Stanford University Box: UIT Begins Scheduled Migrations
The information in this article applies to Stanford University Box only. It does not apply to Stanford Medicine Box.
The ongoing effort to reduce the use of Stanford University Box is entering its final phase.
If you have content stored in Stanford University Box, it will need to be relocated to other existing solutions before Dec 1, 2022. The good news is, we’re here to help.
To minimize disruption to your work, University IT (UIT) is providing a centrally-supported service that can move existing data in your Box account into a new folder on Google My Drive, Google Shared drives, or Microsoft OneDrive.
Putting migrations in motion
Not all groups will move at the same time. The UIT project team is actively working with leaders and support groups in schools and departments to schedule group migrations, which will take place between March and November 2022.
Also, we’ve identified a first “wave” of early migrators, scheduled for this month, February 2022. Lessons learned from these first transitions will inform the process for subsequent migrations.
Prepare to move beyond Box
You’ll receive an email notification several weeks in advance when it’s time for your content to relocate. However, you’re encouraged to review your Box account and prepare for the change now. Here are some steps you can take:
- Delete files you no longer need.
- Remove yourself from files you no longer need to access.
- Remove collaborators who no longer need access from files you’ve shared.
- Update external links as explained in the UIT article Update External Sharing Links Before Your Box Migration.
For more pre-migration tips, review Before You Migrate.
About the automated process
To copy files from your Box account to a new location, we’ll use a third-party software tool that has proven successful in helping higher education institutions manage content migration. How long your migration will take depends on the amount and complexity of the data stored by all users in the group. Some migrations will need a little more time, but most migrations should complete in about one week.
You can continue to work in Stanford Box as your files are copied over. Should there be an issue moving any of your files, you will be contacted.
After your migration
You’ll receive an email from UIT once your Box migration is complete. At that point, you should begin working in Google Drive or OneDrive. Content in Box that you own will be moved to “Trash” (from where it can be restored if needed).
As you get up and running with your new solution, here are a few important points to remember about your migrated files:
- Only files for which you are the owner will be migrated. If you don't see a file or folder that you expect to see, it may be because that file is owned by someone else and shared with you. The file will become visible to you when the file owner’s files are migrated. Until then, you can view the file in Box or encourage the owner to begin collaborating on the file in Google Drive or OneDrive.
- Your Box data may migrate before or after others with whom you collaborate. We recommend that you let your collaborators know you've migrated so they know to start accessing the file in its new location.
- You’ll need to update Box links and reshare files with collaborators outside of Stanford. Learn more about how to identify Box links and generate new URLs.
- You may want to confirm file-sharing permissions align with collaboration needs. Although we expect to match permission levels across the platforms, there may be instances where permissions between Box and Google Drive or OneDrive do not align precisely. Refer to the permissions mapping table for more information.
To learn more, visit the During and After Your Migration.
Resources and support
We’ll continue to develop new resources to support you. Be sure to check the Box Migration FAQs often for new questions and answers. Additionally, we’ll soon publish information on upcoming training opportunities. If you have a question about the migration, please submit a Help request.
Why Stanford University Box is going away
We’ve created a number of UIT news articles that can help you understand more about this initiative.
DISCLAIMER: UIT News is accurate on the publication date. We do not update information in past news items. We do make every effort to keep our service information pages up-to-date. Please search our service pages at uit.stanford.edu/search.
