
Office 365 migration solutions have become the key driver of an organization’s operational efficiency and productivity, yet a section of executives shy away from executing this tool suite. Security compliance complexities, bandwidth shortage, hybrid prerequisites, retention policies are some of the reasons why they exhibit inhibitions towards integrating office 365 migration solutions into their operational infrastructure. On this note, here’s shedding light on some of the industry best practices that aid in a seamless implementation and utilization of this tool suite.
Adequate system capacity to support data extraction– During a migration, it is a common occurrence of the source system get saturated and can no longer support the end-user workload. This derails the data extraction process and results in data loss. To avoid repetition of such incidents, users must run a proper system performance monitoring during a pilot migration test. It is best to avoid running a full-scale migration schedule if the source system is found to reach its full capacity. The best way forward is to overhaul the system with hardware features and distribute the data into other servers that are not actively a part of the migration. This unburdens the source system from an excessive data load. An on-premise migration usually involves a huge number of databases and mailbox servers. In such cases, a migration user list should be prepared that enlists all the data spread across the databases that needs to be migrated. The list should be optimized in accordance with individual server performance.
Network capacity monitoring– When a network security system is enabled with an intrusion detection feature, it tends to interrupt connectivity during a migration. The performance of data migration is largely dependent on the user’s internet connectivity, thereby any loss in connectivity impacts the migration performance. Users are advised to conduct a thorough evaluation of factors such as the one stated above that can trigger network delay. Upon detection, they must fix their ISP and internet-related issues. Users can add IP addresses for Microsoft datacenter servers in their allow list or can choose to remove all traffic pertinent to migration from their network firewall.
Hybrid migration checklist– Implementing a low-quality virtual machine in the place of a hybrid server has often derailed the proper execution of office 365 migration solutions. It is imperative to replace such virtual machines with cutting-edge server-class physical machines to support exchange hybrid servers. Multiple hybrid servers have the ability to support the network load balancer of the migrating users. Customers require an Office 365 plan during hybrid migrations as it can support Azure Active Directory synchronization. Users must acknowledge the fact that Office 365 home and business plans cannot support a hybrid deployment.
Maintaining adherence to security protocols – Migrating data often falls into the prey of hackers because of weak passwords. It is a must-do office 365 migration solutions best practice to establish a multi-factor authentication feature for the data access. It typically involves multiple authentication steps such as biometrics apart from entering just a single password. Users must enable Office 365 Retention Policies to protect highly classified data such as sensitive corporate information and records, GDPR or HIPAA materials. This enables users to classify information based on their criticality.
Conclusion
To do an Office 365 migration entails scores of operational challenges that organizations must address. Implementing office 365 migration solutions is no more a thing to consider but is a necessity for organizations to thrive in the ever challenging and competitive marketplace. It is essential for organizations to bring more agility and efficiency in their operations.