Office 365 Tenant to Tenant Migration – Supporting Tech-Guide
For learning the correct and most successful procedure for Office 365 tenant to tenant migration, keep up with this article and understand the steps for it.
Tenant migration is a common query amongst the Microsoft 365 users when there is merging or acquisition involved.
Meaning, when Company A is merging with Company B and both use Office 365 as their email client, the only requirement for them is to move their data from one tenant to another.
If Company A is acquiring Company C, then also only tenant migration is required if Exchange Online is used.
However, tenant to tenant migration in Office 365 is not an easy-to-do job. There are certain requirements you need to fulfill, various preparations to do, and get licenses.
In this type of migration, there are going to be many challenges. As, Manual migration, unplanned server downtime, or missing emails or documents is not what the organization needs.
So, for a swift yet successful migration, we are here with the best technique to make it rather convenient for users.
Let’s get right into the stages of migration and find out how it works.
Stages of Office 365 Tenant to Tenant Migration
There are two stages in this type of migration with different steps. These stages are:
- Pre-Migration
- Migration
Both of these stages have different steps that need to be followed carefully for a successful migration.
Instant Migration Approach:
You can migrate all of the data from your mailbox to another tenant without wasting any time or effort by using the Office 365 to Office 365 Migration Tool. It exports data in bulk from Public Folders and Shared Mailboxes as well.
Take a look at the checklist for the pre-migration stage to understand the pre-requisites that you need to fulfill beforehand.
Pre-Migration Stage of Tenant to Tenant Migration in Office 365
You need to follow certain steps and also, be careful with them for success:
Step 1 – Prepare the Domain
- Make sure enough licenses are for Office 365.
- Admin accounts in both the source & target platforms should be created.
- In the target platform, user mailboxes, resource mailboxes, & distribution groups are to be created.
- Use the AD DS tools to perform AD DS consolidation if required. Also, sync the source platform with the target.
- Explain & train the end-users for Office 365 tenant to tenant migration and its use.
Step 2 – Verify the Domain
- Verify the target domain in Office 365.
- Add the source domain in your target platform admin center & create TXT records in DNS.
Ensure that the domain you are using is utilized only in one tenant or the verification won’t go through.
Also, it will take up to 72 hours to verify.
Step 3 – Schedule the migration
- You have to generate a list of the user mailboxes for migration and create a CSV file containing these details for mapping.
- For a tenant to tenant migration in Office 365, you need to note the lowest value of TTL on the MX record.
- Then, to avoid any modifications from syncing, you have to disable the directory sync for the source platform. A minimum of 24 hours will be taken to complete this process.
Step 4 – Migration Facilitation
- Stop the flow of emails.
- Prepare the source tenant by erasing the domain from all the objects.
- Reset the email address to the initial email of Exchange Online.
- Remove all the licenses of the source platform using Lync Admin Portal before Office 365 tenant to tenant migration.
- Reset the default email address of the distribution lists, rooms, etc
- Edit & remove the secondary email address.
- Prepare the target platform domain.
After fulfilling the pre-migration checklist, let’s now take a look at the migration procedure.
How to Perform the Migration Procedure in a Quick Way?
With the help of the tool mentioned above, you have the option to perform the migration easily and reliably.
The software ensures data safety and keeps the integrity intact along with the maintenance of folder hierarchy.
Software Steps for Tenant to Tenant Migration in Office 365:
- Run the tool and launch it. Choose the Source and Destination as Office 365 in the Setup tab to get started.
- Select the mailbox item categories for migration in the Workload Selection field and set the Date-Filter for each category.
- Enter the admin credentials for Office 365 in the Source window and hit Validate in order to assign the permissions.
- Fill in the details for the Office 365 admin account in the Destination window. Validate the permissions and hit Next for further steps.
- For Office 365 tenant to tenant migration, you need to add in the list containing the user IDs for mapping by choosing Fetch Users or Import Users.
- Forthwith, if required, set the priorities for the user mailboxes you want to migrate earlier than others and hit the Validate button for mapping. Hence, press the Start Migration button to begin the procedure.
Wait for a few minutes for the procedure to complete. You can easily access all your data from the Destination tenant when this migration gets complete. Moreover, you will find the data in the exact format as in the Source tenant.
Features of the Tool for Office 365 Tenant to Tenant Migration
- Migrate data from all the categories in bulk like Mail, Contacts, Calendars, Documents, etc.
- Date-Filter for selective data migration as per a period is provided
- Concurrent Migration option for batch migration of mailboxes to speed up the process
- Delta Migration feature allows to scan the mailbox again & export only new data
- Retry Failed Items in case a few files were skipped or failed (if any) during the previous task
- Set Priority for migrating selective mailboxes sooner than others
Ending Words
The Office 365 tenant to tenant migration procedure is not as easy as it may seem. You need to make sure you keep up with all the pre-requirements for a perfect migration, otherwise, there may be errors.
Using the correct method and having the right knowledge for the same can help you with the procedure even more easily. Hence, the software mentioned above is the best choice for a user who wants to migrate their data in bulk.