How to use SkyKick technology to streamline the growing, but challenging, migration scenario of Office 365 to Office 365 (O to O) migrations
O to O migration growth and opportunity
As the Office 365 ecosphere grows, and cloud-based SMB companies in Office 365 experience mergers, splits, or rebranding, or simply outgrow the functionality of their current tenant – more and more Office 365 to Office 365 (O to O) migration opportunities are presenting themselves.
In fact, from 2017 to 2018, the number of O to O migrations performed using SkyKick automation increased 35% and are on pace to increase 45% in 2019 over 2018.
The main O to O migration challenge
While this rapidly growing migration scenario offers great opportunity for partners, it also involves unique complexities and risks that can significantly impact success and customer satisfaction. One common pain point is the relocation of the vanity domain in Office 365. Because Office 365 does not currently allow an already verified vanity domain to be verified in more than one Office 365 tenant at any given time, the vanity domain must be removed from the current source tenant before it can be verified within the new destination tenant.
This results in a temporary interruption of mail flow for any user utilizing the vanity domain when the vanity domain is removed from the source tenant. Mail flow is restored once the vanity domain is verified in the new destination tenant.
How SkyKick helps
What sets SkyKick apart is how our technology efficiently addresses and configures variables within the source and destination tenants to deliver a streamlined migration experience for both partners and their customers. This capability has been the result of our experience moving tens of thousands of seats between Office 365 tenants, our ongoing alignment with Microsoft development, our consistently updated documentation, and our dedicated O to O subject matter experts and support team.
Automated domain removal and verification reduces manual effort
SkyKick migration technology is specifically designed to automate the process of removing the vanity domain from the source tenant and then verifying the vanity domain in the new destination tenant. This eliminates the need for partners to invest time and effort to manually attempt domain removal and placement.
Specialized O to O support process reduces risk and streamlines cutover
The SkyKick Support Team has developed a support process specifically designed to address the unique variables of an O to O migration. For O to O projects, the SkyKick Support Team:
- Offers free pre-sales and pre-order placement support to ensure a successful migration for both partners and customers
- Helps ensure the source and destination tenants are properly configured for the migration before cutover
- Identifies and helps address potential issues that could impede the domain removal process
- Closely monitors the domain removal and verification processes to ensure minimal impact on your customer
- Proactively contacts partners with status updates around the cutover time
Pre-Migration Checklist helps more accurately plan, scope, and price migration projects
SkyKick offers a Pre-Migration Checklist for O to O migrations within Planning and Managing an Office 365 to Office 365 Migration. The checklist:
- Provides a clear understanding of the requirements that need to be accounted for before placing an O to O migration project order.
- Helps identify details, such as source dependencies, which may inhibit the release of the vanity domain, and configurations within the destination tenant that may complicate placement of the vanity domain.
- Improves overall planning and scoping of each O to O migration opportunity.
- Sets appropriate expectations for your customer up front.
- Helps you create a Statement of Work (SOW) that encompasses all requirements of the migration process.
How to get started with Office 365 to Office 365 migrations
- Register as a SkyKick Partner: If you are not currently a SkyKick Partner, sign up. It’s free and requires no obligation. Once done, you will have access to our Help Center which contains all our technical documentation.
- Call us before you place your order. One of the great benefits of SkyKick is our world-class Support Team that is available 24/5 to assist with any questions you may have. We would love to discuss your O to O migration opportunity and steer you through the O to O documentation and processes to ensure you are as prepared as possible to tackle any O to O migration opportunities that your customers present.
- Explore our Help Center. In addition to Planning and Managing an Office 365 to Office 365 Migration, the Help Center includes over 100 articles covering a wide range of migration topics, scenarios, troubleshooting, and more.
