For those planning on a SharePoint migration, few things are as frustrating as finding an accurate price estimate. It may seem like every vendor you talk to only says the same thing, “it depends”. Sadly, it’s because SharePoint migrations are projects with many different moving parts and variables. Thus, pricing can depend upon a variety of different factors. However, this variability does not mean that accurate price quotes can’t be made.
For example, at Affirma Consulting for example, we’ve gone through hundreds of SharePoint migration projects to find the different factors that can best determine a project’s overall cost. And while an exact quote can’t be made without a thorough accounting of all the different factors going into the migration, ball park estimates can confidently be made after reviewing a few key assets.
Scope and Size
The main issue when quoting SharePoint migrations is articulating the exact scope and size of the project. For example, it is important to know the number of migrating content sources that will be used, as well as the total size of the content. A project that is migrating data from websites, spreadsheets, and databases will be much more expensive than a simple migration of a CMS. Just as a migration of several terabytes worth of content will be much costlier than a migration of a hundred GB’s.
Scheduling
Scheduling can also play a large role in deciphering a project’s total cost. If tight internal or external deadlines exist, you can expect a corresponding increase in price. Accelerated migrations require a greater allocation of resources and coordination. Two factors that generally will push costs higher.
Number of Sites and Users
Finally, the number of users and sites will affect the costs and complexities of your SharePoint migration. Obviously, the higher the number of users or site collections, the higher the cost will be to migrate them.
So how much will my SharePoint migration cost? While it would be impossible to give an exact quote without the answers to these questions, there are some reasonable ballpark figures that can be thrown around with some confidence. Unless your migration has extremes on either the size of the content or number of users, it is reasonable to expect that your migration will run anywhere from $30,000 on the low end, to $80,000 for especially large or robust systems.
Saving Money With a Planning Phase
A simple technique to help with migration planning is SharePoint site mapping. At Affirma, to keep costs down and visibility high, we often start with a planning phase before each migration implementation. While it might seem wasteful to begin a planning phase before an implementation, the reality is that having a thorough planning phase can bring down the total cost of the project.
Many different aspects of the project are covered in the planning phase. Content inventories, feasibility assessments, and migration documentation is performed, along with overall project planning. Planning phases are much less expensive than full migrations and rarely exceed $15,000 to $20,000. Poor, or lack of proper planning phases can result in costly reworks or even irrecoverable mistakes. Affirma’s planning phases ensure that the time and costs used upfront will decrease the complexity and cost of the eventual migration project.
Whether your needs are large or small, if you’re considering a SharePoint migration, we invite you to contact us and we’d be happy to discuss the specifics of your project.
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