Learn the Best Methods for Office 365 Tenant to Tenant Migration

Office 365 Tenant

Office 365 Tenant migration is the process of moving emails and other services from one Office 365 tenant to another. Here, Tenant refers to the domain or primary account associated with the Office 365 Suite. Thus, migrating from one tenant to another signifies the transfer of data between two different Office 365 service environments. A tenant contains various data including Office 365 mailboxes, SharePoint sites, file data in OneDrive, and more.

Reasons For Microsoft 365 Tenant to Tenant Migration

Here are some key reasons why an organization may need to perform an Office 365 tenant migration:

• When two or more companies merge or a company acquires another, they may need to combine Office 365 domain.
• If an organization’s business unit or division is being separated from a larger organization, it may need to transfer its Office 365 data to a new, independent tenant.
• In case, an organization undergoes rebranding, name changes, or structural changes, it requires Office 365 migration tenant to tenant.
• An organization customizing its Office 365 setup for better performance, security, or compliance.

Hence, these might be possible reasons why users perform tenant migration—furthermore, moving towards proper planning and implementation of the process. But be careful! Because the manual process of migrating Office 365 tenant to another tenant involves challenges. It can be lengthy and risky as well. However, we will cover all the measures and proper steps to help you execute migration without any errors.

Measures to Be Taken!

Firstly, take the following measures before initiating the procedure:

• Know the reason and needs of the tenant migration.
• Backup all data from source and destination Office 365 accounts (tenants).
• List the complete source and destination migration targets including what to migrate, user accounts, etc.
• Once you start the migration, keep regular checks on the migration process.

Now, that you are ready to begin the procedure, let’s proceed with your query on ‘How do I move one tenant to another tenant?’

Manual Method to Office 365 Tenant to Tenant Migration

The manual method involves two stages:

1. Pre-migration
2. Migration Stage

In the coming section, first, we will discuss step-by-step pre-migration stages.

Pre-Migration Steps

Follow these steps one after another to migrate Office 365 tenant to another tenant-

Step 1. Domain Preparation

You may have different considerations before preparing your domain. Such as re-branding, no re-branding, or cloud tenant migration only. Therefore, prepare your domain based on the requirements and as per the given instructions:

• Make sure you have enough licenses for the destination Office 365 tenant.
• Create admin accounts in both the source and destination for error-free migration.
• Generate the respective user mailboxes, room/resource mailboxes, and distribution groups in the destination tenant.
• (If Required) Use the AD DS tool and manually synchronize the source and destination domains.
• Lastly, do not forget to train your end users about the post-migration changes in Office 365.

Step 2. Online Domain Verification

Next, for successful Microsoft 365 tenant to tenant migration, you need to initiate online verification of the destination tenant domain. For verification in Microsoft 365,

1. Configure the source domain to the destination O365 admin center
2. Create TXT records (domain information) for the DNS settings.

Note:

• Ensure that the respective domain is used by only one tenant, otherwise, this verification will fail.
• Also, this can take a significant amount of time depending on the method you choose. The time frame for seeing changes can vary from 30 minutes to 72 hours.

Step 3. Scheduling Office 365 Tenant Migration

• Begin by creating a CSV file that contains the list of the respective user mailboxes to be migrated. Later use this CSV for group mapping.
• Next, note the minimum value of TTL (Time to Live) on the MX record (source email domain).
• Another important step is to disable the directory sync(from the M365 admin center).

Note: This disabling process may extend up to 24 hours.

Step 4. Office 365 Tenant to Tenant Migration Stage

– Stop Incoming Mail Flow

You can put a halt to incoming emails in the source tenant. Either:

• Replace the principal MS record with an unexpected number.
• Get help from a third-party application.

Further, specify the target time limit for this step according to the TTL value recorded on the MX record (Step 3).

– Prepare the Source Tenant

Before beginning Microsoft 365 tenant migration, necessarily delete the primary mail domain from all objects within the source tenant. So:

• Delete the primary email address and restore the original email address of Microsoft 365 as the default email address.
• Utilize the Lync Admin Portal to eliminate all respective Lync licenses from the source tenant.
• Re-establish the default email address of distribution lists, rooms, and resources to the primary domain.
• Moreover, remove the secondary email address from all tenant entities.
• Execute the Windows PowerShell command- “Get-MsolUser -DomainName xyz.com.”It will fetch all objects that are still using the source email address or restricting the removal.

– Prepare Your Destination Tenant

This step involves verifying the source tenant in the destination tenant.

(Note: Keep a gap of an hour between preparing the Source Tenant and the Destination tenant.)

Follow the steps below:

• Firstly, set up the auto-discover CNAME configuration.
• In the case of using AD FS, configure a new domain in the destination tenant for AD FS.
• Activate and assign the necessary licenses to the brand-new created domain.
• Set the source domain as the primary email address for the new users (can be done using Windows PowerShell).
• Determine a way of communicating the passwords to end-users.
• Once the user mailboxes are active, update the mail routing and direct the MX record to the new Office 365 email address.
• Finally, test the mail flow both inbound and outbound in the target tenant.

Step to Migrate Office 365 Tenant to Another Tenant

After done with the pre-migration stages involved in Office 365 tenant to tenant migration, here are the instructions you need to follow:

• If the number of people is less than 500, it is recommended to move the mail, calendar, and contacts separately to the desired tenant mailbox. This ensures a smooth transfer process.
• When transferring emails, it is important to limit the migration process by date. This means that only emails up to a certain date should be migrated to the new tenant mailbox.
• In case you have more than 500 people, it is advisable to utilize multi-pass technology. This involves broadcasting mailbox data in several batches, which enhances efficiency and reduces any potential disruptions.
• Additionally, you have the flexibility to choose what specific data to transfer. This includes options such as transferring only contacts, information from a specific week, calendars, and more. This allows for a more tailored transfer process based on your requirements.

By following these steps, you can successfully perform a Microsoft 365 tenant to tenant migration using the manual method.

However, we understand that you are not prepared to go through this complicated process. Moreover, if you miss any step or have any kind of carelessness, a blunder may occur. Therefore, we suggest an alternative procedure.

Quick and Secure Solution to Office 365 Tenant to Tenant Migration

Want to skip the complex and lengthy manual steps? All you need is the MigrateEmails Office 365 Email Backup Tool. You must have got relief. A straightforward and easiest solution you are looking for. You can execute Office 365 migration from tenant to tenant with a few simple steps. The tool is equipped with many advanced features that facilitate smooth and swift migration.

Steps to Migrate Office 365 Tenant to Another Tenant

Do as directed below:

• Download and Install the tool. Run it as an administration.
• Choose Backup and click on Continue.
• Login to Office 365 admin account (You also get the Assign Impersonation option)*.
• Select the Backup Options provided: Mailbox, Online archive, or Public folders.
• In the Mailbox Hierarchy, select the data you want to migrate. Click on Next.
• From the Save/Backup/Migrate As list, choose Office 365 as the destination email client.
• Enter the destination credentials where you want to transfer all the source data.
• Apply filters to remove duplicates or migrate specific data. Hit Next.
• Lastly, click on Convert to begin migration. And, then click on OK.

Cross-verify that all your data is stored correctly. For more queries like ‘How do I transfer from one 365 tenant to another?’ visit our How It Works sections.

*Note: Assign Impersonation enables users to access all user mailboxes ( Admin and Sub-sers) of the Office 365 domain account.

Conclusion

This was all about how to perform Office 3665 tenant to tenant migration. It is always advisable to adopt professional solutions for immediate results. Furthermore, operating tools are far easier and more secure than performing manual steps.

About The Author:

Kiran Sharma

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