Livelink to SharePoint Online Migration

 Unlock modern collaboration in Microsoft 365 while safely carrying forward decades of content, metadata, permissions, and institutional knowledge—so your users stay productive, and your business runs without disruption.

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LiveLink Migration to SharePoint Online Overview

Source

Target

  • SharePoint Online
  • Microsoft Teams
  • OneDrive for Business
  • Microsoft 365 with Copilot

Export-only option: Archive Livelink content for long-term retention without migrating to a new platform

Typical challenges:

Professionals working on computers during an enterprise OpenText Livelink to SharePoint Online migration project

  • Converting deep folder hierarchies to SharePoint's metadata-driven structure 

  • Translating Livelink categories and attributes to SharePoint columns and content types 

  • Handling compound documents and multi-part objects 

  • Migrating workflow content to Power Automate or SharePoint workflows 

  • Preserving permission inheritance and security models

  • Managing legacy file formats and scanned documents 

  • Extracting content from aging Livelink infrastructure with limited support 

How Xillio addresses this: 

Pre-migration content analysis with Xillio Insights

We scan your Livelink environment to analyze folder depth, identify ROT content, assess metadata quality, and reveal permission complexity. This analysis helps you decide what to migrate, what to archive, and how to restructure content for optimal SharePoint performance.

Intelligent Restructuring

We transform Livelink's folder hierarchies into SharePoint's metadata-driven organization, creating document libraries, content types, and managed metadata that align with modern collaboration patterns while preserving findability.

Permission Translation

We map Livelink's permission model to SharePoint security groups, inheritance, and sharing capabilities, maintaining appropriate access controls in the Microsoft 365 environment.

Proven at scale

Xillio has delivered many migrations for global enterprises, moving millions of documents while maintaining business continuity and user productivity. 

Mott MacDonald migrated active content from their legacy ECM system (OpenText Content Server) to Microsoft 365 and archived inactive content in Azure with Xillio's expertise. 
Read the Case Study
How Migrating from Legacy ECM to Microsoft 365 Supports Mott MacDonald’s Content Collaboration
How Migrating from Legacy ECM to Microsoft 365 Supports Mott MacDonald’s Content Collaboration

How Migrating from Legacy ECM to Microsoft 365 Supports Mott MacDonald’s Content Collaboration

Why Livelink to SharePoint Online Migrations can be Complex?

Folder-Centric vs. List-Based Architecture

Livelink's folder-centric architecture and proprietary metadata structure create significant challenges when migrating to SharePoint's list-based model. Organizations face difficulties translating Livelink's nested folder hierarchies (often 10+ levels deep), custom attributes to SharePoint's flatter, metadata-driven organization. 

Categories, Compound Documents, and Embedded Objects

Livelink's category templates, compound documents, and embedded objects don't map directly to SharePoint concepts.

Permission Model Differences

The platform's permission inheritance model differs fundamentally from SharePoint's security groups and sharing paradigms.

Accumulated Technical Debt in Legacy Environments

Decades-old Livelink installations contain accumulated technical debt: inconsistent metadata, broken links, orphaned documents, and custom classifications that evolved without governance. 

Legacy Livelink Version Constraints

Legacy Livelink versions (9.x, 10.x) present additional extraction challenges with limited API access, outdated database structures, and proprietary file storage mechanisms that require specialized knowledge to access reliably. 

FAQ

Can you migrate Livelink categories and attributes to SharePoint?
Yes. We map Livelink categories and custom attributes to SharePoint content types, site columns, and managed metadata, preserving the classification and searchability your users depend on. 
What happens to deeply nested folder structures?
We analyze your folder hierarchies and recommend optimal SharePoint structures—either preserving folders where appropriate or flattening structures using metadata and views for better usability and performance. 
Can you migrate Livelink workflows to SharePoint?
We document existing Livelink workflows and provide guidance on recreating equivalent processes using Power Automate or SharePoint workflows, ensuring business process continuity. 
How do you handle Livelink permissions in SharePoint?
We translate Livelink's permission inheritance to SharePoint security groups and sharing settings, maintaining appropriate access controls while adapting to Microsoft 365's security paradigm. 
Can this migration be executed in phases?
Yes. We support phased migrations by department, document type, or business unit, allowing Livelink to remain operational while you gradually transition users to SharePoint and Microsoft 365. 
Do you support export-only migrations for archival purposes?
Yes. If you're decommissioning Livelink but need to retain content for compliance or reference, we can export documents with full metadata to long-term archival storage. 

Ready to embrace modern collaboration without losing your content legacy?