Increasingly, companies who have kept up to date with Exchange On-Premise are now moving to Office 365.  Exchange 2013 is a mature, well supported, version of Microsoft’s on-premise Exchange server.   Migrating to Office 365 is well documented, with different methods available.

Active Directory Questions

There are strategic decisions to make around AD.  Do you want to sync your local AD accounts/passwords to O365?  Or do you want true Single Sign On (SSO)?

Exchange 2013 Hybrid Migration to O365

The Microsoft Hybrid Configuration Wizard (HCW) is the free Microsoft tool to join your Exchange 2013 environment to Office 365, creating a single, logical entity.   It can run on a supported version of Exchange 2013, or Exchange 2016, preferably on a dedicated server. Azure AD connect is deployed to sync your local AD accounts to O365.   HCW  allows for full collaboration between Exchange and Office 365 for items such as:

• Mail Flow
• Common Address Book
• Calendar Free Busy
• Mailbox Moves

Exchange 2013 Cutover

You may decide to not link Exchange 2013 with your Office 365 Tenant, and cut over at a determined time.   This will mean all new mailboxes will be required on O365 in advance, and all Outlook Clients, and mobile devices, will need to be re-configured.   Data migration can then take place via a 3rd Party tool, or via PST export/import.

Mail flow routing is an important area, along with anti-spam protection.   Careful planning required for this method, but if done well, can save time and money.

Conclusion

Migrating from Exchange 2013 to Office 365 can be done smoothly, with good planning, and good skills.   There are multiple decisions to make along the way.  Contact us here today for a free Migration Consultation on how we can help you migrate from Exchange 2013 to Office 365.