Microsoft 365 Email Migrations – A “How To” Guide on Migration Methods, Performance Factors, and Migration Best Practices

Having a reliable email system is vital for any business to sustain different communication aspects such as in-house communication, client contact, supplier contact, and more. This is why an increasing number of organizations are making a rapid shift towards more robust and trusted email solutions and systems such as the cloud-hosted Office 365 from Microsoft to seamlessly take over the traditional, on-premise Microsoft Exchange servers.

In this blog, we explore more about the Microsoft 365 email migration, including the methods, performance factors, best practices, and more.In this blog, we explore more about the Microsoft 365 email migration, including the methods, performance factors, best practices, and more.

Migration Scenarios – How to Choose the Right Method That Meets Your Organization’s Specific Requirements 

When it comes to choosing between Office 365 email migration types, there are certain questions you need to ask yourself first. Among these include-

• How much overall data do you need to migrate?
• How much time do you need to migrate emails to office 365?
• What is your migration budget?
• Which is the existing email system that you are using?
• Which version of Microsoft Exchange Server are you using?

Once you have answered these questions, it is time to move on and determine the best migration type for your organization. Primarily, there are four Office 365 migration types that you can consider. 

1. Cutover Migration

Cutover migration refers to an immediate transition from an on-premises Exchange system to Office 365.  In this type, all your resources, including mailboxes, contacts, and distribution groups, are migrated at once. This method of Office 365 migration is ideal if you’re currently using Exchange 2003, 2007, 2010, or 2013 and have less than 2,000 mailboxes.

2. Staged Migration

In Microsoft Office 365 staged migration, everything is moved over in batches. The process transitions all of your organization’s resources, mailboxes, and existing users from Exchange 2003 or 2007 to Exchange Online. The move requires using the Directory Synchronization tool, which replicates all your accounts from the on-premises Active Directory database.

It is an excellent method of email migration for medium-sized companies (especially the ones with over 2,000 mailboxes) that are using on-premises Microsoft Exchange 2003 or 2007. It is, however, not available for organizations using Exchange 2010 or 2013.

3. Hybrid Migration

As the name suggests, the Office 365 hybrid migration allows you to integrate Office 365 with your on-premises Exchange servers and existing directory services. Therefore, you can synchronize and manage user accounts for both environments.

Hybrid migration enables you to move mailboxes in and out of Exchange Online. You have the freedom to pick and choose which mailboxes to keep on-premises and which to migrate to Office 365. 

4. IMAP Migration

An IMAP (Internet Message Access Protocol) migration allows you to easily transition users from Gmail or any other email system that supports IMAP migration. The process involves pulling information from your source mailboxes and handing it over to Office 365. However, it is important to understand that IMAP migration doesn’t transition anything other than email. Everything else, including calendar items, tasks, and contacts, stay in the original inbox and needs to be migrated manually by the user.

Key Performance Factors That Determine Migration Success 

There are several considerations that you need to keep in mind for successful office 365 email migration. Some of these are discussed below-

• Establish Your Goals and Priorities

When making a move from Exchange server to cloud, the first thing you need to consider is what you want to put in the cloud. Do you want to move only emails or other documents and shared files as well?

The ideal case is to choose an Office 365 plan that includes both file storage through SharePoint and OneDrive to give you more space for data other than email. 

• Carefully Choose Your Plan 

Selecting a Microsoft Office 365 plan can be a tricky task, but you need to choose the best plan to fit your organization’s specific needs. The good thing about Office 365 is that you can easily mix and match plans within your company and change plans if your needs change at any point in time. 

•  Plan the Migration

This is one of the most critical steps in the process to ensure no detail is missed. Planning the migration typically consists of three main parts – discovery, clean-up, and communication. The discovery step helps you map out how your email is currently configured and how users access Microsoft services. It enables you to define the ideal way to move your data.

In the next clean-up phase, you need to evaluate any old accounts or data that is no longer required. Here you also need to consider new workflows, compliance details, and any other process changes. In the last phase, a communication plan should be defined to notify users in the organization of what to expect before and after the migration.

• Migrate the Email Data

This is the stage where your data is migrated from Exchange to Office 365. This process may vary from business to business, depending on the data you’re migrating.

Third-Party Tools for Microsoft 365 Migrations 

As with other Microsoft products, a quite supportive ecosystem surrounds Office 365, offering meaningful ways to improve the overall Office 365 experience. In this section, we are discussing the top 3 third-party tools for Microsoft 365 migration.

1. CodeTwo Office 365 Migration and Backup for Office 365

CodeTwo Office 365 Migration provides a faster and easier method for moving from Exchange (or Google) to Office 365. Apart from mailbox migration, which includes all items types, it allows you to migrate public folders as well.

2. Binary Tree E2E/CMT

Binary Tree is another powerful migration solution company well-known for assisting with email migrations from Domino, Lotus, and on-premises Exchange to Office 365.

3. BitTitan MigrationWiz and Accompanying Tools

BitTitan offers robust solutions to assist in migrating email and other data to Office 365. It includes MigrationWiz for data migration, DataEncryption for secure messaging, and DeploymentPro for configuring Outlook clients.

Best Practices For Office 365 Migration

Migrating to Office 365 is a significant step for an organization. Apart from introducing product upgrades and brand-new tools, it also opens the way for new work practices and offers various opportunities for re-imagining productivity. To navigate the risks and challenges involved in the process, certain best practices need to be followed. Some of them are-

• New Work Practices

The various new tools in Microsoft 365 allow for introducing new work practices, such as making a shift from using email for distributing in-progress documents to using OneDrive for SharePoint, Business Center, or Yammer. Employees, therefore, can stop using their phones and embrace Lync Online for quick chats, voice calls, and even video meetings. 

• Leverage Value-Added Services

Microsoft offers a wide range of value-added services for Office 365, such as robust email security and email archiving for Exchange Online. Therefore, organizations should investigate whether the new value-added services from Microsoft will meet their compliance, email security, and eDiscovery requirements, or they need a third-party service for their needs.

• Distributed Network Architecture

To be able to optimize performance, organizations leveraging cloud-based business applications need a distributed network architecture. This move to a distributed model gives individual site locations better local Internet connectivity to ensure a healthy and productive work environment.

Get Expert Office 365 Email Migration Help from TRNDigital

If you’re looking for some assistance in identifying which Office 365 migration type is best for you or need help taking the first step towards the process, get in touch with one of the experts at TRNDigital today. We’ve expertise of many years in helping businesses with their Office 365 migrations, and we can make a move much smoother without disrupting your day-to-day business functions.