O365 Distribution List vs groups vs Sharedmailbox

Microsoft has a lot of plans and it is natural to get confused or make mistakes. This blog will help you to avoid mistakes and help you to choose the right Microsoft plan based on your requirements.

Introduction: O365 Licenses

In this blog, we will talk about avoiding 5 mistakes while choosing O365 Licenses. Many small and large organizations are migrating to Microsoft O365 to work, communicate and collaborate on the cloud effectively. It also helps companies to reduce costs associated with maintaining the network, server upgrades, and configurations.

Migrating to Microsoft O365 has varied benefits, but you can run into several issues if you do not choose and deploy a compatible plan. Here are a few mistakes to avoid while choosing the right O365 Licenses. ations are migrating to Microsoft O365 to work, communicate and collaborate on the cloud effectively. It also helps companies to reduce costs associated with maintaining the network, server upgrades, and configurations.

1. Not identifying the Requirements Before the Migration

Creating a concise list of your requirements and goals is a critical task. If you are migrating from a different system to O365, understand what better solutions you will get. Also, if you don’t have any existing system and are looking for a new one, then enlist your goals, as that will help you choose specific O365 plan.

You will also have to decide if you should retain on-premises while using Office 365 cloud. An authorized Microsoft Partner can help you with this.

2. Not Considering Multiple Office Applications

Microsoft O365 is considered a single platform, but it can be configured in several ways based on your requirements. It offers multiple applications for different purposes like emails, collaborations and more. It also includes services like SharePoint, Exchange Online, Yammer, Skype for Business, Publisher, OneDrive, Planner Groups and more.

You can opt for a hybrid cloud to keep certain pieces of the environment onsite or in a private cloud. Such a hybrid cloud solution makes sense for most companies with varied requirements like archiving, compliance, and security, as well as organizations with legacy and line of business applications.

Depending upon your requirements, you’ll need to consider these points while choosing the appropriate plan.

3. Not Assessing the Time Required for the Migration of O365 Licenses

The migration time is directly proportional to the size of your data that has to be transferred to O365. So, if you are not aware of how much data you need to move, you will not be able to estimate the migration time.

Assessing the migration time is crucial for streamlining the migration process. Particular data might take more time, and the speed of the migration process also depends on the bandwidth.

Also, before assessing the migration time, you should determine the total data to help you choose an appropriate Microsoft Office 365 Plan.

For example, if the total number of mailboxes in your company is more than 500 and the average size of each mailbox is around 10GB, then you will need a plan that can support more than 5000GB of data. Based on that, you will also have to estimate the migration time.

4. Not Running a Proper Audit in Your IT Environment

Once you choose a plan, it is important that you run a proper audit in your IT environment. Do not just begin with the migration process. An audit will help you understand the plan and give you a clear picture of the actual scenario.

It will help you to find a suitable migration method too. Also, it will help you identify valuable and vital data.

5. Not Upgrading the Infrastructure for O365 Licenses

Many companies fail to upgrade their systems before migrating to O365. If you are still working with Windows 7, 8, or Microsoft XP, your system will experience issues with O365.

Microsoft Office 365 works best with the latest models of computers and a system running on Windows 10. So, upgrade your systems and other infrastructure if needed while deciding on a Microsoft plan.

Apart from the systems, you will also have to look at your Internet bandwidth. Office 365 runs smoothly on robust bandwidth with a high-speed internet connection. You will be at a disadvantage if you have a slow connection or low bandwidth. So, check all this before choosing a plan, as upgrading the infrastructure is a critical prerequisite.

Conclusion: O365 Licenses

It is important that you avoid these mistakes while choosing the Microsoft O365 plan most suitable for your requirements. At the same time, remember to notify the end-users of your company when planning to migrate to O365. The entire goal is to familiarize your employees with the benefits of the plans, but if they are not aware of the platform, all will go in vain. Once you decide on a plan, conduct a pilot training with a few employees to see if the plan is compatible with your organization. Later, you can conduct training for the entire staff in accordance with your launch timelines.

If you want to shift to Microsoft Office 365 but need to know which plan to choose, reach out to a Microsoft Authorized Partner like Peritos Solutions. We will not only help you choose the right plan but also support you end to end with installation, migration process, and support.