Consult Construct is a UK-based construction consultancy firm specialising in project management, design coordination, and engineering services. With a team of professionals working across multiple sites, the company relies heavily on digital collaboration tools, particularly Microsoft SharePoint and OneDrive, to manage and share project documentation.
Consult Construct faced severe performance issues within their SharePoint environment, particularly affecting OneDrive and file access. The situation was exacerbated by legacy data structures and the inability to manage permissions effectively. These issues disrupted daily operations, user productivity, prompting an urgent review and remediation plan.
Following the initial migration from a previous provider, Qlic IT initiated a structured remediation plan. The project began with archiving critical folders to Azure to prevent accidental access. Direct deletion was avoided to mitigate the risk of deletion storms across the network. New document libraries were deployed, some configured in online-only mode to reduce sync load and improve performance.
Due to the scale of the data, permission inheritance could not be disabled, and manual OneDrive exclusions failed. As a fallback, the entire document library was manually unlinked across users, allowing for a full restructure. Archived data was migrated into segmented libraries, and the Projects area was broken down into manageable sections. Legacy libraries with long file paths were removed using Robocopy to resolve device-level corruption. All users were transitioned to the new libraries, ensuring stable access and improved usability.
To support the transition, a temporary escalation process was implemented, with key team members handling queries before handover to the support desk. Recommendations were made for ongoing housekeeping, including biannual reviews and the creation of new libraries for future projects.
The remediation project significantly improved system performance and user experience. SharePoint and OneDrive now operate within optimal thresholds, reducing sync failures and access issues. The new document libraries offer greater flexibility, allowing for online-only configurations and easier data management. Users report faster access times and fewer errors, while the support desk has seen a reduction in related tickets.
The restructure has also laid the foundation for future scalability, with a clear strategy for archiving and managing large datasets. Consult Construct now benefits from a more resilient and maintainable SharePoint environment, with ongoing support and recommendations in place to prevent recurrence.
- Reduced SharePoint and OneDrive sync failures
- Deployed segmented document libraries for improved performance
- Removed corrupted legacy folders using Robocopy
- Manual unlinking of libraries across 45 users
- Implemented online-only mode for large libraries
- Established biannual housekeeping recommendations
- Improved user experience and reduced support desk load
