Migrating to Microsoft 365 is one of the best ways for businesses to improve communication and collaboration, and boost productivity and efficiency across all departments.
In this complete guide to migrate Office 365 step by step, we’ll take you through the initial value proposition and planning stage, right through to implementation.
By looking at some of the key features of Microsoft Office 365 for business, we’ll help you to see the positive impact this cloud productivity suite can have on your operations.
What is Microsoft 365 vs Office 365?
Microsoft 365 has become the go-to standard for cloud-based business productivity software. You may have heard it referred to by several different names:
- Microsoft 365
- Office 365
- Microsoft Office 365
In the past, Office 365 referred specifically to applications like Excel, PowerPoint and Word, while Microsoft 365 was broader and also included Windows.
This has been simplified so that everything is now covered under the Microsoft 365 banner – you can find out more about that here.
Why Migrate to Microsoft 365?
Migrating to Microsoft 365 offers some huge benefits for small to medium-sized businesses, including all the flexibility of cloud-based software and dedicated Office 365 managed services.
Just some reasons to migrate to Microsoft Office 365 for business include:
- Cloud-based file storage, data and email
- Cross-platform device compatibility
- Real-time document backups to Microsoft OneDrive
- Reliable business-grade security
- Support from Venom IT as a Microsoft MSP
When you choose Venom IT to provide Microsoft Office 365 managed services, you benefit from additional help and support included in your subscription price, to avoid any extra third-party helpdesk costs.
Planning to Migrate
It’s a good idea to plan to migrate Office 365 step by step, so that you know what to do with your existing hardware, software and business data.
A gradual migration can give you time to learn about any differences in your most commonly used software, how to use new productivity features that are only available on the cloud, and to transition one part of your business at a time.
This is also the time to assess the condition of your servers, workstations, and the speed of your network connection, in case anything is due for an update to make best use of the cloud.
Venom IT can help from the planning stage through to a full upgrade of your business computing infrastructure (if one is needed).
Find out more about migrating to Microsoft 365 as part of migrating an existing cloud solution to Microsoft Azure.
Migration and Transition
A detailed written plan to migrate Office 365 step by step will help to make sure that nothing is missed.
Some elements to incorporate into your Microsoft 365 migration plan include:
- Purchasing the right type and number of Office 365 licences
- Email migration from Exchange, IMAP or local MS Outlook data files
- Contingency plans to maintain productivity through any downtime
Venom IT’s MS Office 365 managed services will take care of the migration, so that nothing critical is missed – allowing you to focus on transitioning employees over to capitalise on the productivity potential of your new cloud-based software.
A Smooth Post-Migration
The advantages of Microsoft Office 365 for business don’t end when the initial migration is over. The powerful suite of cloud-based enterprise tools will continue to unlock new ways to collaborate and protect mission-critical data.
Initial post-migration checks should validate any data including emails, contact books and calendars, to make certain that everything is in place.
Then comes the technical side of updating DNS records and re-routing emails through Office 365, allowing your employees to access their inboxes via any secure, authorised connection.
You can also (when it’s time) retire your old hardware if it’s no longer needed, removing inefficient servers from your network to save on business energy costs and reduce maintenance demand.
Review of Success
It’s always a good idea to review the level of success of any business investment, and your migration to MS 365 is no exception.
Take note of any strategies that worked particularly well and any lessons learned for the future – we’re sure our support with Office 365 will not only deliver a smooth migration, but also offer transferable insight that can be applied in other areas of your business.
Find Out More
The full scope of Microsoft 365 is vast, and there are tools and processes to migrate data from a wide range of sources into a collaboration-friendly, secure and reliable cloud platform with all the programs your employees know and trust.
If you would like to find out more about migrating to Office 365 step by step – and how Venom IT’s Office 365 migration support can ensure seamless delivery of every stage in that process – contact us today.
