Microsoft is working hard to ensure that its popular cloud-based productivity suite Microsoft 365 is constantly being improved.
Because of the great products and support offered, businesses are starting to shift to the platform. If you’re considering moving to Office 365, you should be aware of five factors that can affect the migration process.
Slow internet connection speeds
Because Microsoft 365 is mostly cloud-based, you’ll need a high-speed Internet connection to access it. Migrating your files and system to Microsoft 365 consumes a lot of bandwidth, which might cause internet connections to slow down during the conversion. Employees may struggle to complete tasks that require an online connection if this is done during business hours.
Instead of in-house servers, Microsoft 365 is often supplied over the internet. This means that bandwidth consumption will rise on a daily basis. If you’re already experiencing poor speeds and service outages before deploying Office 365, expect these issues to worsen.
To avoid this, you should ask an Microsoft 365 provider to test your existing network connection to ensure that it can handle the migration and day-to-day operation of Office 365. If not, your provider should be able to offer you a solution.
Mailboxes and files are too big
While the corporate versions of Office 365 provide 50 GB of email storage and over 1 TB of file storage per user, accessing your emails and files online may take some time, especially if you have users whose inboxes are nearing their storage limits.
Larger files will slow down the migration process greatly, which is why you should plan ahead to avoid work interruptions. Encourage your employees to archive their inboxes and delete huge, superfluous files to facilitate a seamless migration process.
Uniformed users
Depending on the size of your company and the amount of data being moved, migrating to Office 365 takes one to three days on average.
Starting the conversion without notifying your users that their files and email would be unavailable may result in lost productivity and dislike of the new platform.
To avoid this, make sure your employees are aware of the move and how long it will take. You should teach them how to use the new system so that they are all comfortable with it before they begin using it. This will improve the overall chances of a successful platform conversion and subsequent use.
Outdated software
While some versions of Office 365 come with subscriptions to the latest version of Microsoft Office, they also include built-in support for systems running older versions of Office. If your business is using a version of Office that is older than Office 2010 (e.g., Office 2003), you might have trouble using Office 365.
When it comes to web browsers, Chrome and Firefox won’t give you too many problems. However, if you’re utilizing their outdated versions, using Office 365 will be extremely difficult. Your provider should tell you if your existing software needs to be updated before migrating to Office 365.
Doing the process yourself
On paper, migrating to Office 365 may seem like a simple and straightforward process. This leads many businesses to believe that they can do the entire migration process without the assistance of experts. However, without proper guidance, you may run into problems that can harm vital business operations.
To ensure a smooth migration process from start to finish, contact us today. We’ll show you the proper way of migrating your system to Office 365 without affecting your day-to-day operations.
