Reorganizing network shared drives with AgileIM

Over time, as priorities, policies and personnel change, the organizational structure of a network shared drive can become outdated.  The accessibility and useability of information on the shared drive might benefit from a restructuring, but such a task can be daunting in the face of hundreds of thousands of documents.  AgileIM provides the tool necessary to embark on such an endeavor with confidence.  AgileIM’s highly efficient scanning algorithms provide the muscle necessary to tackle large file volumes easily, while its powerful Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools can determine the proper new location of a file with a minimum of human involvement.

Building the Target Folder Structure

The process starts with creating the target folder structure for the desired end state.  The folder structure can be created in AgileIM, or it can be imported from another source.  An Electronic Profile is then created in AgileIM to point to the shared drive to be reorganized.  AgileIM can reorganize part of a network drive, the whole network drive or even multiple different network shares into a single folder structure.  This provides an easy way to aggregate multiple content stores into a single directory structure.

Defining Data Rules and Connecting Files

Once the source and target have been defined, Data Rules are created to allow AgileIM to connect files from their old location to their new location.  Rather than having to specify multiple rules to deal with multiple different situations, AgileIM uses an AI engine to automatically assess each file and determine where the best place is for the file in the target structure.  The AI engine can be allowed to create new folders in the target structure if no appropriate folder exists.  This allows for reorganization even if the target structure has not completely specified for every possible client, vendor, employee, project, or other organizational grouping.

Mapping and Review

The connection of files from old location to new location takes place in the background, passively.  A map is created that specifies where every file is to reside in the new target structure.  This allows Subject Matter Experts (SME) to review the planned reorganization and ensure that it meets requirements.  The folders proposed by the AI engine can be reviewed and vetted.  If there are files which do not need to be moved, they can be removed from the map.  This ensures that only files that are needed in the new structure are moved. 

Executing the Reorganization Plan

Once approval for the reorganization plan is given, an Export Profile is created which is used to build the new structure in a new storage location and copy files into the new structure.  The old structure is left intact with all of its files, providing a simple roll-back point if for any reason the new target structure is not acceptable.  An audit trail is created and maintained, allowing for future reference to the history of the file’s location if that is ever needed.  Once the target structure is in use in production, the old source location can be deleted as desired.

A Comprehensive Solution with AgileIM

AgileIM provides an effective and efficient way to reorganize files into new folder structures.  This can be a simple reorganization of a single network share into a new folder structure or it can include the aggregation of multiple different sources into a single new location.  AgileIM connects to multiple different content stores beyond just network shared drives.  This makes it possible to have the reorganization include migration to a new type of content store.  For example, AgiileIM makes it easy to migrate network shared drives into Microsoft 365 SharePoint sites.

With AgileIM it is no longer necessary to “make-do” with outdated directory structures.