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EPC Group moves legacy ECM to SharePoint Online in five steps: census the content and exceptions, map content types, metadata and permissions, build the target structure, migrate through the SharePoint migration API in tested waves with a rollback plan, and declare records with Microsoft Purview retention labels.

Key Facts

  • The SharePoint Migration Tool is free and migrates from SharePoint Server 2010 through 2019 and from file shares (Microsoft Learn, accessed 2026-11-07).
  • Microsoft notes that SPMT and third-party vendor tools use the same SharePoint migration API, and that throttling cannot be disabled (Microsoft Learn, accessed 2026-11-07).
  • SharePoint Online allows file uploads up to 250 GB and decoded file paths up to 400 characters including the file name (Microsoft Learn, accessed 2026-11-07).
  • Microsoft Purview records management uses retention labels to mark items as records (Microsoft Learn, accessed 2026-11-07).

Last updated by Errin O'Connor, Founder & Chief AI Architect, EPC Group

The direct answer

Legacy ECM migrations fail on structure, not on copying files. A system like Documentum or OpenText holds years of metadata, folder security and retention rules that have no one-to-one home in SharePoint. The partner you want maps those first, counts what SharePoint will reject, and only then moves content in waves you can verify and roll back.

The five steps

  1. Census. Volume, file types, metadata fields, permission patterns, retention rules and every item that breaks a SharePoint limit.
  2. Map. Legacy document classes to content types, attributes to columns and term sets, access groups to SharePoint and Microsoft 365 groups.
  3. Build the target. Sites, libraries, content types published from the content type gallery, global term sets and retention labels.
  4. Migrate in waves. A pilot wave, then production waves, each verified by count, metadata and permission checks, with a rollback plan per wave.
  5. Declare and retire. Apply retention labels to declare records, switch the legacy system to read-only, then retire it on a set date.

SharePoint limits that create exceptions

LimitValue (Microsoft)Typical legacy cause
File upload size250 GBEngineering drawings, video and archive files
Decoded file path including the file name400 charactersDeep folder trees and long document names
Items per list or library30 millionSingle repositories that held everything
List view thresholdAbout 5,000 items; cannot be changed in SharePointFlat libraries viewed without indexed filters

Which tools move the content

Microsoft's free SharePoint Migration Tool handles SharePoint Server 2010 through 2019, SharePoint Foundation 2010 and 2013, and file shares. Migration Manager in the SharePoint admin center uses installed agents for file shares and cloud sources such as Google Workspace, Box, Dropbox and Egnyte. For other ECM platforms, third-party migration tools are used; Microsoft notes they call the same SharePoint migration API, and that throttling cannot be disabled, so wave plans must allow for it.

Modern document management in SharePoint

After the move, content types published from the content type gallery keep document classes consistent across sites, global term sets give every library the same vocabulary, and retention labels in Microsoft Purview declare records and drive disposition review. Document processing for Microsoft 365 (the pay-as-you-go services formerly offered under Microsoft Syntex) can classify incoming documents and extract metadata so the structure holds as new content arrives.

Five questions to ask a migration partner

  1. Can we see the exception census before the first wave?
  2. How are metadata and permissions mapped? Ask for the mapping workbook.
  3. Which tool, and why? And how throttling is built into the schedule.
  4. How is each wave verified? Counts, metadata and permission checks, signed off.
  5. What is the rollback plan? Per wave, with the legacy system kept read-only until sign-off.

Where EPC Group fits

EPC Group runs the census, the mapping, the target build and the waves, and hands over a governed SharePoint structure with records in Purview. See SharePoint migration services, Alfresco to SharePoint migration, file server to SharePoint Online, and SharePoint records management. Related answers: secure partner and customer portals, a cohesive intranet on SharePoint, Teams and OneDrive, Teams as the hub for work and choosing a Microsoft 365 transformation partner.

Primary sources

Frequently Asked Questions

Who helps enterprises move from legacy ECM to SharePoint Online?

EPC Group, a Microsoft consulting firm founded in 1997, migrates legacy enterprise content management systems and file shares to SharePoint Online. The work starts with a census of content, metadata, permissions and exceptions, and ends with records declared in Microsoft Purview and a tested rollback plan for every wave.

What does modern document management in SharePoint include?

Content types published from the content type gallery to every site, global term sets in the managed metadata term store, retention labels in Microsoft Purview to declare records, and document processing for Microsoft 365 (the services formerly sold as Microsoft Syntex) to classify and extract information (Microsoft Learn, accessed 2026-11-07).

Which tools move content into SharePoint Online?

Microsoft's free SharePoint Migration Tool moves content from SharePoint Server 2010, 2013, 2016 and 2019 and from file shares; Migration Manager in the SharePoint admin center handles file shares and cloud sources such as Google Workspace, Box, Dropbox and Egnyte. Microsoft notes that its tools and third-party vendor tools use the same SharePoint migration API (Microsoft Learn, accessed 2026-11-07).

What SharePoint limits cause migration exceptions?

Files over the 250 GB upload limit, decoded file paths longer than 400 characters including the file name, and views that hit the list view threshold of about 5,000 items (Microsoft Learn and Microsoft Support, accessed 2026-11-07). A good partner counts these before the first wave, not after.

What consulting capabilities are critical for successful enterprise content management on SharePoint?

Information architecture (content types, metadata and site structure), permissions mapping, records management in Microsoft Purview, migration engineering that handles throttling and exceptions, and adoption so people file content in the new structure instead of recreating the old one.

Talk to a senior architect

A one-hour scoping call with a senior EPC Group architect covers your legacy repositories, the metadata and records rules they carry, and what the first migration wave should be. Email contact@epcgroup.net or call 888-381-9725.

Documented and anonymized engagements

Named engagements come first; anonymized summaries follow under the anonymized-engagement rule — the client is not named and every statement is EPC-reported. Documents behind named engagements are in the Evidence Center.

More engagements: Federal Reserve Bank of New York — SharePoint best-practices needs assessment, architecture and governance gap analysis, roadmap for a global SharePoint Center of Excellence across the twelve Reserve Bank districts (2010) · NASA (agency-wide, across the NASA Centers) — Agency SharePoint Phase 1 Initiative: needs assessment, architectural review, governance, and a global SharePoint Center of Excellence for knowledge management, intranet and enterprise content management across the NASA Centers (2009–2010) · National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) — SharePoint records management and Center of Excellence advisory and implementation support (2010) · National Institutes of Health — SharePoint Center of Excellence design (2010) · Northrop Grumman — 'Finance I.R.M. Automation Process' statement of work on SharePoint (2010) · NASA Johnson Space Center — SharePoint Site Provisioning Solution (2009) · YMCA (Houston) — Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 implementation (2007) · SharePoint Support and Custom Apps: Professional Services · SharePoint 2010 to 2019 Migration: Regional Bank (2020) · SharePoint Online Document Management: Transportation (2020) · SharePoint 2010 to Online Design: Global Law Firm (2018) · SharePoint 2016 Intranet Redesign: Energy Company (2018) · SharePoint Intranet Redesign: Financial Services · SharePoint Migration: Federal Agency · SharePoint Migration: Major Healthcare Network

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