Moving your company to Office 365 requires planning and careful implementation to minimize stress during the transition. Managed IT services experts in Austin recommend creating a plan, preparing your personnel for the transition, then making the move with care. Taking the extra time to do all of this will allow your move to Office 365 to happen smoothly and efficiently. Let’s look at how to approach your company’s transition.
Planning
The entire transition process depends on good planning. The first step is to have a meeting with your implementation team to get everyone on the same page. Next, you need a solid inventory of your current IT setup to ensure you are ready for a full Office 365 deployment.
What is your timeline going to be for implementation? Be sure to include information on migrating data from your current email system. Evaluate how much email data, as well as business-related content, will need to migrate before going live on Office 365.
Test your bandwidth to ensure you have room for the migration task. It is also important to test your current mobile platforms to see if they are compatible with the new environment.
Preparation
With planning complete, preparation is key. This is when you get all the components ready for the actual transition. Here’s a short list of what is involved:
- Setting up your domain in Office 365
- Preparing your Active Domain
- Enabling single sign-on
- Configuring SharePoint
- Installing desktop setup
If you have an in-house IT department, everyone will likely be involved with the preparation and transition. You will need to ensure they have the training necessary for success. The easier option is to bring in managed IT services experts in Austin to handle the implementation for you. They can plan and prepare for the implementation and walk your company through the entire process.
Transition
The actual transition from your current environment to the complete Office 365 setup will take time. It is important to communicate the timeline to your employees. The transition process will include a number of tasks including:
- Assigning licenses
- Migrating mailboxes
- Moving existing content
- Updating DNS records
- Configuring mobile devices
- Performing post-migration testing
- Verifying your templates
After the transition is complete, you will need to retire any unneeded servers and software licenses. That way, your move to Office 365 is completed without anything left behind.
This brief overview shows how to plan, prepare, and transition to Office 365. If you want to get experienced assistance, reach out to us at Contigo Technology. We are the experts in managed IT services Austin companies trust with their Office 365 transition.