You were told migration would take three months. It's been eight. Content is scattered between old servers and the new cloud. Half your team works from one system, half from the other. Nobody knows which document version is real. Sound familiar?
These aren't hypothetical scenarios. These are conversations I have every single week with IT directors and CTOs who started a migration, hit a wall, and realized they need someone who has done this before.
The project kicked off with energy. A vendor was hired. Timelines were set. Now it's been six, eight, maybe twelve months, and you're still running two parallel environments. Users are confused. IT is exhausted. Budget conversations are getting uncomfortable.
Folders were dumped into SharePoint Online without a content map. Metadata didn't carry over. Documents that belonged to Finance sit in HR's site. The search returns 200 results, none of them useful. Migration happened, but organization didn't.
Users who should have access don't. Users who shouldn't do. Nobody knows who has permissions to what, because the migration tool mapped them incorrectly, or didn't map them at all. Every week brings a new "I can't access this file" complaint.
Three versions of the same policy document live in three different libraries. Some are from the old server. Some from the new one. Nobody knows which version is current. Instead of a single source of truth, you have a multiple-sources-of-confusion problem.
SharePoint Designer workflows, InfoPath forms, custom web parts that worked fine on-premises simply don't translate to SharePoint Online. They weren't rebuilt. They weren't replaced. The processes that depended on them now require manual workarounds that eat hours every week.
They ran the migration tool, checked the boxes, sent an invoice, and disappeared. No documentation on what was moved and what was left behind. No governance framework. No training. Now your internal team is afraid to touch anything because they don't understand the new environment.
No two migrations are identical. The data volume, the compliance requirements, the custom code, the integration points, and the political dynamics all vary. Here's where I operate.
Moving from SharePoint 2013, 2016, or 2019 on-premises to SharePoint Online in Microsoft 365. The most common migration scenario, and the one where most things go wrong.
Mergers, acquisitions, divestitures, rebranding. Two Microsoft 365 tenants need to become one, or one needs to split. The data, users, groups, and configurations all need to land correctly.
Already on SharePoint Online but stuck on classic sites, classic web parts, and classic UI? Modern SharePoint is faster, mobile-responsive, and integrates better with Teams and Viva.
Migrating from network file shares, Google Drive, Box, Dropbox, or legacy ECM systems like Documentum and OpenText into SharePoint Online. This is where metadata strategy becomes everything.
These aren't scare tactics. These are real costs I've seen organizations absorb when migrations are handled by generalist agencies or attempted in-house without a clear strategy.
Every engagement follows a structured, transparent process. You know what's happening at every stage, because surprises in migration projects always cost money.
Before touching a single file, I map your entire current environment. Every site collection. Every custom workflow. Every integration point. Every compliance requirement. The audit reveals what you have, what you actually need, and what can be cleaned up before migration.
Based on the audit, I design the target architecture. This isn't just "move files from A to B." It's deciding how content should be organized in the new environment, what metadata structures make sense, how permissions should be modeled, and what the governance rules will be going forward.
I run a controlled pilot with a subset of your content. Usually one department or one site collection. This validates the migration approach, tests the tooling, identifies edge cases, and gives your team a preview of what the new environment looks and feels like.
Phased, incremental migration with weekly progress updates. Content moves in planned waves. Each wave is validated before the next begins. Custom workflows are rebuilt in Power Automate. Permissions are tested by actual users, not just scripts. Search is configured and tuned.
Post-migration validation covers content integrity, permissions accuracy, search functionality, and workflow performance. Orphaned content is identified and cleaned. Once everything checks out, the old environment is decommissioned with a documented cutover plan.
Your team receives complete documentation covering the new architecture, governance rules, permission models, and maintenance procedures. I run hands-on knowledge transfer sessions so your internal team owns the environment going forward.
Agencies assign your project to whoever is available. You meet the architect on Monday, the developer on Tuesday, and neither of them talked to each other. Here's what's different.
| Dimension | Typical Agency | Working with Darshana |
|---|---|---|
| Who does the actual work? | Junior developer assigned after the sales call ends | The same person on the strategy call writes the architecture and handles execution |
| Migration experience | The team has "done some migrations" | 50+ enterprise migrations across industries and geographies over 11 years |
| When things break | Escalation chain, ticket system, 48-hour SLA | Direct message, same-day resolution, because one brain holds the full context |
| Pricing model | Hourly billing incentivizes longer timelines | Fixed-scope, fixed-price options keep everyone aligned on outcomes |
| After the project | Thin documentation, "call us for support" upsell | Thorough documentation, hands-on knowledge transfer, your team is self-sufficient |
Beyond the migration itself, every project includes deliverables designed to make your team independent. No vendor lock-in. No dependency on me for everyday operations.
Book a free 30-minute migration assessment. Tell me where you are, where you need to be, and what's blocking progress. If I can help, I'll tell you exactly how and what it will cost. If someone else is a better fit, I'll tell you that too.