Streamlining SharePoint Permissions and OneDrive for Business Migration

Challenge

A growing organization needed to modernize how users accessed shared business files and individual user data in Microsoft 365. The environment included a large SharePoint Online document library structure (~4TB of shared folder data) and user home drive content for 18 users that needed to be migrated into OneDrive for Business. The goal was a cleaner Microsoft 365 file access model that separated shared departmental data from user-owned files, with permissions aligned to defined security groups rather than ad hoc access assignments.

Approach

Safari Micro used a structured approach built around SharePoint Online, OneDrive for Business, and ShareGate. For SharePoint, the team inventoried and audited the shared folder structure, identified appropriate security groups, and applied group-based permissions across the document library. For OneDrive, Safari Micro identified each user's home drive location, provisioned service account permissions, built source endpoint objects in ShareGate, initialized OneDrive storage for users who had not yet used it, built migration scripts, ran initial syncs, scheduled ongoing synchronization before cutover, and coordinated end-user communication to support the transition.

Results

• SharePoint document library permissions aligned to defined security groups across ~4TB of shared data
• 18 user home drives migrated into individual OneDrive for Business storage
• OneDrive storage initialized for users who had not previously used OneDrive
• Initial and ongoing sync runs completed to reduce cutover risk
• Legacy home drive dependency reduced through structured cutover coordination
• Cleaner separation established between shared collaboration spaces and individual user files
• More scalable permissions structure delivered for shared SharePoint data