The majority of business organizations are opting for Office 365. This is because it is a cloud-based platform that is highly beneficial & user-friendly in nature. Case studies clearly indicate that more than 50% of firms have moved to cloud platforms and most of the cloud users prefer Office 365.
Office 365 is one of the most secured platforms among cloud services. It is offered by Microsoft and also various tools are provided by Microsoft to help you in avoiding data breaches and cyber threats.
But before we proceed with the migration, it is necessary to know the pre-requirements. One important pre-requisite is to make Office 365 pre-migration checklist. No matter which method you are using for the migration or how large your mailbox is, you need to consider all important things first before starting the migration.
Table of Contents
Office 365 Migration Checklist
- Preparation for migration
- Make sure your data is completely ready for migration
- Inventory or resources
- Make changes in internet domain DNS records
How to migrate Exchange mailboxes to Office 365 cloud?
Two ways are there for migration of Exchange data items to Office 365.
- Exporting mailboxes to PST first and later import PST to Office 365
In the case of a small number of mailboxes, you can export the mailboxes into a PST file and then import this PST data file into Office 365.
- Directly export Exchange database file to Office 365
For a large number of mailboxes, we suggest direct migration of Exchange mailbox items into the Office 365 environment. To do this, many methods are available – a cutover, hybrid, or staged. Also, this can be done by using specialized software.
Method 1. Exporting Exchange mailbox database to PST file
To perform the migration in case you have Exchange 2007 or an older version, use the Export mailbox command or ExMerge utility. But in the case of Exchange 2010 or above versions, use New-MailboxExportRequest PowerShell cmdlet. Once the data is migrated into a PST file, you can easily import this PST file item into Office 365 with the Import wizard.
Method 2. Exporting Exchange data to Office 365
For direct migration of Exchange Server data to Office 365, you have multiple ways and all those methods will need planning, permission, and preparation.
Cutover Migration: This can be used to migrate less than 2000 mailboxes at a time and supports Exchange Server 2003, 2007, 2010, and 2013.
Hybrid Migration: This method will migrate 150-2000 mailboxes in little batches. And this method supports Exchange Server 2010 and 2013.
Staged Migration: This method will migrate more than 2000 mailboxes in bulk. And it supports Exchange Server 2003 and 2007.
Demerits of Using Manual Solutions
- The above-discussed free solutions will take time depending on their nature.
- Users must have deep knowledge of mailbox migration otherwise users fail to get expected results.
- Sometimes, the migration process can lead to heavy loss.
To avoid all these situations, experts suggest going with an automated tool which you will come to know in the next section of this post.
Migrate Exchange Server data to Office 365 Directly with Professional Solution
Nothing can beat and provide you with reliable solutions like a third-party tool. Also, this simplifies the migration task by avoiding all risks. By using GainTools Exchange Migration Tool, users can migrate all Exchange mailbox items directly into Office 365 accounts. It allows extracting all data from archive mailboxes as well as from corrupt EDB files & migrating it to Office 365 environment. This software offers to export mailboxes into PST & various other file formats. With the help of this software, users can migrate private and public folders to PST & Office 365.
Also, no prior permission and requirements are needed for using this software. Only you need valid login credentials.
Appealing features provided by Exchange Server to Office 365 Migration Tool
- Migrate all Exchange data like emails, notes, calendars, contacts, etc. into Office 365.
- Offers facility to migrate Exchange data items into PST file.
- Allows exporting Exchange data into EML, MSG, HTML, VCF, and RTF formats
- Export EDB file to Office 365 and Live Exchange Server
- Restore and recover corrupt Exchange mailbox items
- Smooth migration of archive mailboxes and public folder
- No restrictions for adding any large mailboxes to migrate
- Fetch preview of mailboxes before migration to Office 365
- Avoid unwanted data items using advanced filters based on date range & message class
- Facilitate quick searching of desired data items
- Advanced feature for automatic and manual mapping of source & target folders
Guide for completing Exchange Server to O365 Migration
- Install and Launch the software to migrate to Office 365 account.
- In the opening screen, use the Browse button to add the EDB file.
- Then, you can preview data inside the Exchange EDB file.
- Select Migrate to Office 365 account. Now, enter Office 365 account login details.
- You will get details on the screen, click on the e Repor Save button.
- Finally, press the Finish button & this starts the migration of mailboxes from Exchange to O365 profile.
Why prefer using this Automated Solution by GainTools?
This software comes with all advanced functionalities to fulfill the needs of users. Multiple license editions are available – personal (for 20 systems), business (100 systems), and enterprise license (100+ systems). Additionally, it provides several migration options that are hard to find in a single application.
| Note: A free copy for testing this software is available which facilitates migration of the first 25 items per folder & helps you in judging it before investment. |
Conclusion
Migration from any Exchange Server version to Office 365 profile is not so tough if users know the basics for the migration and have a trusted solution. In this post, we have a discussion on all these points. It clearly explains various ways of migration. Also, it helps users to find the best solution for the migration. Its users choose to pick the best suitable solution based on their needs and preferences.