06:53
Paragyte Technologies
SharePoint 2013 comes with some slick features and amazing
capabilities no doubt, but an upgrade from a previous version of SharePoint to
a new one is always fraught with risks. Upgrading from SharePoint 2010 to 2013
is no different in this regard. The upgrade has to be carried out with a lot of
planning and monitoring, so that one does not face errors or lose out on some
functionality due to compatibility issues, or customization differences.
Why Upgrading to SharePoint 2013 is Worthwhile?
SharePoint 2013 comes with some cutting edge tools and
developments that make a user's SharePoint experience all the more enriching
and productive. Some of its great features are -
·
Design Manager – A whole new array of
web-based tools to design your pages, templates and styles.
·
Device Channels – This provides a way for
SharePoint developers to design and define pages for various devices –
androids, windows phones, iPhones or surface.
·
Cross Platform Portability – 2013 comes
with a lot of cool features like HTML5, CSS3 etc., which make the availability
of application across devices and browsers a cakewalk.
·
Community Portal – A site for SharePoint
developers and users to come together and connect, within the organization.
Challenges Encountered in Upgrade from 2010 to 2013
The sea change in design between SharePoint 2010 and 2013
means that a lot of things that worked in 2010 will no longer work in 2013.
That is to say, they would need to be rebuilt to work the same way they did
previously or adopted to work in a new and better way in the newer version.
Some of the major challenges you might encounter are -
Branding
When upgrading from SharePoint 2010 to 2013, you are bound
to lose all your customized branding. That is because 2013 uses HTML5,
which is built to work on all platforms, browsers and devices. Since 2010 does
not allow such a flexibility, the customization done in 2010 will not be
compatible to 2013 and one would need to rebuild the whole branding experience
from scratch. The facts that Web parts no longer uses tables, and XSLT
has been replaced by Design Templates also mean that the look and
feel of content in SharePoint 2013 will be so different from that in SharePoint
2010. Hence branding would need to be made afresh to suit the features present
in 2013.
Search
The changes in Search functionality in SharePoint 2013 from
2010 are perhaps the most significant in the new version. For one, Search
Scopes does not exist anymore. Which is to say, the scopes you created
in 2010 will be brought over to 2013 on successful migration, but you will not
be able to create new scopes. Instead, 2013 now offers a feature called Result
Sources which stores the previous search results you have accessed so
that you do not have to search for them all over again. Since SharePoint 2013
used FAST search in combination with the upgraded Enterprise Search
2010, architectural changes will be necessary both at Search Site
level and configuration level.
Authentication
SharePoint 2013 uses Claims mode authentication as a
default, as opposed to 2010 which has classic mode. Hence if you had been
running 2010 on classic mode, without having upgraded to claims, then
you would be left with no choice but to upgrade since classic mode will not
work any longer.
To Do or Not To Do
That might sound a bit like Hamlet, but that is a question
that an organization needs to ponder over seriously before embarking on an
upgrade. If for instance, it runs on a heavily customized 2010 version,
it might be wiser to leave it as it is since the rework required in migration
might actually belie any benefits it might accrue. However, on the other hand,
if the 'cool' features of the 2013 version are sure to bring immense positive benefits
to the organization, the effort might actually be justified by the end result.
Organizations need to weigh all their options before deciding upon an upgrade.
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