Office 365 Cutover Migration
Cutover migration is the simplest way to move to Exchange Online — everything migrates in one go. Mailboxes, calendars, and public folders all transfer in a single process, no phases, no complicated setup. If you run a small or medium-sized business and want to get onto Office 365 without drawn-out planning, cutover migration to Office 365 is the most practical route.
Setting up a cutover migration job in EdbMails Office 365 Migration software doesn't take long. Select the mailboxes you want to migrate and retain default settings, adjusting only if excluding specific data types.
SMEs usually deal with smaller datasets, so the actual migration typically wraps up within a few days. Most teams schedule it over a weekend or after hours to keep disruption to a minimum.
Before the final cutover, running a delta migration in EdbMails ensures any new items that landed on the source server after the initial run get picked up and transferred to the target mailboxes. Nothing gets left behind.
Once the migration is done, the remaining tasks are straightforward — update the MX records and transfer domain ownership to the new server if needed. After that, employees are up and running in the new environment with full access to all their migrated data.
- Strategic scenarios for Office 365 cutover migration
Cutover migration offers a direct approach for Office 365 migration, suitable for various strategic scenarios:
- Weekend Office 365 Migration Strategy:
Planning an Office 365 migration over a weekend? Let EdbMails Office 365 cutover migration transfer all your data (emails, contacts, calendar items, tasks) without applying any time or folder filters to achieve a zero downtime migration. Update the domain at Office 365 and perform an incremental (delta) migration post the transfer.
- Business Expansion:
As companies grow they need to migrate from one Office 365 tenant to another in order to scale effectively. This process would be scheduled overnight so that there will be no impact on business operations and also to include daily limitations and factors. EdbMails helps in setting up and performing the migration job, providing the employee immediate access to their new mailboxes. Delta migration will be carried out on a regular basis to keep data in sync.
- Strategic Business Transformation:
Cutover migration can assist business transformations such as mergers, rebranding, and more involving Office 365 environments. The configuration of EdbMails cutover migration is ideal for organizations needing only newer data migration excluding old data and unnecessary folders. After migration, updating domain settings ensures continuous operation without any interruption.
- Long-Term Migration Strategy:
Companies dealing with large amounts of data should consider cutover migration for the long-term maintenance of Office 365. During the cutover migration, employees would keep working within the old Office 365 environment till completion of the process. This allows the smooth running of the business. EdbMails makes this migration process easy by synchronizing continuously and with minimal configuration. After migration, update the required settings and do a delta migration for the last data synchronization.
- Post-Acquisition Integration:
Consolidating into a single Office 365 environment post-merger and acquisition simplifies operations and ensures data integrity. Cutover migration is an easy process to transfer all data between Office 365 tenants; the process will be scheduled so as to minimize operational disturbances. The EdbMails will help to transfer data in an efficient process, eliminating complex scheduling
- Weekend Office 365 Migration Strategy:
- Steps to perform cutover Office 365 migration using EdbMails
Step 1: Download and Install EdbMails
- Download EdbMailsSetup.exe and complete the installation.
- Launch the application and click ‘Login’ or ‘Start Your Free Trial’.
- Ensure your EdbMails system requirements for Microsoft 365 migration.
- Choose 'Office 365 Migration' from the main screen, then 'Office 365 to Office 365 Migration' from the sub-menu.
Step 2: Choose migration option
- Click ‘Add New Connection’ to set up the source tenant. If you've already connected earlier, simply select the connection from the list and click ‘Connect to Existing’ to proceed.
- Use secure OAuth 2.0 modern authentication and sign in via Microsoft.
- EdbMails loads your mailboxes automatically. You can also load and migrate mailboxes using a CSV file.
- Select the mailboxes to migrate and proceed.
Step 4: Connect to target Office 365
- Click ‘Add New Connection’ for the destination tenant. If a connection was previously created, select it and click ‘Connect to Existing’ to reuse it.
- Load the target mailboxes automatically or use a CSV file to load mailboxes.
Step 5: Map source and target servers
- Click ‘Start Migration’ to begin the process.
- You can pause or resume migration and view detailed logs anytime.
- Post migration steps
Step 1: Update MX records to Office 365
First, you have to add your domain to Office 365. Unless you have previously configured DNS records, update the MX records so that all mail is sent to Office 365, and the Autodiscover record so that Outlook connects to the migrated mailbox.
Step 2: Clear the Auto-Complete list in Outlook
See manage suggested recipients with Auto-Complete.
Step 3: Create a new Outlook profile after migration
- Check that each user has the latest Outlook version installed — outdated versions are a common source of post-migration headaches.
- Create an Outlook profile for each user in your domain if they cannot connect to Office 365 mailboxes.
- Enter the new server settings - server address, username and password.
- Send a test email from a couple of accounts to make sure sending and receiving both work.
Step 4: Remove the old Office 365 subscription plan
After migration and after verifying that your mailbox content is intact and migrated completely, remove the Office 365 subscription plan from your source tenant and the domains that were associated with your source tenant.
