When two companies merge or one is acquired it creates a huge level of complex activity required to bring those two businesses together. One of the challenge areas is around IT, how do you bring two sets of IT infrastructures and two different tenants and setup together. Likely they are both using Microsoft 365 in some form but the same is true if it is a mix of google and Microsoft 365.
In this article we discuss 5 top tips when merging Microsoft 365 tenants.
5 tips for Merging Microsoft 365 tenants
- Create a migration plan – Carry out an analysis of both environments, what your objectives and success criteria are, what migration approach are you carrying out. Are you using a migration tool, an automated approach or manual lift and shift.
- Simplify the environment to be migrated. The key is to declutter the environment that is being migrated into the new combined one. Taking 20 years of out of date files, emails and mailboxes that are long extinct will only have a negative effect on your new tenant. Ensure every user and department that is being migrated goes through a decluttering exercise.
- Prepare the host environment – There are a number of tasks to carry out to ensure a clean transition but it is also an opportunity to set a clean new standard for your M365 environment. While setting up your new users consider your permissions structure, security and governance policies.
- Training and adoption – The key to success with any migration project is training and adoption work. Ensure all users being migrated have access to a training session, that is relevant to their job or department. Also look to develop departmental super users to help you smooth the transition.
- A review and improvement approach – Once the migration has been completed ensure the new tenant is fully reviewed and assessed. Did all the new policies and procedures implement correctly. Are all the security and governance controls working correctly. Are all the right files available and all the users happily using the new environment. Tracking support tickets, getting feedback and monitoring your new tenant.
Like most IT projects a focus on planning and preparation is key to success, paired that with a simplified tenant for migration and you set yourself up for success. Once the migration has been done a focus on adoption and closing off any issues is critical to ensure a smooth transition and new unified set of happy users. To learn about our Microsoft 365 services visit our page here.
