Signs you may not need the server anymore
- It mostly holds shared documents.
- Your main business application is already a cloud subscription.
- People work remotely and use a VPN just to reach files.
- The server is aging, and replacing it would be a significant purchase.
- Nobody is quite sure whether its backups completed successfully.
When keeping something local, or choosing a different cloud option, makes sense
- Large CAD, engineering or design files. Sync tools can struggle with large files, references between files and file locking. Engineering firms often need a different approach than SharePoint.
- Desktop line-of-business or accounting applications that expect a shared network drive or a local database
- Equipment-connected systems, common in manufacturing
- Very large archives where the cost or time of moving them outweighs the benefit
The answer might be a hybrid: Microsoft 365 for everyday documents, and a different solution for the workloads that need it.
Questions to answer before you migrate
- What's on the server, and who uses it? Inventory shares, applications and scheduled jobs.
- What permissions exist? Moving is a good moment to clean up who can access what, especially before turning on Copilot.
- How deep are your folder structures? Very long paths and huge single libraries cause problems in sync.
- How will you back it up afterward? Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace backup are included in plans and run daily. Desktop, server and BCDR backup are paid add-ons. See do you need separate Microsoft 365 backup?
- What else runs on the server? Printing, sign-in, licensing services and scripts are often forgotten until they break.
The honest tradeoffs
Moving to the cloud usually reduces hardware and maintenance work, and it makes remote access simpler. It also adds ongoing subscription costs, depends on your internet connection and changes how people find and save files. A careful plan and a pilot group make the transition smoother than a weekend switch. Our cloud migration guide walks through the steps.
FAQ
Is SharePoint just a file server in the cloud?
Not exactly. It works differently, especially around syncing, file locking and permissions, which is why some workloads don't fit.
What happens to the old server?
Keep it read-only for a period after migration if possible, then retire it securely, including wiping the drives.
Is the cloud more secure than our server?
It can be, if it's configured well, with MFA, sensible sharing and backups. See is Microsoft 365 secure enough by itself?
Related Blue Tree Technology® pages
Still have a question?
Ask Little Sprout for general information. To decide which workloads should move and which should stay, schedule a free 15-minute discovery call.