Factors to consider while migrating From GroupWise to PST

With increasing popularity of Outlook it had become a trend to migrate from other mail clients to Outlook. It is believed that Non-Exchange platforms like GroupWise, Notes etc. are difficult to use and customize as these do not offer such easiness and support which is provide by MS Outlook. Factors like flexibility, cost, and security have made Outlook more popular among users.Perhaps that’s the reason why most of the people are involved in migration from GroupWise.Doing Migration from GroupWise to Outlook manually is very time consuming, but can be done if proper planning is done.

Pre preparations before conversation: Before conversion there are some factors needed to be kept in mind for risk free conversion. Here some of those factors are discussed below.

1.  Know Size of the GroupWise files

2.  Create a Backup of GroupWise Mailbox

3.  Download a GroupWise Cleanup Agent

Knowing Size of the GroupWise files: First thing you need to do is to know the size of your GroupWise mailbox (Inbox, Sent, Trash and personal folders) ,archives which have to be converted in Outlook format. For this GroupWise has provided a tool GroupWise check (GWCheck) to check the size of GroupWise database. You can know more about this tool:http://www.novell.com/documentation/gw8/gw8_admin/data/a3n60l6.html 

Create a Backup of GroupWise Mailbox: Backup file up of GroupWise mailbox should be maintained in advance, so that in case during migration due to any possible reason if you lose your data, which could be regained from backup.

GroupWise Cleanup Agent: Uninstall process of Novell Server is not adequate enough to clear GroupWise Content from Computer, so after GroupWise to PST conversion - to purge user’s PC GroupWise Cleanup Agent is required. You can download CleanIt Cleanup Agent by Novell: https://www.novell.com/coolsolutions/trench/9852.html

How to Migrate GroupWise to PST Manually

Import Export Wizard :To export your GroupWise mail to Outlook, there is an inbuilt utility“Import Export Wizard” which could be used for Export GroupWise mailbox items. Here below are some of steps which you can follow to perform Group Wise to PST conversion.

1. Install the Outlook  Client in your system
2. Load GroupWise Client and login there as user.
3. Launch Outlook (This will connect outlook account to the GroupWise account you are current logged in)
4. Close the GroupWise client.
5. In Outlook from File menu ,select Import and Export
6. Select option Export to a file and select .pst file to export
7. Click Finish.

After this you can easily open the file in Outlook from File->open->Outlook Data File from the file menu.

Select desirable file and press OK.

Need of Professional Tools for Conversion:

You may face a lot of problems during migration process while doing it manually as manual process is time consuming and Insecure. Here below some points are discussed about why professional tools should be used for GroupWise to PST Conversion .

Time Consuming: Migration from GroupWise to Outlook manually is quite time consuming as at a time single GroupWise file is converted to PST, so a lot of time is wasted. But there are some professional tools which provide batch conversion of GroupWise mailboxes saving time.

Data integrity: it is normally seen during manual conversion, structure of the GroupWise mailbox do not remain intact. After migration, mostly user mailbox loses its integrity and most of the mails gets misplaced.

Complexity: If user is a newbie and don’t have much knowledge of migration than minor mistakes could generate big complexities, so if user is unaware of conversion process, it is advised to use professional tools to perform the conversion process.

Data Loss:In Manual Conversion, as process is complex and lengthy, a lot of record is required to be maintained during conversion. It is also possible that during conversion you lose some of your mails due to any possible reason.

So after all this discussion above, point to take home is that if someone is not much aware of conversion process and is looking to save time and efforts, should go for professional tools for GroupWise to PST Conversion.