Email Migration to Office 365
Specialising in setting up Microsoft 365 Exchange Online for self employed professionals and small businesses
Professional Business Email for your Business
Whether you work for yourself or have a team of 5 people you need a professional business email. You need email that is reliable, stays synchronized across your devices and enables you to manage your contacts and calendars wherever you are. A business email address is also linked to your domain name and helps with creating a professional image.
That is why we recommend small businesses migrate their emails to Office 365 - also known as Microsoft 365 Exchange Online.
Whether your current email is Gmail, IONOS, 123-Reg, or another IMAP service then carry on reading to learn more about what Microsoft 365 Exchange Online is and how we can migrate your emails to it.
Get a business email that will deliver
01628 298 820
Clarification on Terminology
So we are all on the same page please take a bit of time to review the following
Office 365 – Microsoft launched Office 365 in 2011 as part of bringing many of their products into the cloud. A few years ago Microsoft rebranded Office 365 to Microsoft 365.
Microsoft 365 Business – It includes the applications such as Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook. It also includes a suite of business products such as Exchange Online for email, OneDrive for storing files in the cloud, SharePoint for storing shared documents.
IMAP and SMTP – If you have ever setup an email account on your computer or iPad you have probably have had to add IMAP and SMTP server details. These are akin to the address books of how email gets delivered to your inbox. Technically speaking IMAP refers to the receiving of emails and SMTP refers to the sending of emails. IMAP email has become a generic term to refer to this type of email system.
Exchange – Exchange is the equivalent of the postal system ‘sorting office’ for your emails. There are many ‘sorting offices’ of which Microsoft Exchange is one. It comes in two forms:
- Hosted Exchange – Many companies buy Exchange from Microsoft and install it on their servers. This suits many big private companies some webhosting companies like IONOS buy it and sell it as a service to people like you.
- Exchange Online – Microsoft have put the Exchange software into the cloud and made it available for everyone. From self-employed individuals like myself to small and big businesses can run their whole email system in the cloud. It is part of the Microsoft 365 suite of products.
What is Microsoft 365 Exchange Online
You are probably familiar with Microsoft 365 for applications such as Outlook, Word, Excel and PowerPoint. Microsoft 365 Exchange Online is part of the Microsoft 365 Business suite of applications and manages the sending and receiving of your emails.
When you send a letter in the post it goes to a central sorting office and makes it way through various sorting offices and depots before eventually being delivered through the recipient's letter box. And in the real world we have a choice of who to deliver those emails. In the UK the big players are Royal Mail, DPD, DHL and UPS. Some companies are more reliable than others in terms of reliable mail delivery - ie. no lost letters,
In the online world of emails there are a many 'sorting offices'. Two of the biggest playeres are Microsoft 365 Exchange Online and Google Workspace. Other players are IONOS, GoDaddy, 123-Reg. For all busineses we recommend Microsoft 365 Exchange Online.
We think Microsoft 365 Exchange Online is the best email system, period!
Whether you use a PC or a Mac it just works. Email deliverability is very good and the spam filters are excellent. You won't run out of email storage space any time soon either. There are also two other major features which makes it even better: calendars and contacts.
Why Migrate your emails to Microsoft 365
You may have your own reason to wanting to migrate your emails to Office 365 / Microsoft 365 Exchange Online and listed below are the common reasons we come across:
- Unreliable email delivery
- Lots of spam coming into inbox
- Sent emails ending up in recipients junk mailboxes
- Mailboxes have small storage
- No Teams integration
- No synchronised calendars and contacts across devices
What's included Microsoft 365 Exchange
- Large 50GB Mailbox - that's huge!
- Synchronised email, contacts and calendars across all your devices
- Reliable email delivery
- Great spam filters
How much does Microsoft 365 Exchange Online cost?
Microsoft offer various packages within their business plans. The cheapest option is called Exchange Online Plan 1 and costs £3.30 per email address per month. The most expensive option for small businesses is Microsoft Business Standard which costs £10.30 per email address per month.
We have a knowledge article which explains which Microsoft 365 package you should choose for your business.
Which Email Providers can be moved to Microsoft 365 Exchange Online
There's almost no restriction on which companies we can't migrate your email to Microsoft Exchange Online. A few examples of companies we have migrated from are:
- IONOS
- 123-Reg
- Google Workspace
- Any webhosting / email hosting company using CPanel.
- Any email system using IMAP
Any many, many more...
Migrate Email From IONOS to Office 365
If your emails are currently with IONOS and you want to migrate to Office 365 / Microsoft Exchange Online then I have lots of experience in this. I have migrated many customers emails from IONOS to Microsoft Exchange Online. See my IONOS migration page for more details.
Migrate Gmail to Office 365
Are you emails currently with Gmail / Google Workspace but you are finding that you need more Microsoft integrations such as OneDrive, SharePoint and Teams?
Migrating your emails from Google Workspace to Office 365 will solve the issues you are having. I've helped many people with their migration and they always found the Office 365 system to work much better for their business needs.
Migrate IMAP to Office 365
Most email systems, apart from Google Workspace, are setup as IMAP. If your emails are currently with IONOS or 123-Reg or Fasthostss then there is a good chance they have been setup as an IMAP account.
We can migrate your IMAP emails to Office 365 without any downtime or loss of emails. Afterwards you will be able to take full advantage of everything Office 365 has to offer.
Get your email migration project started today
Wherever you are based in the country we can help you migrate your emails to Microsoft 365 Exchange Online.
6 Steps for a Successful Email Migration to Office 365
When migrating your emails to Microsoft 365 Exchange Online we guarantee not to lose any emails. If you currently use Outlook to manage your emails we will also be able to migrate your calendar and address book. Our aim is to make the transition to Microsoft 365 Exchange Online as seamless as possible.
1. Sign up for Microsoft 365
Create a Microsoft 365 Business account and purchase appropriate package such as Exchange Online, Business Basic or Business Standard.
2. Prove to Microsoft you own your domain
Add a TXT record to your DNS records. This is usually done via your webhosting company.
3. Complete First Stage Migration of emails from current system into Microsoft 365
We use a service called MigrationWiz from BitTitan to facilitate this. The migration is done in two phases.
4. Do DNS switchover so all new emails are routed through new Microsoft 365 Exchange Online.
Log into your web hosting company and update DNS records in line with new records Microsoft have provided.
5. Complete second phase of email migration from old system into new Microsoft 365 Exchange Online
The second phase migration will finish migrating all emails into new Microsoft 365 Exchange account.
6. Setup Microsoft Outlook on computers and mobile phones
If you are already using Outlook then we will need to create a new Outlook Profile and setup new email account. Calendars and Contacts might also need to be manually migrated from old system into new.
Wherever you live, I can help you
Wherever you live I can help you with migrating your emails to Office 365. If you live in Maidenhead or within a 10 mile radius then I can come to your office/home or you can come to me (I work from home). Otherwise the easiest method is to setup a remote login using AnyDesk software. However, I fully appreciate you might not want someone else having remote access to your computer. On this basis I recommend a Zoom or Teams call so you can share your screen with me. I will then talk you through every step of migrating your emails.
We fully appreciate that your emails are personal to you and you don't want anyone having access to them. I will never ask you for passwords as you will always enter them yourself and I will never be able to see them.
How much does it cost to migrate emails to Office 365
There are two aspects to this question. Firstly, you will pay Microsoft directly, as outlined above, for the package you need which will cost around £50 - £140 per year.
The second aspect is our costs to help you with migrating your existing email to Office 365. Every migration project is unique but prices are usually around £250-£300 for one email address, £400 for two email address and £500 for 3 email addresses.
How long does it take to migrate emails to Office 365
It depends on how many email addresses need migrating but for one email address the migration is usually done over two sessions with each session about 2 hours. For 2 or more email accounts the first sessions will still be around 2 hours but the subsequent sessions will take longer.
At no point during the migration does your email go down and you will be able to continue working as normal.
My website and emails are with the same webhosting company. Will I have to change any of this when I migrate to Office 365?
No, you won't have to change who hosts your website. You will need to keep your account with your web hosting company as they will also host your DNS records. And it is DNS records that we need to change to migrate your emails to Microsoft Exchange.
I use a Mac and Apple Mail. Can I move to Office 365
Migrating your emails to Office 365 doesn't mean you have to change your workflows. If you have a Mac and use Apple Mail then you can carry on using these applications. Moving to Office 365 changes the backend of how your emails are handled. It doesn't change how you work!
Synchronising Contacts
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