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Migrate Content

As you start your Box Content Cloud journey, relocating content that exists in other tools is an important first step. Users will use the tools that contain their important files, and so by moving those files to Box, you can achieve early adoption of your new cloud content management tool. Plus, by migrating off old tools, you can decommission those tools and achieve early ROI of your Box investment.

When scoping out your migration into Box, consider the volume of content you have across your business and the amount of content that certain teams and departments have. Your migration approach, and the technology that you use to move your content, will vary by the size of the data you're looking to get into Box.

It's likely that during your migration journey, you'll have multiple migration projects – some that are large and others that are small. In some cases, users will want to migrate their own content into Box. In general, Box's recommended migration methods are based on the volume content as follows:

 

1-10 GB 10-100 GB 100 GB-1 TB 1-10 TB 10+ TB
  • Drag and drop files
  • Upload folders
  • Box Drive
  • Upload folders
  • FTP
  • Box Shuttle standard tooling
  • Box Shuttle standard tooling
  • Box Shuttle advanced tooling
  • Box Shuttle managed migration services
  • Box Shuttle advanced tooling
  • Box Shuttle managed migration services

 

Potential migration methods

Drag and Drop Files

<1 GB of content

If you're uploading less than 1 GB of content, using drag and drop is the best option.  It’s easy to drag and drop a file into the Box web application to upload it.  Just make sure you are using Firefox, Chrome, Edge, Internet Explorer 9+, Safari, or any browser that supports HTML5.

Upload Folders

1 – 100 GB of content

Upload Folders is perfect for migrating up to 500 files at once. In the Box web application, toward the top left click Upload, and from the menu that displays, click Upload Folders. Read more about uploading to Box with the File Browser.

You can use Upload Folders as an opportunity to evaluate your current folder structure and redefine it as necessary in Box so that it is clutter-free and intuitive. This is also a good step for users who are facilitating their own migrations, especially from local devices.

Before using Upload Folders, create your primary folder structure in Box. Then populate these new folders with files using Upload Folders. Your primary folder structure can serve as your guide as you migrate content into the account. Work with your admins and co-admins to build and test your folder structure before you start migrating content in bulk.

FTP

<100 GB of content

You can also send files to Box using FTP. While FTP is more effective at moving larger quantities of files than the options available in the Box web application, it's an older protocol that doesn't offer the same flexibility or reporting capabilities as a more modern migration tool, especially at scale. Read more about using FTP or FTPS with Box.

If you're considering FTP because you have more than a handful of files that need to get into Box, we recommend also looking at Box Shuttle.

Box Shuttle – content migration at scale

>100 GB of content

The migration methods discussed above are suitable for small migrations. For migrating larger volumes of data, Box Shuttle is Box's market-leading content migration program, which offers organizations powerful tooling and expert services to get content into Box. With Box Shuttle, organizations can consolidate their content off any content silo and centralize all content into Box. There are several different options for organizations who are looking to migrate content into Box

  • Box Shuttle standard migration tooling
    • Allows for self-service migration off of six different source tools: Windows disks, network file shares, OneDrive, Google Drive, Dropbox for Business, and SharePoint Online
    • Allows for robust source system data analysis, and the efficient migration of version history and standard metadata fields
    • Allows for automated permissions mapping and re-mapping to match Box's waterfall permissions model
    • Box Shuttle standard migration tooling allows for free migration of up to 10 TBs for all Box business customers, and 20 TBs for Box Enterprise Plus customers. To get started, just fill out this survey.
  • Box Shuttle advanced migration tooling
    • Allows for self-service migration off of 15 total source tools, including the six Standard tooling sources, plus: SharePoint On-Premises, Citrix Sharefile, FTP, AWS, GCP, and Azure
    • Allows for individualized permissions and ownership re-mapping to match Box's waterfall permissions model
    • Box Shuttle advanced migration tooling is a paid product from Box. Contact your Box account team to learn more.
  • Box Shuttle managed migration services
    • Allows for migration off the above 15 source tools, plus any other tool that an organization may have, including ECM tools, line of business apps, and physical paper documents
    • Allows for custom metadata mapping and bulk application
    • Execution services provided by Box Consulting, including project management, solutions architecture, change management, end user education, etc.
    • Box Shuttle managed migration services are paid services from Box. Contact your Box account team to learn more.

Learn more about Box Shuttle by visiting box.com/migrate or visiting the Box Shuttle product page.

Get started with your own Box Shuttle content migration today by filling out this quick survey.

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