Strategies for SMBs to Plan Microsoft Tenant to Tenant Migrations

Since Microsoft 365 tenant to tenant migrations are multi-faceted, SMBs and their IT team must evaluate the comprehensiveness of the project, including migration of each drive and app under the source tenant, and plan accordingly. And when planning the migration of the drives and other apps of the source tenant, it is crucial to understand the intricacies of each, such as sharing structure, external collaboration, and more.

To help gain and consolidate insights into strategizing a Microsoft tenant to tenant migration of a small or medium scale, we have shared the approaches that have worked for our customers.

Choose a One-Stop-Shop Migration Solutions Partner

The need to move away from several drives and apps of the source Microsoft 365 tenant, including OneDrive, SharePoint Online, Outlook, Teams, Calendar, and more, calls for various types of migration solutions. However, it is best to work with a single migration solutions provider that can cater to all the migration requirements.

With this approach, you can streamline the process of onboarding the migration vendor without facing the complexities of working with multiple vendors, such as reviewing and amending the migration and security policies of multiple migration service providers.

Focus on Taking a Granular Approach During the Planning Stage

Taking a granular approach is key when it comes to planning Microsoft 365 tenant migrations. It can be easy to overlook the intricacies of sharing structure and file/folder properties when considering migrating the high-volume data of all apps across the source Microsoft 365 tenant.

Perform a comprehensive analysis of the source Microsoft 365 tenant drives and apps to plan the scope of work. Consider retaining all the properties of the user accounts and their data.

• OneDrive in the source Microsoft 365 tenant – Assess and finalize the files and folders of the user’s accounts to migrate.
• SharePoint Online in the source Microsoft 365 tenant – Replicate the Team and Communication Sites in the target tenant with custom CSV mapping
• Microsoft Teams in the source Microsoft 365 tenant – Retain memberships and finalize the migration of group and direct messages between individual users and their teams.
• Outlook in the source Microsoft 365 tenant – Evaluate the mailboxes to migrate and take decisions on the types of email properties to migrate.

Check for the Scope of Partnerships with Microsoft

In almost all types of cloud office migrations, including Microsoft tenant to tenant migrations, working with the adoption enablers of the target cloud helps SMBs get additional assistance. But in many cases, developing strategic partnerships with the Microsoft 365 teams within a short timeframe may not be feasible.

An efficient alternative to this is to leverage the migration provider’s Micrsoft partnership. For example, we at CloudFuze are a Microsoft Gold Partner. With our strategic partnership, SMBs benefit from priorty technical support that the teams at Microsoft provide our migration teams with. You can learn about one such case study here.

Segregate the Project to Simplify Permissions Replication and Migration Validation

Lasltly, dividing the entite Microsoft 365 tenant migration project into separate phases and stages is the way to go. Not only does this approach helps lower the risk of API throttling, it also simplies the process of mapping user accounts and validating the migrated user batches. Learn more about performing migrations in a phased way.

At CloudFuze, we specialize in Microsoft 365 tenant to tenant migrations. With years of experience in enabling SMBs to successfully migrate between tenants, our migration team has deep insights into addressing the pain points of similar-sized businesses. Discuss further with our team and learn how our solutions can help your SMB organization switch between Microsoft 365 tenants effortlessly.