Microsoft 365 Migration & Support
A seamless tenant-to-tenant Microsoft 365 migration, followed by IT Support & M365 licencing
Introduction
Macro Group Ltd, a mid-sized organization with over 700 users, underwent a complete Microsoft 365 tenant-to-tenant migration as part of a broader strategic restructuring, decoupling themselves from their parent company, Mace Group.
The migration included mailboxes in Exchange (Outlook), as well as files stored in OneDrive, SharePoint, and Teams channels.
Despite the scale and complexity of the project, the entire migration - including planning and execution, and not to mention support in the weeks after, was completed in record time: under four months.
Nobody said we could do it. We did.
Challenges
The primary objective was to seamlessly move all user data and collaboration tools over from Mace Group, to the new Microsoft 365 tenant we'd set up for Macro.
To make the migration as seamless as possible, we explored multiple tools, and proposed the use of ShareGate. Due to the volume of data involved, Macro decided to migrate the following data:
- All users' OneDrive files
- The majority of their files from SharePoint & Teams (over 10TB), excluding archival data
- The last two years of emails
After the migration, we needed to then devise a comprehensive IT support plan, including the resale of licences, to keep the new Microsoft 365 environment a cost-effective solution for years to come.
Our Solution
We worked closely with the executive team at Macro Group to devise a robust migration plan, that would minimise disruption. We decided to move the company's staff data by region, then department.
Before we could even migrate users, we needed their details from Mace to enter into Microsoft Entra ID; we automated this effort with the people management solution we'd built for Macro using WEBCON BPS, which we'd encourage you to check out our case study for.
After setting up the users, we then licenced them with Microsoft 365 E5, for users with laptops, or Microsoft 365 F3, for users without laptops. As Macro Group's new Microsoft licencing partner, we procured these licences on their behalf at a competitive rate.
We began migrating groups of users within the finance & HR departments in Dubai first. This involved a collaborative effort with Mace Group's IT department, to wipe the users' laptops. The night before each user migration, we'd use ShareGate to copy their OneDrive files & Exchange emails the night before. Once they were migrated and signed into their laptops using the new Macro domain, they could carry on working as normal, signing into Mace Group's SharePoint to continue collaborating with their teammates who were yet to be migrated.
After we completed the user migration in Dubai, we worked with the European & US teams to conduct the same activities, before moving to the largest team of all: the UK.
The overall user migration lasted just under two months. We then coordinated with Macro's various departments on appropriate dates to copy their SharePoint libraries and Teams channels over to the new tenant. This was by far the most extensive migration, as there was over 10TB of data to be moved, however ShareGate was able to handle this task with ease, and soon enough, Macro had been fully migrated, with very few support issues raised on the official go-live date.
Following the large migration project, Dolphin & Macro entered into a support contract covering all aspects of IT support, service management, infrastructure, as well as compliance.
