Benefits of migration from Exchange to Office 365

If you’re presently considering your firm’s email strategy and analyzing whether to stick to Microsoft Exchange Server or migrate to Office 365, you’re probably not alone.

There are several advantages of Microsoft office 365 migration if you use an on-premises Exchange platform.

For the majority of plans, Office 365 has changed its name to Microsoft 365; however, the E3 and E5 licenses still go by that name. Briefly, smaller and medium-sized businesses employ Microsoft 365, while larger enterprises use Office 365.

More than a million businesses already utilize Microsoft’s cloud service, and adoption is rising.

Slow adopters have finally embraced the cloud owing to the post-pandemic trend to remote work, and the main advantages of switching to Office 365/Microsoft 365 can be divided into three categories:

• Finished user output
• Safety and Compliance
• Scalability & budget-friendly

Given that Office 365 and Microsoft Exchange Server are the hosted, on-premises solution and the cloud version, respectively.

Here are some of the benefits of office 365 migration from Exchange:

1. Data Protection

With an Office 365 email solution, for instance, you get automatic updates against recently identified security threats, integrated protection against data loss, and compliance to security standards like ISO27001 – offered as default by Microsoft to all Office 365 users. If you deal with a Microsoft partner, they might also be able to provide additional security measures like email attachment access controls and encryption.

With Exchange, the responsibility for carrying out security updates falls on the IT division. Additionally, this can involve downtime, whereas Office 365 updates don’t. With Office 365, employees may immediately access the newest features thanks to its speed and fast upgrades.

2. Data Recovery

Office 365 is a crucial tool for efficient disaster recovery. If something happens to your on-premise replications, you can simply access all the data you need by backing up the important assets online. The significant difference from Microsoft Exchange is that if there is a fire or theft at your premises, you’ll have to pick up the pieces on your own.

3. Control

In contrast to Office 365, which does not provide direct access to the hardware and infrastructure, Microsoft Exchange Server gives you (or your IT support firm) complete control over both. The distinction may affect your control over system configuration, upgrades, and modifications. Again, small and medium-sized firms frequently see this trade-off between control and resource load as advantageous.

A skilled IT team will be able to troubleshoot problems quickly away and, depending on their skill, rectify them right away. You are at Microsoft’s mercy when using Office 365. Office 365 will, however, prove to be the more durable option for all but the most seasoned IT companies.

For regulated enterprises like law and private equity firms, having complete control over information protection and sovereignty with Microsoft Exchange can be comforting. However, many organizations no longer care about this as Office 365 now provides UK data centers and EU Model Clauses.

4. Scalability

With Office 365 migration services, you can preserve scalability and flexibility if your organization is expanding or changing because it enables you to change how much email storage you need on a month-to-month basis. Exchange, an on-premises email server’s capacity constraints, might be swiftly reached by a growing company with high email usage needs.

Office 365’s scalability makes the prospect of growing your company and going worldwide more accessible. For instance, you can instantly grant access to your existing email accounts to a new office or instantly add new staff to your business software. However, setting up with onsite servers and Exchange email could take a lot of time and money, prolonging the process. In contrast, Cloud-based email eliminates this cost and makes international expansion more feasible.

5. A one-stop shop, Office 365.

Office 365, with its logical and straightforward emailing and collaboration features, is a natural one-stop destination for all IT productivity needs.

For instance, Microsoft Teams facilitates teamwork among coworkers, while industry leaders like Word and Excel offer crucial capabilities for employee work. In addition, Microsoft regularly expands its product range, so in addition to the standard apps, there may be other software applications that your company can use and simply adopt.

The migration to Office 365 from Exchange may be an opportunity to deepen and simplify your IT software. Several subscription models are available, allowing you to pick the tools you want to add and drop the rest.

6. Pricing

Although migrating to Office 365 and the associated employee training does cost money but moving to the cloud is ultimately more affordable in the long run. Office 365 can provide a number of cost benefits over Exchange and onsite servers.

First, physical equipment might be expensive and take up room on the floor, such as servers and switches. In addition, there are continuous variable expenditures, such as electricity usage and service agreements for the equipment. Additionally, Office 365 handles the updating and reconfiguring as part of the subscription, in contrast to Hardware and Exchange licenses, which typically require updating every several years.

Additionally, the majority of Office 365 licenses give users access to Office software as well as fantastic online collaboration and document storage tools like SharePoint Online and OneDrive for Business (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and so on).

Microsoft Exchange Server may give organizations some extra control over their data and systems. Still, for many companies, these advantages are unnecessary or may even be counterproductive due to the added burden of security and data protection. In reality, Office 365 offers many small and medium businesses a more adaptable, affordable, and secure solution for their requirements.

To enhance buy-in and return on your investment, you must install Office 365 correctly if you are planning to make the switch.