Challenges to be considered before migrating from SharePoint 2010 to 2016

1. Identifying the business owners for each site / site collection
2. Data Cleansing - identifying the old contents/obsolete data for archiving
3. Identifying the intranet links embedded inside the documents (while migrating to SharePoint Online) 
4. Optimize and define databases - Perform re-organization of content. For example, as you determine what will be brought over to the new environment, you may end up archiving some ‘less-used’ content to a ‘read-only’ or ‘slower’ server.Consider moving read only data to a separate SQL instance or even separate SQL farm where the data is read-only. You may also want to consider moving less frequently used content to SQL servers that have less resources and keep the higher performing SQL servers for the frequently used/collaborative content, perhaps your ‘old’ SQL server.
5. Size of data to be migrated – this will affect the migration time
6. Any good migration should involve a content audit. Data security (legal & audit implications should be considered) –confidential documents which are restricted for internal use cannot be migrated to SharePoint Online. Key ‘things’ like ‘Highly Visible or Critical Areas’, ‘Executive Users Permissions’, ‘Large AD Group Users’ assignments, ‘Highly Used’ Features, ‘Heavy Customizations’, Integration with other systems, etc. must be identified, and documented in order to identify where the critical data and functionality exists. Depending on the access to the content, an appropriate ‘services’ and ‘security’ model can be included in the SharePoint migration planning (and later validation).
7. SharePoint 2010 cannot be directly migrated to 2016 and it needs to be migrated to 2013 and then to 2016 version (when Database upgrade approach is opted as an option for migration)
8. If tool based migration (like Sharegate, Metalogix) approach is used, then direct migration from 2010 to 2016 is possible
9. 10 GB is the new soft limit for file sizes in SharePoint 2016
10. If custom master page is used, then the existing master page needs to be upgraded /recreated from 2010 -2013 –then 2016 version for using it in SharePoint 2016
11. While using database upgrade (2010 to 2013 and then to 2016) approach, SharePoint 2010 sites will be made read only during migration process
12. Any custom farm solutions should be upgraded to SharePoint 2016 before use
13. The same connectivity/integrations to external systems in SharePoint on-premises environment may not be achieved in SharePoint Online
14. New user ID’s needs to be created in SharePoint Online. New/ existing permission levels needs to be created in SharePoint Online
15. End users needs to be trained for new UI/navigation, etc.

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Deprecated Features in SharePoint 2016 Preview

SharePoint Foundation

1. SharePoint Foundation 2013 remains available for use

2. Previous releases of SharePoint Server included SharePoint Foundation, a free edition of SharePoint that included most of the core functionality and architecture provided by the commercial editions of SharePoint. SharePoint Foundation is no longer available in the SharePoint Server 2016 release.

Standalone Install mode

SharePoint Server 2016 IT Preview doesn't support the standalone install option, so it is no longer available in the setup program. Use the MinRole during installation and choose one of the available install options. The Single Server Farm option where everything is installed on the same computer is supported for dev/test/demo purposes. When you use this option, you must install SQL Server yourself and then run the SharePoint Server 2016 farm configuration wizard.. For more information, see "MinRole farm topology" in New and improved features in SharePoint Server 2016 IT Preview.

ForeFront Identity Manager client (FIM)

Earlier versions of SharePoint used ForeFront Identity Manager client (FIM) to synchronize between Active Directory and SharePoint. SharePoint Server 2016 IT Preview no longer uses FIM as the synchronization client. The default process is Active Directory Import. You can also use any synchronization tool such as Microsoft Identity Manager 2016, or any third-party tool. We'll soon release tools to help you deploy and configure Microsoft Identity Manager 2016 to work with SharePoint Server 2016 IT Preview for identity synchronization.

Excel Services in SharePoint

Excel Services and its associated business intelligence capabilities are no longer available in SharePoint Server. Excel Services functionality is now part of Excel Online in Office Online Server Preview, and SharePoint users can use the services from there.

The following Excel Services functionality has been deprecated:

• Trusted data providers
• Trusted file locations
• Trusted data connection libraries
• Unattended service account
• Excel Services Windows PowerShell cmdlets
• Opening of Excel workbooks from SharePoint Central Administration site

The following Excel Services functionality requires Excel Online in Office Online Server Preview:

• Viewing and editing Excel workbooks in a browser (with or without the Data Model)
• Excel Web Access web part for SharePoint
• ODC file support (no longer requires Data Connection Librariees)
• Programmability features such as JavaScript OM, User Defined Function Assemblies, SOAP and REST protocol support

SharePoint BI capabilities

SharePoint Server 2016 requires updated versions that will ship later this year. The SQL Server 2014 Power Pivot and Power View add-ins for SharePoint 2013 cannot be deployed or used in SharePoint Server 2016 IT Preview. The following business intelligence features won't be available until then:

• Power Pivot Gallery
• Scheduled Data Refresh
• Using another workbook's Data Model as a data source
• Power View reports (standalone or embedded in Excel workbooks)
• Power View Subscriptions and Report Alerting

Power Pivot Management Dashboard

• BISM Link support

Tags and Notes

The Tags and Notes feature is no longer available in SharePoint Server 2016 IT Preview. Users can no longer create new tags and notes or access existing ones.

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SharePoint 2016 Preview Arrived

I am excited to share the news with my blog readers that SharePoint 2016 Preview is arrived and it is available for download in the below link:
http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=48712

SharePoint 2016 Forum Discussions:
https://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/en-us/home?forum=SP2016
Customer Feedback Link:
http://sharepoint.uservoice.com/forums/282887-customer-feedback-for-sharepoint-server

Soon will explore on SharePoint 2016 and post you all about the new features and updates :)

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Update on InfoPath and SharePoint forms

As part of the update shared around the Evolution of SharePoint and the next SharePoint Server on-premises release, we are also updating the timelines for removal of InfoPath Forms Services components of SharePoint and SharePoint Online. Specifically, InfoPath Forms Services will be included in the next on-premises release of SharePoint Server 2016, as well as being fully supported in Office 365 until further notice. Customers will be able to confidently migrate to SharePoint Server 2016 knowing that their InfoPath forms will continue to work in their on-premises environments, as well as in Office 365. 

The InfoPath 2013 application remains the last version to be released and will work with SharePoint Server 2016.

Ref : http://blogs.office.com/2014/01/31/update-on-infopath-and-sharepoint-forms/ 

This gives answer for many migration questions with regard to InfoPath forms in SharePoint lower versions.

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