Numerous companies have started to move and transfer all of their operations online. Even though some employees work in the office, companies have found it crucial to have a cloud storage platform where all of the company’s operational data are stored securely.
What is Mailbox Migration from Exchange to Office 365
Email communication is the most widespread communication method for businesses as it provides written evidence for certain conversations.
For that, it is important for companies to transfer their mailboxes from their Microsoft Exchange Server – which is the traditional platform that businesses use to send and receive emails and only works on certain types of computers – to Office 365.
As a company, it is essential to know the Exchange migration plan step by step to provide remote employees with benefits and make their jobs easier.
However, it is important to understand what Office 365 is; by using Office 365, companies will have access to a cloud platform that allows people to access their emails, among other operational data, from any device and anywhere in the world.
This application has provided companies with many benefits, such as increased productivity and motivation of employees who work remotely.
Before educating yourself on the migration methods, it is best to understand the importance of the migration process and why it needs to be done accurately.
The importance of migration from Exchange to Office 365
First, Office 365 not only allows employees to access their mailboxes but also allows them to use Microsoft Teams, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, etc., in a collaborative environment.
The cloud environment will be shared among the company employees allowing employees to communicate easily and quickly.
For instance, when an employee needs certain data from another employee, sending the file through the shared environment will ensure quick completion and will ensure organizations that their data is secure and away from confidential data leakage.
On the other hand, the migration from Exchange to Office 365 allows companies to reduce the costs of investing in hardware products, such as Microsoft computers, to provide companies access to the company’s environment.
In other words, Office 365 operates on a subscription plan and works on all types of devices. Thus, companies will be able to reduce certain fixed costs and provide a better working environment for their employees.
Lastly, with Office 365, companies are provided with better security for their working environments. To access Office 364, employees are required to go through multiple authentication methods aside from writing their regular passwords, which makes the environment more secure and protected from external parties.
3 Methods for Successful Mailbox Migration:
To migrate mailboxes from Exchange to Office 365, companies must first assess their current mailbox environment – such as how many employees use it, how many emails are sent per day, the overall number of emails that need to be transferred, and so on.
Afterward, those in charge of the migration process need to pick one of the following methods based on their assessment and follow through with the migration.
1- Cutover Migration Method
By analyzing and assessing the current mailbox of the business, employees will have figured out the number of emails that need transferring. The cutover migration method is recommended for companies with less than 2500 emails.
The cutover method is used when companies do not plan on spending much time on the migration, and thus, allows companies to transfer all the mailboxes of all employees at once. However, there can be some disadvantages to using this method, as the migration of all emails can cause certain ones to get lost in the process.
Hence, when using this method, ensure that the number of emails is not much so that the transfer will be completed smoothly.
2- Staged Migration Method
For organizations that have more than 2500 emails that need to be transferred, a staged migration method is advised. With this method, companies will have the opportunity of transferring mail at certain periods instead of all at once.
For instance, companies might choose to transfer the latest emails to not hold off on their operations and later on transfer the rest. This method can allow employees to go through their previous emails and prevent unnecessary ones from cluttering their new environment.
3- Hybrid Migration Method
The last method provides employees with a mix of Cloud Office 365 and Microsoft Exchange. The hybrid method allows users to keep both environments for a certain period of time; however, some say that this method is quite similar to the staged migration method as both of them provide people with the opportunity of holding onto both environments.
Nevertheless, the hybrid migration method provides users with a more gradual and smooth approach with fewer difficulties.
Conclusion
To conclude, migration from Microsoft Exchange to Office 365 provides companies with many benefits such as cost cutting and increased productivity. However, to ensure smooth migration, some research is needed to ensure a secure transfer.