7 questions to ask yourself before migrating to Office 365

November 8th, 2017 Intech Systems Office 365

Businesses are now understanding that cloud adoption will take them a long way. Be it reduction in operational costs or improving security and implementation processes, cloud based solutions make your business flourish. Many businesses are migrating to Office 365 for its exceptional productivity benefits. But implementing new solutions in your organization is a challenging task. With changes in infrastructure or platform, your staff and end users might find it stressful to cope up.
According to Forbes, Cloud computing spending has been growing at 4.5 times the rate of IT spending since 2009 and is expected to grow at better than 6 times the rate of IT spending from 2015 through 2020. Conclusively, the cloud has gone mainstream. Thinking of adopting Office 365 – a cloud business suite? Here are 7 questions to ask yourself before migrating to Office 365.

1. Have you done your homework?

This migration is going to be huge and prominent. Before deciding upon the migration, know the software, your company processes and budget inside out. You have got to know where will your data lie once migrated; is it going to be public or private; who will have the access and many such points. Know the reasons of migrating to cloud. Just because other businesses are adopting cloud, it’s not necessary for you to make a shift abruptly. Every business is different with diverse needs, different goals, different processes and different budgets.

2. Are all the departments involved?

When you are changing the whole infrastructure, it is going to affect the whole organization. Though IT department has a bit more say in such processes, every department should be consulted too. Most migrations fail because they believe technical upgrades and migrations are IT team’s headache. Office 365 is a tool which will be used by everyone in your organization. Make them aware and educate them about your decisions. Legal, technical, IT, Sales & Marketing– every department from top to bottom should be consulted.

3. Have you set clear expectations?

You may face resistance from many or all departments. The right approach to tackle such situations is to ask them the reason behind their resistance. Once you know their expectations, address their concerns by educating them about the new infrastructure, processes and your expectations from them. You will then see their struggle changing into acceptance. But soon they will turn impatient about how long will the migration take. Here, it is important to explain them what, how, when and why of the migration process.

4. Have you selected the right migration tools?

While migrating to Office 365, make sure you have right set of tools. Migration involves many steps – from assessment to implementing to testing. You can’t afford to make errors which might hinder the process. Many Office 365 migration tools are made available at no cost by Microsoft and other third-party organizations. Some tools help you in moving user accounts, contacts, tasks, folders, etc. while others offer a free pilot check before implementing a full-scale version. Make a list of your requirements and objectives and select the right tools for easy migration process.

5. Have you planned for change?

Migrating to cloud – be it Outlook or SharePoint or Office is not only a matter of geography. It is a transformation, building a whole new infrastructure to store all your data. Here, you are dealing with change management and change is not always easy. It will take time, efforts, and money. But when we talk about moving to cloud, all your time, efforts and money are worth it. Cloud platform lets you put everything in place very quickly and then you can grow and mature your service offerings over time. Plan for this change in advance to get the best out of it.

6. Have you set the right timeline?

A cloud migration can’t be done overnight. Though you might have planned everything in advance, you will face unanticipated situations to tackle to meet the deadline. The migration process for every business is different based on processes, policies, settings and thus configurations. Set realistic deadline keeping in mind the possible discrepancies. It’s always better to have an additional time set aside for contingencies then to rush over things and make mistakes.

7. Have you shared the knowledge with your end-users?

What is the use of migration if your end users are not trained about how it works? Before making Office 365 go live, see if you have educated your end-users about the new infrastructure and its features. Schedule training sessions and provide study materials to familiarize them  with the new platform and its functioning. This will ensure that all your employees are ready for the change.

Are you ready?

Office 365 is one such tool which is used by many and liked by all.  Ask yourself these 7 questions before migrating to this cloud application. If you have positive answers to all of them, stay assured that half your work is done. So, are you ready to make the migration to Office 365 smooth and seamless? Talk to our experts and learn how we make your migration process even easier.

About Intech

Intech Systems is a three-cloud Microsoft-certified partner that boasts deep expertise in providing digital transformation solutions for organizations by leveraging the Microsoft 365, Dynamics 365, and Azure solution stack. Intech is recognized as a top-tier Microsoft implementation partner globally and specializes in transformative technology solutions such as ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning), CRM (Customer Relationship Management), Business Process Automation, Business Intelligence, Cloud Infrastructure, Data Management, Productivity & Collaboration and Generative AI (Gen-AI) solutions. As a trusted Microsoft Solutions Partner, we are capable of doing complex technology implementations catered to an organization’s specific needs & also rapid solution implementation such as our Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central implementation packages. We pair our implementations with end-to-end customer support, offshore development & 3rd party integrations. With offices in India, USA (United States of America), and Singapore, we work with clients across globe to empower businesses with cutting-edge technology solutions. Our latest services aim at delivering business ready AI solutions to the customer, like our  Microsoft Copilot Consulting Services & Solutions for small, medium & large enterprises. Intech’s expertise lies in building software solutions for Manufacturing, Professional Services & Healthcare.  Our Dealer Management System, Sales and Service CRM for Manufacturing, Field Force Automation for Pharmaceuticals and Manufacturing Central are some of our leading industry solutions. Intech’s vision is to catalyze digital futures for operation-centric industries globally, we are at the forefront of innovation, helping organizations drive growth and innovation like never before. Contact Us to learn more.