A carefully planned and seamless migration is critical to the success of your Office 365 deployment. With a successful implementation, you can reap the many benefits of using the world’s favourite workplace productivity suite and the many other tools and features that come with it. As an all-in-one platform comprising user-friendly apps, you’ll also be able to boost efficiency, enjoy greater control over information security, and scale with demand. Here are five steps to help you get started:
#1. Determine your goals
A successful deployment plan starts with identifying your business goals and tailoring your implementation to meet them. These goals are long-term achievements that you plan to gain by migrating to an Office 365-powered technology infrastructure. To give some examples, your goals might be to integrate Office 365 with your existing systems, move your data over to the cloud to enable better scalability and workforce mobility, or to reduce operational costs. You’ll then want to break down your business goals into more specific objectives to reach your deployment goals without causing any disruption to your operations.
#2. Map your current environment
Mapping your technology environment is critical to minimising any disruption you might otherwise have when moving to a new email server and productivity apps. To ensure your staff can continue working unhindered as soon as you’ve implemented Office 365, you’ll need a clearly documented procedure for migrating things like user accounts, security policies, and mission-critical data to the new system. This starts with building a complete inventory of all the systems and processes you plan to migrate and establishing contingencies just in case an unforeseen incident occurs during the migration.
#3. Establish a deployment timeline
Once you’ve established your goals and priorities, you’ll be able to draw up a deployment timeline. This framework should incorporate employee productivity guidance, readiness reviews, executive briefings, and any final approvals. You should expect most Office 365 deployments to take one or two months, depending on the complexity of your current environment and which services you plan to use. Many plans give early adopters within the organisation the chance to thoroughly test the new systems and applications before using them full time.
#4. Resolve potential innovation blockers
Most organisations face several challenges when it comes to adopting new technologies, and there’s sure to be some resistance along the way. Common problems include a lack of funding, in-house expertise, a lack of buy-in from senior management, or support from employees. Most of the time, however, it’s a people problem rather than a technical one.
Businesses need to drive a culture of change and innovation by forming closer ties with every department throughout the organisation. After all, you’ll never achieve a seamless Office 365 deployment if you don’t have the support of everyone in the company. This requires the ability to look beyond the technology element to clearly communicate the benefits to your business and its workforce.
#5. Prepare your team
Strong communications are critical not only for overcoming potential blockers to innovation, but also for making sure you and your team can start enjoying the benefits of Office 365 as soon as possible.
It’s important to be upfront about your plans and address any concerns your employees might have before you make any drastic changes. You’ll also need to incorporate an employee training programme to ensure that everyone’s ready for the upcoming changes. Finally, make sure you have a system allowing members of your team to leave feedback and suggestions. By making it a team-driven effort, you’ll achieve the support you need to ensure successful deployment and build a forward-thinking company culture.
Total Calibration helps business leaders ease their migration woes by deploying, managing, monitoring and maintaining your Office 365 infrastructure with 24x7x365 support. Call us today to learn more.