Office 365 Tenant to Tenant Migration: A Complete Guide

Reasons for O365 Tenant-to-Tenant Migration

• When companies merge or acquire, the consolidation of Office 365 tenants ensures a united workspace and simplifies communication.
• In cases where restructuring occurs, an organization may need to split or merge tenants by new operational frameworks.
• Companies with multiple Office 365 tenants usually consolidate to a single tenant to minimize administrative overhead.

Tenant-to-tenant migration is vital for an organization to ensure smooth transitions during major business changes while maintaining operational efficiency.

Office 365 Tenant to Tenant Migration For Free

Manual migration between two Office 365 tenants involves a very extensive process and several steps involved. This will require extensive planning, execution, and validation after the migration to assure integrity and ensure that there’s minimal disruption for the users themselves. The steps in the manual process are described as follows:

Step 1: Pre-Migration Planning

The Pre-migration planning process is divided into three stages which are as follows:

A. Prepare the Source and Target Tenants

1. Make sure both tenants are active to support users and mailboxes during migration.
2. Verify domain ownership of the source and target tenant.

B. Inventory and Assessment

1. The list of all the shared mailboxes and distribution groups to be migrated must be compiled.
2. Analyze mailbox sizes and scope of data to estimate the migration duration and the storage capacity needed.

C. Optimize DNS Records

1. Reduce the TTL for MX records in the domain’s DNS settings.

Step 2: Data Migrate from Tenant to Tenant Office 365

1. First, proceed to the Microsoft Purview Compliance Portal.
2. Now, find a new content search for mailboxes you wish to export.
3. Then, export the search results to PST files.
4. Alternatively, export mailboxes using PowerShell commands:

New-ManagementRoleAssignment –Role “Mailbox Import Export” –User <admin username>

5. Create mailbox export requests:

New-MailboxExportRequest -Mailbox <user> -FilePath \\<file share path>\<file>.pst

6. After that, download users’ OneDrive files manually or export in bulk using the SharePoint Migration Tool (SPMT)

Step 3: Setting Up the Target Tenant

1. To recreate the source environment, create new users, shared mailboxes, and distribution groups in the target tenant.
2. Here, enable the import mailbox permissions in the target tenant.
3. Now, set up OneDrive and SharePoint structures that can host the imported data.

Step 4: Data Import to Target Tenant

1. Open Outlook and click File > Open & Export > Import/Export.
2. Now, click on Select Import from another program and select your PST file.
3. Here, map the data to the proper mailbox in your target tenant.
4. After that, upload files manually into users’ OneDrive accounts within the target tenant.
5. Restore the sites from SharePoint to the target tenant, and upload the exported data.
6. Now, configure shared mailboxes in the target tenant.
7. Then, transfer data manually or through PowerShell commands.
8. Lastly, you will verify if mailboxes and files are accessible within the target tenant.

Limitations of Manual Procedure

If you are about to Migrate Tenant to Tenant Office 365 manually, it is a rather complicated process, that has some critical limitations. These are outlined below:

• Manual migrations involve lengthy steps and do take a long time.
• Migrating domains and updating DNS records may cause temporarily intended downtime.
• It demands high-level technical knowledge to be executed without errors.
• The process of migration can cause data loss if errors occur.
• Compatibility can occur due to mismatches between source and target tenants’ licenses.

To overcome the drawbacks of manual migration, one can use professional tools such as Office 365 tenant-to-tenant migration software. These tools make the process easier by automating it, maintaining data integrity, and reducing downtime.

Best Software for Tenant to Tenant Mailbox Migration

This challenge can be effectively solved by the Aryson Office 365 Backup Tool. Aryson, a trusted software company, offers a professional and reliable tool to handle this task effortlessly. The Office 365 Backup Tool can securely export PST from Office 365. It also facilitates the easy restoration of mailboxes from PST/OST files back into Office 365 accounts, hence providing safety to data and ease.

Steps to Office 365 Tenant to Tenant Migration

1. First, download and install the Office 365 backup tool on your defined system. 
2. Then, log in to the Office 365 admin account. And choose the backup option.
3. Now, choose the data to migrate from the mailbox hierarchy. Click on Next.
4. Here, choose Office 365 as a destination email client. 
5. Now, enter the destination credentials where you want to transfer all source data.
6. After that, apply filters to delete duplicates or export specific data. Click Next.
7. Finally, click Convert to initiate migration.

Conclusion

The Office 365 Tenant to Tenant migration is a complicated process and should be treated with much care. With this guide, the process becomes much smoother. Using unverified methods for migration results in data loss. For safety and a smooth process, it is advisable to use the recommended tool, which many experts and professionals rely on.

About The Author:

Eva Shirley

Eva Shirley is a skilled technical content writer with expertise in creating engaging and informative content. With over 5 years of experience and a passion for writing, she has solved many users' queries by providing quality content.

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