Migrating Microsoft Teams to a new Microsoft 365 tenant can present some challenges. But it also provides the opportunity to do some cleaning and organizing. To ensure a successful Microsoft Teams migration, commit to some careful planning. These migration best practices will help.
Start with Spring Cleaning
Take time to look closely at the current Teams environment. Create an audit list of all the teams, as well as the permissions and policies in place. Some of that information, even some teams themselves, may no longer serve a purpose. Identify teams and channels that have become redundant or unnecessary and delete or archive them.
In addition to the overall teams, look at the team mailboxes, document libraries, membership, tabs, and permissions. For instance, large document libraries and mailboxes can significantly slow the migration process. Reduce unnecessary data before the migration to avoid bottlenecks. Involving the right stakeholders in this process will ensure solid decision-making.
Map Out the Overall Structure in the New Environment
Once you have cleaned up the current environment, create a detailed picture of the new environment and how teams will operate there. This will involve discussions about business processes and goals. For instance, consider merging teams that need to collaborate more fully or adjusting team structures to better support business objectives.
Additionally, as you prepare to migrate to a new environment, identify any possible duplicate names of users or teams. Administrators will find it much easier to resolve duplicates before the migration occurs.
Define Governance Policies
Carefully defined policies help to avoid sprawl and ensure proper information governance in the new environment. These include naming conventions and expiration policies, policies to determine who can create and manage teams and policies around external sharing and guest access.
For example, naming conventions help to clearly identify the purpose and origin of the team. This reduces the chance that users will create unnecessary duplicates. Expiration policies, on the other hand, reduce sprawl by removing inactive groups after a designated period.
Run a Pilot Microsoft Teams Migration
To determine how long the migration will take and to identify any potential issues, conduct a pilot migration. Choose a team with an average number of users, channels and data. As you conduct the pilot migration, take careful notes of any issues that arise and the solutions to those issues. Then adjust your overall migration plan accordingly.
Allow Sufficient Time
The pilot migration should give you a rough sense of how long the migration process will take. However, plan for the unexpected. Allow ample time, preferably over a weekend. Large teams and teams that include big document libraries can take substantial time to migrate. Halt all collaboration activities during the migration to allow for uninterrupted syncing.
Monitor the Microsoft Teams Migration Process
Continually assess the migration from beginning to end. To facilitate tracking, create admin accounts ahead of time on both the current environment and the target environment. Once the migration has completed, conduct post-migration testing. Clear up any issues before allowing users to access Teams.
Partner with Microsoft Migration Experts
The migration experts at Messaging Architects bring deep experience with Microsoft products, including hundreds of successful migrations. They will help you plan appropriately, ensure information governance and security with well-defined policies, and proactively identify potential problems. They will also provide guidance on optimal system configuration.
