Small Business Servers (SBS) 2011 were built on Microsoft’s\nbest server technologies which was built in a single package comprising of\nWindows Server 2008 R2, Windows 7 OS, Exchange 2010, and SharePoint 2010. Since\nMicrosoft has already bid adieu to SBS Server 2011 on January 14, 2020 along\nwith Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008, users on SBS 2011 are looking for\nalternatives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What is a better alternative than Office 365? Office 365 is\ntechnically supported to migrate off the SBS platform and even totally get rid\nof all legacy Exchange servers from your existing environment. There is a surge\nin people looking to migrate from Small Business Server (SBS) to Office 365. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Just with any other migration, there are various\nconsiderations before starting the migration. Some of it is sage advice such as\nreviewing your limits and following best migration practices. Deciding on a\nmigration path of user’s mail to Office 365 is also crucial. Also, your network\narchitecture options must be assessed comprehensively. You can also draw a\ndiagram which lays out your entire architecture and how migrations will be\ndirected. It serves as good documentation of your end goals. You may also need\nto check the backups and server storage. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Before you start with the email migration<\/a>, it is a good practice to run Windows updates so that your patches are up to date. Also review the group policies which should be consistent even after migration. You may also want to review mailbox sizes, archives, remote management capabilities, permissions, and more. Though these are the basic checks which will be done by your Office 365 migration<\/a> service provider, it is good to know the best practices followed. <\/p>\n\n\n\n There are multiple methods to migrate mailboxes to Office\n365 from SBS 2011 Exchange. Either admins can migrate mailboxes from Exchange\nServer 2011, or users can directly import their mailboxes to their individual\nOffice 365 account. This is also possible with the use of a third-party tool or\nwith a migration expert. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Choose a migration method which best suits your\norganizational requirements: <\/p>\n\n\n\n For migrations from SBS Exchange Server 2011 infrastructure, the admin can migrate all the information including mails, contacts, and calendars from the user mailbox to Office 365. As with all other types of Exchange migrations, there are three sub-methods of migration: staged, cutover, and hybrid migration<\/a>. For SBS 2011 Exchange migration, hybrid migrations are most beneficial given there is no need to visit every user and reconfigure Outlook profiles. If you opt for staged migrations, a huge number of mailboxes can be queued, and the users can be migrated in batches as per the hierarchy – one group at a time. Since staged migration is carried for over 2000 mailboxes, SBS 2011 users prefer cutover migration<\/a> since they typically have less than 2000 mailboxes if hybrid migration is not suitable for them. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The user must have an individual Office 365 subscription. You\ncan simply setup your Outlook or OWA which allows you to access other email\naccounts from the same place as your O365 mailbox. This is like importing from\nIMAP mailboxes and you get started with emails quickly. Once the emails are\nimported, you can read, receive, and send emails.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Since SBS 2011 expired on January 2020, migrating SBS 2011\nExchange to Office 365 is a baseline necessity today, rather than an\nafterthought. But let us face the truth. Migrations can be complex if you have\nnot done them before. Microsoft recommends hiring a partner which will assist\nyou in migrating mailboxes from any legacy system to Office 365 with best\npractices. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Apps4Rent is a Microsoft-certified Tier 1 CSP for Office 365\nand Azure, which has migrated over tens of thousands of migrations over a\ndecade. If you are looking for an expert Office 365 migration service provider,\ncontact us now!<\/p>\n\n\nMethods to migrate SBS 2011 Exchange to Office 365<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Migration from SBS 2011 Exchange Server <\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Import mailboxes to Office 365 from SBS 2011 Exchange\n2010<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Using a service provider for SBS 2011 to Office 365\nmigration<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n