Frequently Asked Questions About the Transition to OneDrive from ShareFile

The migration of ShareFile to OneDrive is intended to enable BCIT’s users to increase productivity and access an improved overall experience. As a result of this change, we expect that users:

• Will be able to take advantage of added functionality available in Microsoft’s cloud-based tools.
• Will have a more integrated experience with other tools, especially those from Microsoft.
• Will have increased access to their files (including web-based access to files on any device).

In addition, we expect that BCIT:

• Will be able to reduce overall long-term costs relating to file storage.
• Will reduce its reliance on aging on-premises equipment and technology.
• Will have improved control over its digital assets.

Every single active BCIT student and employee. The transition involves moving all data that is currently stored in ShareFile for every user to OneDrive, as well as data that is currently being stored in other areas on BCIT-issued employee computers.

For all users, the final stage of the transition will be occurring prior to June 19, 2022, with a tentative cut-over date of June 6. However, in order to manage the large volume of data involved, one-way (ShareFile to OneDrive) syncing of data has already begun and will be ongoing until the end of the process.

Until June 6, 2022, it is very strongly recommended that users not attempt to access or use their BCIT OneDrive as there are significant problems that could occur as a result.

In cases where you were sharing files or folders with other BCIT Sharefile users within Sharefile, yes, as much as possible. In some cases that may not be possible or may require an extra step. For example, if you were sharing files or folders via providing a link to the shared files, you will need to update the link. More information will be provided here soon.

You will retain all of your files in OneDrive for a year after you become inactive. Of course, as always, we strongly recommend that you move anything you’d like to keep as soon after your course/program ends as possible.

Your files will all have been migrated automatically and will be available to you as soon as we launch OneDrive. If we detect that any files could not be moved you will be contacted directly with instructions. There are, however, three areas where you may wish to do some preparatory work, depending on how you are currently using ShareFile.

Shortcuts and recent documents

If you have shortcuts to files in ShareFile on your desktop make a note of these and plan on re-creating the shortcuts once we migrate to OneDrive.

Files stored in ShareFile and listed in the Recent Files section in your applications will need to be manually opened either by double-clicking on the file in File Explorer or browsing for the file in the File Open dialogue box in the application.

Sharing

Some of your ShareFile sharing settings will be automatically replicated in OneDrive. However, there are some situations in which your current sharing settings cannot be copied automatically for you.

Sharing settings which will be automatically replicated:

• Sub-folders (not top-level folders) in ShareFile > Personal Folders that you shared with other BCIT individuals.
  

Sharing settings that cannot be automatically replicated include:

• Folders that are located at the top level within ShareFile > Personal Folders regardless of who you shared them with (as illustrated above).
• Folders that you shared with groups in Sharefile. An example of a group would be a course or team group.
• Folders that you shared with external non-BCIT users. OneDrive uses a different system for sharing with external users.
• Folders or individual files that you shared via providing the recipient with a link.

If you have not been using any of the sharing functionality in ShareFile, you don’t need to do anything. If you are currently using the sharing functionality, and especially if you use it extensively, you may need to do some manual work to deal with your shared items on or after June 6. We recommend that you prepare for this by creating an inventory of these items for yourself prior to June 6. See the next answer for more information on figuring out your current sharing settings. Once you have a list of folders, you can prepare to re-share them from OneDrive.

Links

Current links to shared content in ShareFile will necessarily change with the move to OneDrive and there won’t be any automatic redirection of previous links to the new address. If you have created links to files in ShareFile and posted them in places such as LearningHub, make a note of which files and prepare to create new links in OneDrive.

You may also consider whether some of what you are currently providing links to in ShareFile might better be shared in another way, such as in the Learning Hub, the Loop or, for public website content, via the BCIT Web Content tool in Sharespace.

We are currently strongly encouraging people not to work on files in OneDrive until June 6^th, however, if you have lots of shared items or links and would like to get a head-start on re-sharing or re-creating the links you can access OneDrive at onedrive.bcit.ca. These shares and links will be active and can be embedded in LearningHub sites.

Important!

ShareFile is being intermittently synced to OneDrive up until June 6th, but this syncing is one-way. Files modified in OneDrive will not be synced back to ShareFile, but changes in ShareFile (including edits to existing documents, added new documents, and deletion of documents) will be synced to OneDrive. If you delete a file in ShareFile it will disappear in OneDrive too.

If you aren’t sure about what you have and have not shared and with whom, this information is visible in the online ShareFile interface on a folder-by-folder basis.

Note: Remember that, as described above, the sharing settings on subfolders in Personal Folders will be copied automatically, so long as they apply only to other individuals at BCIT (not groups), but you will need to recreate the sharing settings in top-level folders in Personal Folders yourself.

To see this information, in any web browser:

1. Go to sharefile.bcit.ca and login with your usual login credentials (student login information, faculty and staff login information).
2. Click on Folders > Personal Folders at the top left of the screen.
   
3. Click on a folder name in the list to open it.
4. Click on People on this Folder to see current sharing settings.
   • Note: It’s normal to see your own name and “Super Users” listed.

Alternate approach

Unfortunately, it’s not possible to see all of your current sharing settings in one place. However, you can check for recent activity in the online ShareFile interface to see who, other than you, is currently using files in folders you’ve shared, which may be a more useful guide to what sharing settings you need to replicate.

To do so, in any web browser:

1. Go to sharefile.bcit.ca and login with your usual login credentials (student login information, faculty and staff login information).
2. Click on Folders > Personal Folders at the top left of the screen.
   
3. Click on More Options > View Activity Log next to the name of the folder at the top.
   
4. Check the Include activity log of subfolders checkbox and choose Last 3 months in the Date dropdown.
   • Note: You can also use the Custom date setting to check time periods before the last three months (up to 3 months at a time). Also, it may take anywhere from a few seconds to several minutes to load the complete report, depending on how much activity there is to report.
5. Once the report has loaded, you can use the User filter to see what users other than yourself have Activity reported in the log.
   • Note: If you only see your own name and “Sharefile Admin” listed, any folders you may have shared are not currently seeing significant use. If you do see other names, the item names for the associated items will show you which folders to check.