Migrating old knowledge: bring it all, or start clean?
· 1 min read
When moving knowledge to a new platform, neither dumping everything nor starting from a blank page works alone.
In brief
When organisations move to a new service management platform they often carry thousands of knowledge articles with them. Some are excellent. Some describe systems switched off years ago. Nobody is quite sure which is which. Importing everything is an easy project box to tick, but the first search on the new platform then returns the same outdated answers in a nicer font. Starting clean feels better, yet it asks busy experts to review hundreds of pages, and people notice when a favourite article goes missing.
This article argues that most teams who migrate well land in the middle: move what has been used recently and checked by an owner; park the rest visibly rather than deleting it; and let usage, not nostalgia, decide what comes back. The decision that matters most is who owns the call. A migration is the one moment you get to say, on purpose, that this is our knowledge now. Join the Knowledge and self-service conversation on ESM's Exchange to share how you approached it.
The pile you inherit
Two thousand articles. Some excellent. Some describing systems switched off years ago. Nobody quite sure which is which.
That is what most organisations carry into a new service management platform.
The easy box to tick
The project plan says import existing articles. It is an easy box to tick. Bring everything across and the first search on the shiny new platform returns the same outdated answers, just in a nicer font.
Starting clean has a cost too
Starting clean feels right. It also means asking busy experts to review hundreds of pages, and people notice when their favourite one goes missing.
A middle path most teams land on
Most teams who do this well land somewhere in between:
- Move what has been used recently and checked by an owner.
- Park the rest, visibly, rather than deleting it.
- Let usage, not nostalgia, decide what comes back.
Who owns the call
And one decision matters more than the method: who owns the call. A migration is the one moment you get to say this is our knowledge now on purpose.
Next step
Have you been through it? Bring it all, start clean, or something in between? Join the conversation on ESM's Exchange: https://exchange.esm.institute
Tags: knowledge management, service management, self-service, ESM
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