Newham Council: Migrating Legacy File Shares to Microsoft 365

Overview

From network drives to modern collaboration

The London Borough of Newham is a local authority in east London, serving one of the UK's most diverse and fast-growing communities.

Like many councils, Newham had relied on network file shares for years. Folders had grown organically, permissions had accumulated and duplicated or outdated documents sat alongside current ones. File shares also tied staff to council networks, limiting flexible working and collaboration.

Konsolute planned and delivered the migration of Newham's legacy file shares into Microsoft 365. Rather than lift and shift, we reviewed content, restructured it for its new home and mapped access, so teams arrived in an environment designed for how they work.

The challenge

Years of accumulated files and permissions

File shares tend to accumulate content faster than anyone cleans it up. At Newham, it was hard to tell which documents were current, who owned them and who should have access.

Moving everything as it stood would have carried that clutter, and its risks, into Microsoft 365. Deeply nested folders and long file paths also needed attention, as structures that work on a network drive do not always translate well to SharePoint.

The council needed to:

Our approach

Review, restructure, then migrate

We treated the file share migration as an opportunity to tidy and organise council information, not just to move it.

File share analysis. Konsolute analysed Newham's file shares to understand volumes, folder structures, file types, permissions and owners. This identified content that was redundant, outdated or duplicated, and structures that would need changing.

Content review with owners. We worked with service teams to confirm what should move, what could be archived and what was no longer needed. Redundant content was not carried into Microsoft 365 by default.

Destination design. Content was mapped to SharePoint sites and libraries, Teams and OneDrive according to how it was used. Team content went to shared spaces, while personal working files moved to OneDrive.

Permissions mapping. Access was mapped to the new structure, simplifying permissions that had built up over time while making sure sensitive information remained restricted.

Phased migration and support. Content was migrated in phases, with each validated before the next. Communications and support helped staff find their files and work with them in Microsoft 365.

Result

Organised content, ready for collaboration

Newham's legacy file share content now lives in Microsoft 365, organised around how council teams work. Redundant and outdated content identified during review was left behind rather than migrated.

Permissions in the new environment reflect current roles, with sensitive information protected appropriately. Staff can access and collaborate on documents from wherever they work, within the council's security arrangements.

The council has reduced its reliance on legacy file servers and gained a cleaner, better-organised foundation for collaboration.