Intro: The ways for Microsoft Exchange migration to Office 365 have been covered in this article. Learn them and find how they work. Find the best suited solution and migrate your data successfully.
With the growing importance of cloud-based services, Office 365 has blazed a trail.
While Microsoft Exchange provides services on-premises, Office 365 provides them via the internet. When data is stored on the cloud, it has several benefits, including:
- Reduce the cost, space, and resources required for the upkeep of aged servers.
- Reduce costs by foregoing the need to acquire separate server licenses for on-premises systems after Microsoft Exchange to Office 365 migration.
- By establishing a hybrid configuration, you may expand your capabilities by using the advantages of Exchange Online.
- Take advantage of seamless scalability since Office 365 license may be added and cancelled as needed.
At the same time, it is essential to consider that moving from Microsoft Exchange is a challenging process.
To effectively finish the transfer, the user must put in a substantial amount of effort and time.
This post is designed to alleviate the issues that businesses have while attempting to transfer their data due to a lack of competent support.
How to Perform Microsoft Exchange Migration to Office 365?
There are different methods that have to be followed depending upon the size of user accounts you want to export.
We have explained the solution which is most used and widely known among experts of migration. Other than that, there are few manual methods that are described later in the article.
Due to the lengthy, time-consuming and the complex procedure, the manual methods are not a recommendation by the experts.
Let’s start with the first solution.
1. Direct Solution for Microsoft Exchange to Office 365 Migration
The Exchange to Office 365 Migration Tool is ideal for users who wish to effortlessly migrate data from Microsoft Exchange servers 2013 and 2016.
This application has numerous amazing capabilities that allow you to quickly transfer complete mailbox data such as emails, calendars, and contacts to Office 365 without losing any data.
It allows you to transfer several user accounts at once.
By selecting the Date-Based filter, this tool may be used to export data selectively.
Follow the steps outlined below to understand how to use the tool for Microsoft Exchange migration to Office 365:
Step 1: Download and start the tool. Now, input the accounts for the Source and Destination.
Step 2: Under Workload Selection, choose the necessary Categories and apply the Date filters for the required ones.
Step 3: Enter and validate the Exchange Admin ID, Password, and Server IP address.
Step 4: Enter your Office 365 Admin Email ID and Application ID, followed by Validation of the account.
Step 5: Import users from a CSV template or download all user mailboxes from the Exchange Server.
Step 6. Select Start Migration for Microsoft Exchange to Office 365 migration process to complete.
If you want to perform the migration process again, there are 3 modes that you can choose from:
- Retry Failed Items: This feature allows you to export those items that may have failed or skipped during the first process.
- Re-Run Full Migration: Choose this option if you want to run the entire migration process again.
- Delta Migration: With the help of this feature, you can scan your mailboxes again to see if there is any new data and export only those files.
2. Manually Perform Microsoft Exchange Migration to Office 365
The methods for directly converting Exchange Server mailboxes are as follows.
- Cutover Migration: Use this method if you want to migrate all mailboxes (fewer than 2,000 mailboxes) at the same time. It works with Exchange 2003, 2007, 2010, and 2013.
- Staged migration: When the number of mailboxes surpasses 2000, a phased migration should be employed. If you are moving from Exchange 2003 or 2007, you can conduct a staged migration.
- Hybrid migration: This method for Microsoft Exchange to Office 365 migration maintains both on-premises and online mailboxes while gradually moving data to Office 365. Always utilize hybrid migration if you want to migrate Exchange 2010 mailboxes (150 to 2000 per user) in small batches.
Yet, there are certain limitations of the manual methods as explained below.
Drawbacks of Manual Solutions for Migration
- They are time-consuming and result in extended disruptions.
- Mailbox migration is something that Exchange administrators should be familiar with.
- Data loss is possible during the Office 365 migration.
Wrapping Up
The process of Microsoft Exchange migration to Office 365 is difficult if the user is unfamiliar with the necessary procedures. Therefore, in this article, the various methods of transfer of data from Office 365 have been extensively discussed in order to set your mind at ease.
You can choose the technique that best meets your requirements. The third-party solution is recommended since it allows the user to move data in bulk and with minimal effort.
