So, you’ve decided to move to Office 365. This is a big move for your business – it can be an exciting transition and will provide your company access to a variety of applications. However, you will likely have a large range of existing software, databases, and system data that needs to be migrated. But don’t fret! Although migration may seem intimidating, it is a great opportunity to streamline and improve your current systems. To ensure your migration process is successful, follow our list of 5 Tips for An Easy Migration to Office 365:
1. Choose Correct Licensing
Office 365 offers a large variety of suites that are tailored to your company’s needs. Understanding the applications you have access to under each licensing option can assist in fulfilling your company’s needs. For more information on Office Licensing please refer to the Microsoft Office Licensing website.
2. Ensure your Local Exchange Server is up to date
Before migrating to Office 365, there is typically prep work required on your email and existing infrastructure. As you are making your migration plans, it is important to account for the fact that you may need to update your infrastructure. For example, high speed internet is required to move any large amount of data into a cloud-based service. If the internet were to go down at any point during your business hours, your ability to communicate through Office 365 would cease.
3. Verify Security Requirements
Managing security and compliance plays a crucial role in the migration process of Office 365. Determine whether your current host provider offers capabilities like virus filtering, malware detection, spam filtering, email encryption and data loss prevention.
4. Research Backups for Email Retention Prior to Migration
To prevent data loss, we recommend backing up your email prior to migration. You can easily and routinely back up your data by exporting your email data into a PST or OLM file. A PST or OLM file stores all your email messages, attachments, folder structure, contacts, calendar items, and more.
5. Create a Checklist
Many businesses fail to create a migration checklist because they tend to prioritize technical aspects without addressing other areas. This can include elements such as training, informing users, and gathering feedback. By clearly defining the phases of the migration process you can ensure that the it will be a smooth and beneficial transition.
Making this kind of transition is a lot to handle on top of your day-to-day responsibilities, like keeping a business running! Our professional technicians and engineers are available to answer any questions you may have – before, during, and after your migration. Kitsap Networking Services and Sequim I.T. are here to help! Give us a call today: 360-516-6741.
Be sure to read our other blog articles from this month – we are talking about the benefits of Office 365 all month! Click any of the following blog posts for more information on using Office 365 in a business setting: