Your current email is on an aging server, or with a hosting provider that keeps having problems, or maybe you are still using a POP3 setup where emails only exist on one machine. Someone has suggested moving to Microsoft 365 and you want to know what that actually involves.
This is one of the most common projects we do. Most Cape Town businesses of any size have either already moved to Microsoft 365 or are planning to. Here is what you need to know before, during, and after the migration.
What you are actually moving to
Microsoft 365 (formerly Office 365) is not just email in the cloud. It is a suite of tools that work together:
- Exchange Online: Business email with your own domain (you@yourbusiness.co.za). This is the main reason most businesses migrate.
- OneDrive: Personal file storage for each user, synced across devices.
- SharePoint: Shared document libraries and team sites for collaboration.
- Teams: Chat, video calls, and meetings. Replaces the need for separate tools like Zoom for most business communication.
- Office apps: Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook as desktop applications, always up to date.
You choose a licence level based on what your business needs. Not every business needs every feature. Some only need email and basic file storage. Others need the full suite with advanced security.
Before you migrate: what to prepare
Migration goes smoother when you sort a few things out beforehand:
Know your current email setup. Where is your email now? A local server, a shared hosting account, Gmail, another provider? How many mailboxes do you have? How much email history does each person have? This information determines the migration approach and how long it will take.
Clean up before you move. There is no point migrating 10GB of someone’s junk mail and old newsletters. Ask staff to clear out what they do not need. It speeds up the migration and costs less in storage.
Check your domain situation. Your business email domain (yourbusiness.co.za) needs to be verified with Microsoft. You also need access to your domain’s DNS settings to point email to Microsoft’s servers. If you do not know who manages your domain, your IT support can help track it down.
Plan your licensing. Microsoft 365 has multiple plans. For most small businesses, Microsoft 365 Business Basic (email, OneDrive, web apps) or Business Standard (adds desktop Office apps) covers everything. Your IT support can advise on which plan fits your needs.
Tell your staff. People do not like surprises with their email. Let staff know what is happening, when, and what will change for them. For most migrations, the change is minimal – Outlook looks the same, just faster and more reliable.
What happens during migration
A properly managed migration follows a process:
DNS and domain setup. Your domain is added to Microsoft 365 and verified. DNS records (MX, SPF, DKIM, autodiscover) are configured to route email through Microsoft. This is the technical foundation.
Mailbox migration. Email, contacts, and calendars are migrated from your old system to Exchange Online. For most small businesses (under 50 mailboxes), this takes a few hours to a couple of days depending on the volume of data. Staff can usually keep working during migration – there is typically a brief cutover window where new emails might be delayed by a few minutes.
OneDrive and SharePoint setup. If you are moving files from a local server to the cloud, this happens in parallel. Large file migrations take longer and depend on your internet speed. Fibre connections in Cape Town generally handle this well. LTE connections make it slower.
Testing and verification. After migration, we verify that email is flowing correctly, old messages are present, calendars sync properly, and all devices (phones, tablets, other computers) are connecting. This is where problems surface, and it is much better to find them during the testing phase than two weeks later.
DNS propagation. After the DNS changes, it takes up to 48 hours for every email server worldwide to update its records and route email to your new Microsoft 365 mailboxes. During this period, some emails may arrive at the old system and some at the new one. A good migration handles this by keeping both systems running briefly to catch everything.
Common migration mistakes
These are the problems we see when businesses try to do it themselves or with inexperienced help:
Forgetting SPF, DKIM, and DMARC. Moving email to Microsoft changes where your email comes from. If you do not update your SPF record and set up DKIM, your outgoing emails may end up in recipients’ spam folders. DMARC should also be configured. We do this as standard – see our BEACON platform for ongoing email authentication monitoring.
Not migrating enough email history. If you only move the last three months of email, staff will call you in a panic looking for an email from last year. Migrate everything relevant. Storage is cheap compared to lost information.
Skipping the cutover plan. If you change DNS records before the migration is ready, incoming email goes to Microsoft but the mailboxes are empty. Plan the cutover carefully so nothing gets lost in between.
Not setting up MFA. The single most important security step after migration is enabling multi-factor authentication on every account. A Microsoft 365 account without MFA is an invitation for compromise.
Ignoring backup. Once you are on Microsoft 365, you need backup for your M365 data. Microsoft does not provide this – see our article on why Microsoft does not back up your data.
After migration: what to set up
Once your email is working and your files are migrated, there are a few things to configure for an optimal setup:
Multi-factor authentication on every account. Non-negotiable. This should be enabled as part of the migration, not something you get around to later.
Conditional access policies. Rules that control where and how people can log in. For example: allow access from the office and known home locations, but require extra verification from unfamiliar locations. This prevents compromised credentials from being used by attackers in other countries.
Email security. Microsoft 365 includes basic spam filtering, but additional email security provides better protection against phishing and impersonation attacks. This is especially important for businesses that handle financial information.
Backup. Set up third-party backup for your Exchange, OneDrive, SharePoint, and Teams data. Do not assume Microsoft has this covered. They do not.
Staff training. If people are new to OneDrive sync, Teams, or SharePoint, a brief walkthrough prevents a wave of “where are my files?” calls.
Ready to move to Microsoft 365?
We handle Microsoft 365 migrations regularly for Cape Town businesses. We will plan the migration, handle the technical work, and make sure nothing gets lost in the process.
Contact us to discuss your migration
Or talk to us directly:
Call: 087 820 5005
WhatsApp: 081 526 1626
—
0 Comments