Organizations decide to migrate from their existing Microsoft 365 tenant to a new tenant due to distinct reasons such as mergers, acquisitions, or rebranding initiatives. Whatever the reason may be for the migration, executing a successful Microsoft 365 tenant to tenant migration is on the shoulders of IT admins.
If you are an IT admin looking for an action plan to get the job done, you’re on the right page. This article describes Microsoft 365 tenant migration action plan for businesses that can help you easily execute the migration from one Microsoft 365 tenant to another. Let us get started.
Fundamental Elements of Microsoft 365 Tenant Migration Action Plan
1. Outline the Requirements
The first thing to consider before performing the Microsoft 365 tenant to tenant migration is to draft the requirements for the migration. For example, how, when, and where the data needs to be migrated. Thus, thoroughly analyze your existing tenant and outline the requirements.
2. Prepare a Migration Strategy
Office 365 tenant migration requires a comprehensive strategy. Prepare the migration strategy beforehand to;
- Minimize disruptions to users and business operations
- Identify risks and challenges
- Meet stakeholder’s expectations
- Optimize resources and ensure its proper utilization
- Ensure data integrity and security
3. Estimate Practical Time Frame for the Migration
It is always good to determine how much time the entire Microsoft 365 tenant migration will take. So, based on the volume of data you have in the source Microsoft 365 tenant, decide the time frame for the completion of the migration. Be realistic in your approach and set an ideal period to complete the migration.
Additional Information – Read the detailed article on SharePoint tenant migration to transfer the data seamlessly from one SharePoint tenant to another.
4. Prepare Pre-Migration Checklist
Preparing the pre-migration checklist is one of the important steps of planning the Microsoft 365 tenant migration. The checklist includes the following points.
- Establish communication among the users – Make sure that all the members of your company are aware of the migration i.e., when it is going to happen, how much time it is going to take, what could be the possible impacts, etc.
- Analyze inventory – Prepare a list containing all the names of user mailboxes including their sizes and email addresses. Analyze the configurations, internet connectivity, DNS records, etc. before the migration.
- Examine the current environment – It is good practice to know about the present situation of your existing Microsoft 365 tenant. Thus, inspect what methods were used for creating the accounts, list out licenses required for user accounts, examine the network capacity, and check whether the backup policies are in place or not.
- Prepare a list of Data to be transferred to the new Microsoft 365 tenant – Ensure to update the Active Directory, get rid of unused accounts, make sure UPN is the same for source and destination.
- Set up Microsoft 365 accounts – Ensure you have enough Microsoft 365 licenses, verify every domain name, combine security permissions, and finally test run the migration.
5. Choose A Trusted Migration Tool for the Microsoft 365 Tenant Migration
Migrating data from one Microsoft 365 tenant to another can be a challenging task. Thus, it is recommended to rely on experienced professionals. Choose CloudFuze as your migration partner to execute the process smoothly.
Since they have more than a decade of experience in cloud data migration, they can handle Microsoft 365 tenant migration projects of any size. With their migration tool and support, you can customize your migration needs and complete the process in a stipulated time. For more information, you can reach out to them.
6. Prepare Post-Migration Checklist
Once the migration is completed, your job as an IT admin is not over yet. You must ensure proper implementation of the migrated data to avoid end-user impact.
- Redirect email accounts and at the same time check and confirm the status of each folder. It must be showing ‘This Folder is Up to Date’.
- Assign Licenses to the mailboxes migrated to the new Microsoft 365 tenant within 30 days otherwise it gets disabled.
- Enable Autodiscovery to easily access your mailboxes.
- Decommission the Source Environment after successful completion of the Microsoft 365 tenant migration.
Conclusion
Crafting a complete Microsoft 365 tenant migration action plan is essential to ensure a smooth transition from one tenant to another. Thus, refer to the above-mentioned suggestions and bring them into practice to achieve a successful migration.
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