Timing is everything. It is key to set up the new mail box and route the email to Microsoft 365 / Office 365 before backing up the previous mail box and importing it. A few duplicates are better then lost email.
Having a correctly configured DNS is crucial to a seamless 365 migration. Your MX record is how other mail systems find the location of your email system. Changing your MX record allows other mail systems to begin to send email directly to the new mailboxes in Microsoft 365 or Office 365. Only change the MX record when you want any new email to flow into 365.
Another important record is the Autodiscover record which allows mail clients to automatically configure the settings required to send and receive mail on the device.
Other records to be aware of are SPF, DKIM and DMARC records. SPF is crucial in order to reduce spoofing and maximise deliverability. DKIM and DMARC can be configured after the migration, however SPF record prior to a migration.
Customers should be made aware that they can at any time access the new email using the 365 webmail interface via their browser. This is crucial as some users may have problems setting up their new accounts and this acts as a fallback in these scenarios.
What we need to get the ball rolling for a migration
We require a list of email addresses (mailboxes) and relevant first names and surnames that are to be migrated in Excel spreadsheet format. The sheet must have following fields:
- Email address
- First name
- Surname
- Type of license required
- Key point of contact
Our most popular licenses
- Exchange Online plan 1: For the standard user. This is a professional and secure 50GB Exchange mailbox. The licenses does not offer any desktop Office software or enterprise features although the full office suite is available online – R69 ex vat
- Microsoft 365 Business Standard: For the more serious users. This offers a professional 50GB Exchange mailbox. The license includes Office desktop software, 1TB OneDrive, Teams and Sharepoint – R216
- Office Enterprise E3: This is an enterprise grade license for users that require enterprise security. The license includes a 50GB Exchange mailbox, full Office desktop software, Exchange ActiveSync for mobile devices, litigation hold, archiving, data loss prevention and voicemail. – R335 ex vat
Routing the mail
Once we have confirmed that all the mailboxes have been created, and we have sent the list of email addresses and passwords, you will need to change your organization’s MX record to point to Microsoft 365 or Office 365.
Adding the new mail account to the mail client
Users will then need to add the new email account to their mail clients on the various devices using their username and provided password (please see the Databias support site at https://support.databias.co.za) for information regarding adding the 365 account to other devices such as phones and tablets.
Outlook / Preferences / Accounts / Add account – type in email address in the empty field. If Outlook does not choose Microsoft Office 365 on its own, choose it from the list provided / you will be required to put in your password – use the one provided.
It is as simple as that. If the mail was originally a POP / IMAP account, the old account can be left as is in the mail client and referred to as and when necessary.
Should a client wish to migrate all previous POP / IMAP emails into their new 365 account, they will need to create a .PST file backup and then import it to their new account. Should a client need assistance with importing old email to their new account, they will still need to provide us with a .PST file (this is a billable service).
*We do have a secure Azure server dedicated to mail migration and this repository can be used by account managers to save .PST files before importing to the new 365 email account.
For more technical information on mail migrations please click here