Migrate Mailbox On Premise to O365 to Simplify Your Move

After Office 365 (The Cloud Based Emailing Platform) came into the picture. Most firms ranging from smaller to big sizes using On-premises servers considered switching to Microsoft’s emerging remote emailing platform. As the O365 provides better security and flexibility. If you or your firm is looking for a complex free solution then go through this article which explains the methods available to migrate mailbox on premise to O365 smoothly.

But let’s first why mailbox migration to O365 is required and how it will be beneficial to users or companies.

Why Does it Need to Migrate Mailboxes from Exchange to Office 365?

Companies generally consider using the on-premise Exchange setup because of multiple reasons. It gives full control to Exchange mailbox data. However, at the same time, the company has to bear the cost of maintenance and ensure server security and provide 100% availability of the services.  Microsoft 365 Migration provides more advanced facilities making users to put less effort and be more productive.

1. Doesn’t require putting money into the infrastructure setup, storage facilities and hardware. Just buy the new users’ email addresses and experience A greater scalability  
2. Savings increases, as the maintenance part doesn’t include anymore. Purchasing Microsoft 365 subscription is what is required.
3. Microsoft handles data security and ensures that your data is protected and maintained properly. So, data loss or theft cases get eliminated.
4. Auto updates of the software are taken care of by Microsoft. All the software updating are done automatically.

Migrate Mailboxes from Exchange to Office 365 – Common Issues

As we are familiar with the fact that the Exchange mailbox migration O365 should be done under expert supervision. Because while executing the steps, multiple errors can be made which can make the process more complicated for the user. So, it is suggested to migrate mailbox on premise to O365 if you are aware of the steps properly. Else, you can experience these kinds of issues:

• Time loss due to slow network connections.
• Incorrectly configured firewalls, CAS servers, and proxy devices can cause connectivity issues.
• Users still using outdated versions of MS Outlook mailbox locally. 
• Corruption and stability issues in the current Exchange environment issues with policy compliance.

How to Migrate Mailbox On Premise to O365?

For exchange Server migration to Office 365, there are two methods that are available:

1. Export On-Premise Mailbox to PST And Import PST In O365

This method is suitable when you are dealing with a small number of mailboxes. Using this method, you can export to PST and from there import those PST files to O365.

• For Exchange 2007 or below Versions:

To export mailboxes to PST, use the export-mailbox command or the ExMerge tool.

• For Exchange 2010 SP1 or Above version:

Use New-MailboxExportRequest PowerShell cmdlet to export mailboxes to PST

When the exporting process is done, use the Import Wizard of O365 to import the PST in O365.  

2. Migrate Mailbox On Premise to O365 Directly

For Exchange mailbox migration, planning, preparation, and permissions should be done in advance in order to use this method.

• Cutover Migration: In case of migrating mailboxes lesser than 2000, cutover migration will be suitable. Also, this migration type is supported by Exchange 2003,007, 2010, and 2013.

• Staged Migration: If it is required for batch migration and exceeding more than 2000 mailboxes then Staged Migration is useful.

• Hybrid Migration: If the migration of the Exchange mailbox lies between 150 to 2000, that too in small batches over time, then consider using the Hybrid Migration. Compatible with 2010 & 2013 Exchange.

Read this Post to get the manual steps of each type of Exchange mailbox migration explained above: Migrate Mailbox From On-Premise to Office 365

Note – A few things that we need to understand are that these methods might take more time. The Admin of the Exchange server should have a complete understanding of the migration process.

Quick Method to Directly Migrate Mailbox On Premise to O365

In the above-mentioned methods, there are chances that you may face technical difficulty in executing or completing a particular step. Hence, to make it simple you can use the Exchange to Office 365 Migration Tool to Migrate Mailboxes from Exchange to Office 365. Being a self-operated tool, it makes the entire migration process easier plus it provides multiple features to use.

• Initially, for on-premise migration, you need to download the tool, then choose the source “Exchange” and destination “migrate mailbox on premise to o365”. Also, select the items to migrate.

• In the source section, mentioned the asked details and hit the Validate button.

• Once the Source validation is completed, do the same for the destination “O365” in the destination section.

• Now here, you can choose any of the options given: Fetch Users, Import Users, Download Template

• Once the option is chosen, the list of emails(Source & Destination) will appear, after previewing it hit the Start Migration button.

Also Read: Best Ways to Enable Copy and Paste in PDF File

Conclusion

When it comes to migrating large-size data from Exchange to Office 365, the method and the process involved in not easy to implement. Multiple requirements and needs can somewhere restrict you in the process. Hence, it’s better to first plan and note down the prerequisites for implementing the process. We have explained the manual way to migrate mailbox on premise to O365. Apart from this, if in case the manual process looks complicated, then we suggest using a professional solution which shortens the process of migration and helps to move the exchange mailbox data to O365 in an easier manner. Additionally, because the software doesn’t interfere with users’ regular activities, an administrator can migrate data without requiring them to log off of their computers.