed on, but being a client-side application, this commonly stays around 1 to 2GB an hour, in my experience. When you consider that Migration Manager can run migrations in parallel, you see it drastically improves move time to completion in comparison to Sharegate.
That said, the same simplicity that creates this afterburner speed limits Migration Manager by leaving out the granular capabilities Sharegate offers – most noticeably, metadata transforms and versioning.
The Answer? Use Both Migration Tools
Of course, the bullets above do not list every pro and con of each application, but as you can see, both migration applications are very powerful in their own realm. In my opinion, a migration from Google to Microsoft should include the use of both applications as they coexist and complement each other very well.
Based on my early experience with the application, Migration Manager definitely made a name for itself and will remain in my file migration toolbox. I look forward to seeing how Microsoft adapts and updates its toolset in the future.
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