The most important part of carrying out an Exchange Migration is making sure you have a solid plan in place before you start.

This guide will provide you with some important things to consider in order to achieve.

1. Understand the impact  Before you begin it is important that you know the effect that the new Exchange set-up is likely to have on your business communication, messaging systems and Active Directory domains. If you don’t know this before you start it is more likely that you will experience downtime after the migration.
2. Duplicate your existing Exchange environment Set up a reliable method to restore data in case any disastrous situation is encountered. This can be done by creating an exact replica, what we call a mirror image, of your existing Exchange environment. This way, if the worst does happen, at least you haven’t lost any important data.
3. Document the configurations – both hardware and software This step if often ignored by IT administrators carrying out Exchange migrations as it can be laborious and time consuming. It is highly recommended that you maintain a proper documentation of both the hardware and software configuration in your current system and also the one you’re migrating to.
4. The order in which you install also matters Servers, admin roles and privileges related to Exchange migration cannot be installed simultaneously. However, there is a correct order for which they must be deployed. Sticking to this order would not only save migration resources, but also ensure you get the most out of your new Exchange environment.
5. Do the math – in advance Keeping track of the amount of required resources, time and migration tasks being performed before you begin will help you save time in the long run.
6. Testing the procedures is vital It is important to validate the accuracy of the techniques you are using in your migration before you begin the migration in full. Test a small chunk using the migration procedures that you’re going to follow and if all works then you should be ready to go.

Conclusion:

If you have a solid plan in place before beginning an Exchange Migration, and you have thought through the variables, then you shouldn’t encounter many issues during the actual migration.