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Softchoice recommends Office 365.
Choosing a Migration PartnerA user’s guide for what you need to know in order to have a successful deployment.
Softchoice recommends Office 365.
2
Softchoice recommends Office 365.
Table of Contents
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Chapter 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Start Smart
Chapter 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 Make Implementation Smooth and Easy
Chapter 3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 Test Early, Test Often
Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
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Softchoice recommends Office 365.
Introduction
Office 365 is a fact of business life, today. There aren’t many
companies that don’t use Word, Excel, or PowerPoint. But when
you consider applications like SharePoint, Lync, or Yammer,
there is so much more that can be accomplished in an Office 365
environment.
For most organizations, the key to getting the most out of Office
365 is to engage with a proven, knowledgeable partner with
deep experience in every migration phase, from pre-planning
to end-user training. Choosing the right Office 365 migration
partner is one of the most critical business decisions your
company will make.
In order to help you make the right decision, we’ve assembled
some best practices and key factors to consider during your
search for an ideal partner for your organization.
We’ll also share feedback from a November 2017 Spiceworks
survey of 200 IT professionals from across the U.S. who com-
pleted an online survey on cloud productivity solutions, as well
as provide deeper insights from 10 in-depth interviews.
We hope this guide will aid you in selecting the right partner
for your successful Office 365 migration.
Introduction
4
Softchoice recommends Office 365.
Chapter 1Start Smart
“We need someone to help us
explain, ‘You’re losing money by
staying here. You can gain X amount
by going there. You can gain these
abilities by going there and then
weigh out the pros and cons.”
– IT pro1
Chapter 1: Start Smart
Softchoice recommends Office 365.
5
Softchoice recommends Office 365.
Organizations can be hesitant about migrating to the cloud
for a multitude of reasons. Productivity, collaboration, and
security all present challenges. But a good migration partner
can mitigate these concerns if they understand every aspect of
your business, and how each will be affected by a complete or
even partial migration.
A strong partner should help you assess where you are today
in order to ensure your company gets where you want to be
tomorrow. Planning your migration requires understanding of
the health of your current systems. Organizations who engage
with partners that skip an initial, in-depth assessment do so at
their own peril, as they can be forced to deal with delays and
failures during the actual migration. Your structure is only as
good as your foundation, and a good migration partner will
want a comprehensive knowledge of the strength and stability
of that foundation.
The right vendor should know your business inside and out
Finding the right partner for your Office 365 migration involves
much more than knowing your technology. It’s about under-
standing your organization from both an IT and a business
perspective, and building trust with your team. What are your
company’s business objectives? How is success determined?
What role does executive management have in making IT deci-
sions? What impact does IT management have on the business
direction? And how do technology and business work together
in your organization?
Questions like these are important, because even while Office
365 has been available for seven years, Spiceworks research
found that nearly half of the companies surveyed have deployed
Office 365 only in the last year, with most planning to deploy or
purchase it within six months.2 Asking tough questions—from your
own organization, as well as from your partner—will smooth the
process, and get you where you need to be, more quickly.
Chapter 1: Start Smart
CURRENT USE OF MICROSOFT OFFICE 365
43% 7%
26%
16%
9%
Currently deployed Purchased, but not yet deployed
Plan to purchase within next 12 months
No plans to purchase or deploy
Don’t know
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Softchoice recommends Office 365.
Understand the importance of users’ roles and profiles
A partner with deep migration experience knows that a key
factor in maximizing your investment in Office 365 is discerning
not only who is using the technology, but exactly how they are
using it.
For example, how many mobile users in your organization want
to use Office 365 on devices other than laptops? The mobile
user is a “role.” The fact that he or she wants to use Office 365
on a tablet or a smartphone gives that user a distinct “profile.”
Failing to support these profiles means risking that these users
will go around the IT department—and outside your secure IT
environment—to get their work done.
A good partner will understand the ramifications of these
choices, as well as the best methods for keeping every user
within the purview of the IT department. Determining how to
resolve these user issues during the planning stage will help
your partner identify the best licensing options for your orga-
nization so your migration process will be more cost effective
from day one.
Chapter 1: Start Smart
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Softchoice recommends Office 365.
Ensure an agile end state
An experienced partner will be able to explain why the best end
states are agile. At the end of your Office 365 migration, whether
full or partial, your company should have a more flexible and
dynamic working strategy that will continue to evolve over time
according to your business needs and your customers’ demands.
Spiceworks survey respondents were split on whether they’re
implementing full or partial Office 365 deployments, and most
organizations that have deployed Office 365 have deployed it
across their entire organization. Those who have purchased or
are planning to purchase Office 365—but haven’t yet deployed
it—are more hesitant about deploying organization-wide.1
A successful migration does not require an all or nothing
approach. For example, it’s common for IT managers to question
whether all of their mailboxes should be kept on premises or
moved to the cloud. The reality may be that your organization is
better off utilizing a middle-ground strategy, keeping sensitive
mailboxes on premises while moving the rest to the cloud to
achieve cost savings. A knowledgeable partner will understand
how this agile state can be optimized to help you comply with
SLAs, address regulatory concerns, and enable a simplified and
more effective disaster recovery plan.
Chapter 1: Start Smart
OFFICE 365 DEPLOYMENT STRATEGY
Deployed/plan to deploy to the
entire organization
Deployed/plan to deploy to only specific sub-sets within the organization
Deployed/plan to deploy to specific departments/
functions in the organization
Deployed/plan to deploy to specific users in the organization
61% 11%23% 2%
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Softchoice recommends Office 365.
Mind the Gap.
It’s critical that your migration partner clearly understands the
risks and hazards inherent during the gap period between the
start of your migration and the designated end state.
Here are some good questions to ask a potential partner about
handling gap issues:
• What solutions do they recommend for making Office 365
most effective throughout the process of migration?
• Uninterrupted service should be part of any migration
plan. How will they ensure you maintain uptime during
the gap state?
• SLA’s don’t go away simply because you’re in a gap state.
How will your partner keep gap-state impact on your SLA’s
to a minimum throughout the migration?
Chapter 1: Start Smart
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Softchoice recommends Office 365.
Chapter 2Make Implementation Smooth and Easy
“By going to a cloud environment,
a lot of that backend work is
alleviated from IT and then we
get to spend more time making
sure our customers are happy.”
– IT pro1
Chapter 2: Make Implementation Smooth and Easy
Softchoice recommends Office 365.
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Softchoice recommends Office 365.
According to the Spiceworks survey, the most common Office
applications (Excel, Word, PowerPoint) are used by nearly all
organizations, while fewer are using other Office 365 services.1
Your partner should be familiar with these types of issues, and
know how to navigate your transition to new and more produc-
tive applications with maximum benefits and minimal hassles.
A deep understanding of migration potential and pitfalls is critical
In making the big decision to migrate, every organization has
the same goal: A seemingly simple, relatively painless, and
ultimately successful move to the cloud.
But behind that goal lie deeper questions that a good partner
should ask and be able to help you address: Are you migrating
from Google Docs? Will you be transitioning from older versions
of Office? What applications are you using now? What applica-
tions do you plan to use in the future?
Chapter 2: Make Implementation Smooth and Easy
MICROSOFT OFFICE APPLICATIONS/SERVICES CURRENTLY USED BY SURVEY RESPONDENTS
Excel
Word
PowerPoint
Outlook
Access
OneNote
Publisher
Skype for Business
OneDrive for Business
Exchange Online
Sites (SharePoint Online)
Microsoft Teams
Yammer
100%0
94%
93%
91%
84%
68%
61%
47%
40%
31%
29%
28%
16%
10%
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Softchoice recommends Office 365.
Migration? What migration?
Good training = great users
If your partner is truly proficient at implementing a migration,
most of your employees shouldn’t even be aware that a tran-
sition is taking place. A good partner will help you to designate
an impact circle, identifying every individual user who will be
affected by the migration. These users should be communicated
with regularly to inform them as to the state of the transition,
and what effects it may have on their work, if any. They should
also know who to contact if they do notice any negative impact.
There should also be a coexistence strategy planned and imple-
mented that allows employees to use Office throughout the
migration process. An experienced partner will recommend
testing Office 365 with a pilot group before rolling it out to the
entire organization in order to identify and resolve any issues
as early in the process as possible.
As important as it is to have an agile end state, it’s just as
important to be extremely thorough when it comes to issues
like training and optimization. No migration is a success unless
Office 365 is actually being used by workers, and is achieving
the business objectives agreed upon by you and your partner.
You need a solid, actionable plan for teaching employees about
Office 365’s new features, ensuring that adoption and usage are
meeting designated levels, and ensuring that your organization
is on a solid path to a successful cloud migration.
“The challenges aren’t as much
with the product as they are with
the end-users.”
– IT pro1
“There’s not a lot of information for
some of the lesser-used apps like
Access and Yammer vs. Excel where
I can find a million results. Having
more accessible information avail-
able and understanding how apps
work would be a determining factor
[in deciding whether to deploy].”
– IT pro1
Chapter 2: Make Implementation Smooth and Easy
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Softchoice recommends Office 365.
Chapter 3Test Early, Test Often
Chapter 3: Test Early, Test Often
Softchoice recommends Office 365.
When it comes to testing, once is
never enough, and any potential
partner who tries to convince
you that one round of testing is
sufficient should be disregarded.
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Softchoice recommends Office 365.
Each and every component of the agreed upon migration plan
must be validated regularly, consistently, and conclusively. A
good rule of thumb is to start with expectations, but finish only
through verified inspections.
The best migration plan in the world, poorly executed, is still
a failure. Which is why you need a partner who will insist on
testing, taking action, and testing again until all parties are
satisfied with the validated results.
Validation is the only true measure of a successful migration
According to the Spiceworks survey, security and performance
concerns are the top barriers to supporting Office application
and services in the cloud.1
The way to overcome these concerns is to test, validate, and
repeat until every application works exactly as it should, with
improved performance and enhanced security.
There are partners who will test Office 365 during a migration,
and if it seems to be working as planned, they move on. When
it comes to testing, once is never enough, and any potential
partner who tries to convince you that one round of testing is
sufficient should be disregarded.
Chapter 3: Test Early, Test Often
TOP 10 REASONS FOR NOT SUPPORTING ALL OFFICE APPLICATIONS/SERVICES IN THE CLOUD
Security concerns
Compliance/regulation
Concerns about
reliability
Time required to transition/upgrade
Lack of in-house skills/ expertise to deploy and
manage
Lack of knowl-edge about soultion(s)
OtherPerfomance concerns
Uncertain of benefits/ROI
Budget constraints
100%
0
47%
33% 29% 28% 24% 21% 21%13% 10% 6%
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Softchoice recommends Office 365.
Proactive support should anticipate your post-migration needs
The post-migration phase is the time to set yourself up for
long-term success. This includes executing a support plan that
clearly states how your changes will be managed going forward.
A partner with deep migration experience will understand the
importance of documentation. More important, they will make
sure your users and IT staff have access to a dedicated support
center which can not only resolve specific incidents, but auto-
matically escalate issues to an external provider when necessary.
“Support is [key]. Being available
during the buying process and after
deployment, and how proactive
they’ll be over time.”
– IT pro1
Chapter 3: Test Early, Test Often
15
Softchoice recommends Office 365.
Conclusion
Conclusion“We want someone that’s going to
put our company’s best interests
first and understand that it’s a
partnership and understand how
to grow our business.”
– IT pro1
Softchoice recommends Office 365.
16
Softchoice recommends Office 365.
According to the Spiceworks research, there are a number of
different factors that concern organizations who are considering
a partner to help purchase and implement Office 365—from
security to post-sales support to pricing.
While these factors are all important, there’s no substitute for
establishing and building a trusted relationship with a proven
partner who can be counted on to make your migration a success.
Conclusion
“I want to hear about similar
industries or organization sizes,
how the new features improved
a company, how they deployed it,
the issues that happened, how they
fixed it, and where they are now.”
– IT pro1
TOP FACTORS OF CONSIDERATION FOR PURCHASING OFFICE 365 FROM AN ONLINE RESELLER
Security Knowledge-able reps
Established/trusted
relationship
Offers lowest price
Perpetual licensing model
Pre-sales service and
support
Subscription licensing model
Ease of doing business
Post-sales service and
support
Available technical support
100%
0
79%
66% 65%60% 60% 56% 55%
48% 45% 44%
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Softchoice recommends Office 365.
Office 365 opens up new opportunities for collaboration and project acceleration.
Why Use Microsoft Project?
Put Together a Modern Project Team
Whether organizations have only recently migrated, or have used
Office 365 for years, opportunities to boost productivity are driv-
ing more and more companies from across industries to leverage
and expand their usage of this proven, powerful technology.
While some decision-makers might have only associated Office
365 with applications like Word, PowerPoint, and Excel, increas-
ingly they are appreciating Office 365 as a Microsoft-managed,
cloud-based business platform for email, file sharing, online
meetings, calendaring, and much more.
Microsoft Project tools help businesses to do more, and do it
more easily, intelligently, and cost-effectively than ever before.
Project Online Professional is a powerful resource for keeping
projects, teams, and schedules organized and on track from
pre-planning to project completion. By unlocking the power of
the cloud, Project Online Professional enables users to access
real-time insights that provide potent new data for collabora-
tion and tracking status.
It’s easier than ever to optimize cost structure by managing de-
ployments and updates easily, while also leveraging collabora-
tion capabilities with Microsoft services, and extensibility with
Power BI Pro and third-party apps.
Put the productivity of Office 365 into the hands of your users
with Microsoft Project, and realize the benefits of improved
productivity that spans your entire organization.
Eliminate the brain drain and management hassles that
occur when multiple contractors join and leave a project
Avoid the hassles of surplus licensing by deliberately
planning your implementation of Microsoft Project
Enjoy easy integration with Office 365, and ease of
management for IT
Work where you want with project plans stored in the
cloud and up to five PC copies of Project Professional
per user
Work how you want with new features like agile built-
in and work across bimodal methodologies like Waterfall,
Scrum, and Kanban
Boost everyday collaboration with shared data to coor-
dinate schedules, resources, and integration with Office
365 services like Microsoft Teams and Skype for Business
Deliver projects successfully with powerful scheduling,
smart automation, what-if planning, out-of-the-box
reporting, best-in-class templates, and extensibility
into third-party apps
Boost Productivity Throughout Your Organization—with Microsoft Project
Conclusion
Softchoice can make Microsoft Office 365 a reality for your busi-
ness. Our customers will tell you that we have the resources, deep
expertise, licensing experience, and migration best practices for a
successful deployment.
We invite your team to work with us. We’ll make sure everyone
in your organization has fast, easy, anywhere access to Office
365 applications for messaging, conferencing, collaboration,
and calendars.
Softchoice makes your journey to the cloud as easy as possible
with services like:
• Office 365 Explorer: A guided exploration of Microsoft Cloud
productivity
• Office 365 Accelerator: Accelerate your move to Office 365
with a series of expert-led activities
• Microsoft Project Manager: Keep your projects, resources,
and teams organized and on track
From pre-planning and driving internal adoption to postdeploy-
ment support that lasts long beyond Day 2, Softchoice will make
sure your realizes all the benefits you expect from migrating to
Office 365. Softchoice is the right partner for your migration.
Learn more
Sources1 Spiceworks in-depth interviews with 10 IT pros on implementing cloud productivity solutions2 Spiceworks survey of 200 U.S. IT decision-makers on cloud productivity solutions, on behalf of Softchoice, November 2017
Softchoice recommends Office 365.
Recommended