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In recent years, Office 365 has established itself as the preferred productivity platform for businesses, regardless of their scale. As businesses increasingly adopt Office 365, the demand for tenant-to-tenant migrations has grown. While Office 365 offers several built-in tools for transferring users and data, the migration process can remain intricate and time-intensive.
To streamline the Office 365 tenant-to-tenant migration process, we’ve compiled a comprehensive, step-by-step guide. This guide encompasses every aspect, spanning from initial planning and preparation to the execution phase and post-migration tasks. By adhering to these steps, you can guarantee a successful migration while minimizing disruptions to your users.
In Microsoft 365, a ‘tenant’ refers to a distinct Office 365 service environment. It represents a particular geographic location, such as Europe or North America, where organizational data is stored. This encompassing environment houses various organization data, including Office 365 Mailboxes, Documents, SharePoint Sites, file data in OneDrive, Teams, and more. A tenant administrator possesses access to all the features provided within their subscription.
During business merger scenarios, the necessity to relocate mailboxes to another tenant arises. This migration process is not a straightforward progression; it entails several preparatory steps, prerequisite requirements, and the acquisition of licenses.”
Today, we will delve into the fundamentals of migrating mailboxes from one Microsoft 365 tenant to another. Furthermore, we will explore the planning process for this migration.
For a professional and efficient migration of mailboxes, public folders, and archive mailboxes between Microsoft 365 tenants, consider utilizing the Kernel Office 365 Migration Tool.
A Microsoft 365 tenant-to-tenant migration can pose diverse challenges contingent upon your specific migration scenario. These migrations typically occur during business acquisitions, mergers, or divestitures, leading to various migration patterns, including one-time migrations, phased migrations, or split flow/tenant moves.
The Microsoft 365 tenant to tenant migration is performed using PowerShell scripts or third-party tools. Before that, there is an Office 365 Pre & Post Migration checklist you should keep in mind.
Step 1. Domain Preparation
Depending on your migration pattern, you may have various considerations before domain preparation. Usual scenarios are:
Based on your requirements, prepare the domain with the following steps:
Step 2. Domain verification
Make sure the domain is in use with only one tenant. Otherwise, the verification will fail.
After performing these steps, it will take around 72 hours for the change to be seen.
Step 3. Migration Scheduling
Step 4. Migration Stage
Stop inbound mail flow
To halt inbound mail flow to the source tenant, you can achieve this by altering the primary MX record to an unreachable value or by employing a third-party service. It’s essential to take into account the shortest Time to Live (TTL) value on the MX record (for the primary email domain) that you identified during your preparation phase. This will enable you to plan the timing of this step effectively.
Source tenant preparation
Before moving the Office 365 mailbox to another tenant, the primary mail domain should be erased from all objects in the source tenant.
Preparing the target domain
It involves verifying the source tenant in the target domain (one hour after the previous step).
Now, it’s crucial to determine the migration method, including specifying the type and quantity of data to be migrated. While it’s possible to perform migrations using PowerShell scripts, it’s important to note that this method can be exceedingly intricate, even for Exchange experts. It demands meticulous preparation to ensure that you avoid errors in executing cmdlets or steps. Additionally, it can be time-consuming, even when multiple individuals are assigned to the task. Consequently, it is highly recommended to consider third-party migration tools, as they provide comprehensive control over the migration process and offer rapid and efficient automation.
When undertaking an Office 365 tenant-to-tenant migration, safeguarding your data is of utmost importance. Many migration experts strongly advocate the use of a dependable and secure migration tool for Microsoft 365 tenant-to-tenant migration, as it guarantees the safe transfer of your data without any corruption. Furthermore, these tools ensure that your data retains its original structure and format even after the migration is complete. They automate the migration process, reducing the need for extensive manual intervention. This allows administrators to focus on other tasks concurrently while the migration progresses.
Kernel Office 365 Migration is an advanced tool specifically tailored for Office 365 tenant-to-tenant migrations. It offers users a seamless way to migrate all Microsoft 365 mailboxes from one tenant to another. With a range of exceptional features, it stands out as the premier migration tool for Microsoft 365.
Let’s have a look at the working process of this tool:
The migration report can be saved in a CSV format. This way, you can quickly perform Microsoft/Office 365 tenant to tenant migration using the third-party migration tool.
Features |
Manual Methods |
Kernel |
Migrates mailboxes | Yes | Yes |
Migrates archive mailboxes | Yes | Yes |
Migrates public folder data | Yes | Yes |
Supports batch migration | Yes | Yes |
Migration is possible from any version of Exchange | Yes | Yes |
Easy to set up the environment | No | Yes |
Easy migration | No | Yes |
Can be done by non-technical users | No | Yes |
Is reliable and secure | No | Yes |
A similar procedure for all migrations | No | Yes |
Fast and accurate | No | Yes |
Offers easy selective migration of data | No | Yes |
In this comprehensive step-by-step guide, we have provided a clear roadmap for migrating your Office 365 tenant to a new one. We understand that migrations can be complex, but with careful planning and execution, they can be manageable. By following these outlined steps and reaching out for assistance when necessary, you can successfully transition your organization to a new Office 365 tenant.
However, if you’re seeking a tool to simplify and automate the migration process, consider utilizing Kernel’s Office 365 Migration tool. The best part? It’s available free of charge, making it a compelling option to explore. Don’t hesitate to get started today. This tool supports all Office 365 (Microsoft 365) plans, including GCC High, GCC, DOD, and Commercial Microsoft 365 plans.
However, if you’re seeking a tool to simplify and automate the migration process, consider utilizing Kernel’s Office 365 Migration tool. The best part? It’s available free of charge, making it a compelling option to explore. Don’t hesitate to get started today. This tool supports all Office 365 (Microsoft 365) plans, including GCC High, GCC, DOD, and Commercial Microsoft 365 plans.
A- Microsoft 365 tenant to tenant migration depends on multiple business scenarios such as business mergers, acquisitions, business data migration projects, re-branding, etc.
A- For the migration process, it is vital to have a domain attached to a single domain, either source or destination at a time. So, source domain data need to be transferred to the destination account before detaching it from the source account. Then, attach the domain to the destination account and finally detach from the source account. For all these processes. This source domain in the destination account needs to be verified for authentication via TXT records in DNS for authentication purposes.
A- Hardly, there is any manual process to migrate a Microsoft 365 tenant to another which is a complex process of using PowerShell scripts, and limits of 500 mailboxes migration is another challenge that needs to be completed by using a smart and robust Microsoft 365 Migration tool.
A- A reliable professional Microsoft 365 migration tool like Kernel Office 365 Migration tool offers many advantages to its users by facilitating quick migrations, intelligent filters, unlimited data migration, all sorts of content from mailboxes, groups, public folders, tenants migration with support to all plans and Windows OS versions without compromising the original structure and properties.
A- To run cmdlets in Exchange Online PowerShell for performing data migration, you need to connect Windows PowerShell to Exchange Online, i.e. configuring Exchange Online account in the PowerShell application.
All thanks to the software and support team for their efforts and guidance. The software has all the essential features which makes the migration process very easy, quick and secure.