After deciding Office 365 will be an asset to your organization, you can begin planning the migration process. You have three general goals to meet in this scenario: zero data loss; zero system downtime; and expedient, cost-effective installation. Read more great facts on microsoft office 365, click here.
In other words, you’d like to make the migration process as hassle-free as possible. Here are tips to make that happen:
1. Go through your existing email system.
Take note of your current email server’s technical details and name all active users and groups and the sizes of their email boxes.
2. Check your current Microsoft licensing.
Office 365 has a few technical requirements you should know about prior to migration. One that often catches people off guard is Windows XP and Office 2003 being unsupported. Besides ensuring that your operating system and browser are compatible with Office 365, you also need to check the versions and licenses of your existing Microsoft Office software. This will help you pick the right combination of Office 365 plans. For more useful reference regarding microsoft 365, have a peek here.
3. Go through your present data storage size and locations.
There are two key locations for data storage in Office 365: Microsoft OneDrive and Sharepoint. To help you decide which data storage method to use after your Office 365 migration, go through and take note of the size and locations of your data.
4. Determine the best combination of Office 365 plans for your organization.
Mixing and matching of Office 365 plans is now possible, which means you can make the most of your current investment in newer Microsoft Office versions, and satisfy the various requirements of your staff as dictated by their positions.
5. Prepare for migration.
At this point, you can start noting down the technical details you will need in order to have a trouble-free migration. A crucial part of this step is updating all computer software to the minimum specs and deciding if you’d like to change your email groups’ design and how your data are structured.
6. Begin the Office 365 migration process.
The email system and data are usually migrated on a weekend to avoid disrupting normal business operations.
7. Run cleanup after migration.
Finally, after completing the migration process, clean-up tasks can begin. The types and number of tasks vary for every migration, but a common task involves the decommissioning of the current Exchange software from the server. This does three things: recover disk space, boost your server’s performance and enhances your server’s reliability.
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