Sandbox the migration
You are here if you're moving to an external app at real volume. The move sets your timeline, not the tool. This page scopes it first.
For Salesforce admins, IT and security reviewers, and whoever signs off the budget.
Published by CloudFiles, who sell one of the apps you'd migrate to. Every migration fact here is tested, not assumed, including our own product's.
Do this now
Scope the migration before picking a tool: what's moving, what survives, what doesn't. Already migrated? Confirm what got quietly dropped.
Before you start
- A count of what's moving: file count, total size, and which Salesforce objects they attach to.
- A sandbox to test a real migration run in, if you haven't moved yet.
- If you already moved, access to both the old and new location, to compare.
How to scope it
1. Count what's moving
Total files, total size, and which Salesforce objects they attach to. This sets the real timeline — not the tool you eventually pick.
2. Test a real run first
Migrate a representative slice in a sandbox before committing to migrate everything.
3. Check what survives
Record associations typically survive a standard migration; version history typically does not, by our own testing in our own product. Confirm this against whatever tool you're evaluating — don't assume it.
Once you have a sandbox migration running, ask your AI directly: “Migrate this sample record's attached files, then compare version history, timestamps, and record-association counts before and after. Report exactly what changed.”
4. Already migrated?
Run the same comparison retroactively. Confirm what got dropped, even quietly.
What you found
| Typically survives? | Confirmed in yours? | |
|---|---|---|
| Record associations | Yes | — |
| Version history | No | — |
| Timestamps and metadata | Varies by tool | — |
| Permissions | Varies by tool | — |
| File revisions | Varies by tool | — |
“Typically” is not a guarantee. Test your own migration rather than assuming these hold.
When to re-check
After any migration-tool update, or before migrating a new batch or object type you haven't tested yet.
Where this stops
This page scopes the migration and its data risks. It does not pick a specific tool or vendor: the three gates on the guide are where that decision starts. CloudFiles sells one of the apps you'd migrate to.
Check my working
Most readers will not need this. If the results left you unsure, send them and a person will read them.
- Report: written assessment, two to three working days.
- Reader: a person. Not a bot, not an auto-reply.
- Call: only if you ask. We won't ask twice.
- Fields: four. No phone, no company size, no mailing list.
That's with a person now.
You'll get a written assessment within two to three working days. No call unless you ask for one.