Email migration strategies from Ross Phillips
When a relatively small specialty hospital merged into a large healthcare organization, the organization faced the challenge of navigating a GroupWise to Office 365 migration. Needing to migrate 5,000 mailboxes smoothly, they turned to Messaging Architects, attracted by their reputation for fixing broken migrations.
Tight Timeline and Unwieldy Mailboxes Present a Challenge
Like many organizations using old email systems, the hospital had no expert on staff to ensure proper system configuration. With no one to run maintenance, primary mailboxes and personal archives had grown prohibitively large and cumbersome. To add complexity, some users owned accounts in both systems.
The hospital’s efforts to sort through the complexity took much longer than anticipated. The original six-month migration timeframe quickly dwindled while the steering committee worked to nail down a mailbox migration list. Finally, a scant two months remained to complete all preparation work before the Go Live date.
Proven Experience with Large Personal Mail Archives
Unmanaged archives held untold amounts of outdated and duplicate emails, as well as emails far too large to transfer directly to Office 365. In addition, mapping accounts between two disparate systems posed significant challenges.
Fortunately, Messaging Architects offered experience gained through hundreds of successful email migrations. With expertise in both Office 365 and GroupWise, consultants first tuned GroupWise settings for optimum performance. In the process, they were able to uncover and address performance issues related to storage service configuration.
Then, with a clear picture of the challenges at hand, consultants worked with hospital personnel to resolve identity mapping issues and unhealthy mailboxes. Using proven tools and processes, they were able to flag problem mailboxes and emails and address them case by case.
Behind-the-Scenes Migration for Positive User Experience
For employees in almost any industry, a productive work atmosphere requires smoothly running email. In many email migrations, employees deal with disruptions for weeks. Messaging Architects, however, performs most migration tasks in the background, invisible to the end users.
Consultants first conducted a test migration with a pilot group. This process helped to highlight potential issues and ensure proper communication moving forward. Most end users experienced a single Go Live event, with little to no disruption to their email. Indeed, thanks to careful preparation and contingency planning, the migration completed successfully and on time.
Ensure Success with Project Management and Communication
The consultants at Messaging Architects know that preparation and communication represent essential keys to a successful GroupWise to Office 365 migration. From the very beginning, project managers conduct a thorough system review and outline the risks and impacts of the process. They walk customers through key steps to complete before and after migration.
Finally, Messaging Architects provide templates for end user communication and Help Desk training. With a detailed plan for communication from start to finish, users throughout the organization know what to expect. This minimizes disruption and ensures a positive user experience.
GroupWise to Office 365 Migration Experts
Messaging Architects has completed hundreds GroupWise to Office 365 migration projects over the past decade with a 100 percent success rate. Thus, the combination of tried and true tools and deep expertise in both GroupWise and Office 365 ensures smooth transitions.
If concerns about messy migrations have delayed your move to Office 365, give the experts at Messaging Architects a call. We can help you work through even the most complex email migration issues. In addition, we will assist you in defining your organizational ePolicy and a system configuration that will ensure ongoing success.
Ross Phillips began working with Messaging Architects eleven years ago. Currently a solutions architect and implementation consultant, Phillips manages email migrations for companies of all sizes and across multiple industries. A CISSP-certified professional, he is passionate about security.
