Many companies recognize the benefits of cloud-based business solutions, including mobile access, increased team collaboration, and the robust capabilities of Office 365. However, the planning and effort involved in migrating to Office 365 often deter them from making the switch.

Contrary to common perception, the actual migration process is often straightforward. The real challenge lies in the planning phase: assessing and cleaning up the source environment, and ensuring everything is correctly set up for a smooth migration.

Here are some strategies and best practices to guide you through a successful Office 365 migration:

Step 1: Assessing Your Current Environment

The biggest mistake companies make when migrating to Office 365 is failing to plan thoroughly. A meticulous assessment of your current environment—content types, security settings, workflows, document storage, and responsibility—is crucial.

Using a SharePoint Migration tool can help transfer content and workflows, but partnering with experienced migration experts will eliminate guesswork and stress. A solid migration plan and roadmap can prevent post-migration issues like security and access problems, migration of irrelevant documents, and business disruption.

Step 2: Creating Your Cloud Migration Roadmap

Key considerations when crafting your migration plan and roadmap include:

• Prioritize Phased Migration: Migrate to Office 365 in phases to minimize business disruptions.

• Engage Stakeholders: Involve key stakeholders to assess, clean up, and map migration items from the current environment to the cloud.

• Define Business and Security Needs: Outline business user needs, security requirements, and collaboration expectations, and develop actionable steps to meet them.

• Preemptive Planning for Forms and Workflows: Plan ahead for migrating forms and workflows to streamline the process.

• Consistent Communication: Keep employees informed about the plan, current phase, and expectations at each stage of the migration.

• Select the Right Tools: Choose the right migration tools and technologies to empower business and IT users and administrators in the new environment.

Step 3: Preparing Your Destination Environment

Planning and structuring your new environment according to your needs is critical for a successful migration. This involves:

• Content Architecture and Information Hierarchy: Define and create a suitable content architecture.
• Governance Model: Develop a solid governance model.
• Security Setup: Set up your security requirements.
• Folder Structure and Taxonomy: Flatten your folder structure and build the correct taxonomy and metadata for your documents.

Creating a robust and user-friendly Office 365 Intranet is essential for increasing user adoption and engagement. The out-of-the-box Office 365 options can be overwhelming, so consider reading our blog post on 3 Reasons Why Your Company Needs an Intranet for best practices on Intranet development.

Let Us Help Develop Your Roadmap to a Successful Office 365 Migration

At Optimum, we utilize industry-leading migration platforms and our team’s expertise in Office 365 and Azure migration and environment management. We help our clients plan and execute smooth and robust migrations to Office 365 from any environment and platform.

Read our Migration Case Studies and Contact Us to learn more about how we can help plan and execute your migration, minimizing the costs and complexity of moving your users and content to the cloud.

About Optimum: Your Trusted Microsoft Partner

Optimum is a nationally recognized IT consulting firm and a trusted Microsoft Partner, dedicated to crafting tailored solutions that harness the power of Office 365 and Azure, by utilizing Power Platform, Copilot, SharePoint and Digital Workplace Portals, Teams, and Azure-based solutions.

We specialize in driving efficiency, reducing operational costs, and facilitating digital transformation for organizations. Our services are designed to maximize the impact and ROI of Microsoft solutions investments, with a focus on enhancing user adoption and engagement.

Reach out today for a complimentary discovery session, and let’s explore the best Microsoft solution for your needs!

Contact us: info@optimumcs.com | 713.505.0300 | www.optimumcs.com