Plan a Successful Office 365 Migration

So you’ve decided that the move to Office 365 is right for your company. What are the next steps? Creating a comprehensive migration plan for your company is imperative to the success of a migration. We strongly recommend that a skilled IT technician help with the migration; here are our tips for planning the big move.

• Identify the plan that is right for you: If you are a small business, Office 365 Business Plans will most likely be where your company falls (larger “Enterprise” plans are also available for unlimited users). Click here for the breakdown between the Business Plans.
• Know Your User Count. Keeping in mind how many users need to be migrated is key, especially if you are partnering with an IT provider for the migration. Additionally, Office 365 distinguishes between actual billed “users” and shared mailboxes. Shared mailboxes do not require Office 365 licenses unless they exceed their 50 GB storage quota (more information on this here). Knowing this difference can provide significant savings monthly.
• Incorporate Training into your Plan: Make sure your employees 1) are alerted of the transition well ahead of time and 2) are provided training for Office 365, especially for programs like web-based Outlook. Creating a thorough communication plan will ensure that your employees feel comfortable with the transition. Techlocity provides detailed training manuals as well as onsite training for our migrations.
• Ask the Right Migration Questions: If you are partnering with an IT provider for your migration, make sure you ask all the important questions, including:
• What is the pricing structure of migrations? Are there any charges that can be incurred for going over the allotted labor hours? Does pricing include training?
• What are your options for ongoing Office 365 support and follow-up training if necessary?
• Do you use any third-party migration tools for migration aid? (Third party migration tools, like Dell’s Migration Manager, can help with the transition).
• What type of migration is right for my environment? (There are a variety of migration options, including cutover, staged, hybrid and third party. To start, this migration guide can also help you decide what type of migration is best for your environment.)
• Ensure Proper Synching and Testing: Allowing proper time to test the success of the migration, and troubleshoot any bugs, will aid in an easy transition to Office 365.

Techlocity can provide a quote as well as scope of work for your Office 365 migration. Call us at 317-288-5474" for more information.