I did a comprehensive health check for a company with around 200 users last year and identified numerous issues in their on-premises and Microsoft 365 environments. The company has an MSP that's been neglecting their system, mainly upselling products instead of providing quality service. They recently fired their IT manager, but the MSP is still around. Now, they've approached me to see if I'm interested in stepping in. I enjoy tackling challenges, but it's been over 15 years since I managed a full on-premises Microsoft environment. They've hardly utilized Microsoft 365, with no hybrid setup in place, and their licensing is a complete mess. I'm looking for resources to refresh my knowledge on traditional setups, as my main goal is to modernize their operations and transition them to the cloud while managing this current chaos.
4 Answers
You might want to ignore the hybrid join for now and focus on getting their Microsoft 365 environment sorted out first. Set up Intune and get them into Entra directly. However, if they depend heavily on on-prem servers, you might need to address that before moving everything to the cloud.
I get what you’re saying about the MSP, but I wouldn't rush to criticize them without knowing the full story. Everyone has their strengths and weaknesses. It might be a tough position for you to take until you’re fully up to speed on everything.
You might want to gauge their reaction before dropping big cash on licensing; if licensing is in disarray, finding out how they'd feel about investing around $50k could be crucial. Just saying, they could save money by switching from the Office E3 licenses to Business Premium for most users. Adding the Defender suite might be worthwhile too, but they’d still be ahead overall.
I actually think they could save a ton with that change. The current MSP isn't exactly helping them optimize.
Sounds like a tough gig! Don’t underestimate the importance of the on-prem systems, especially if they have a large infrastructure. Fixing that might be your first step before diving into cloud solutions.
I get that. It’s definitely a tricky situation. Just gotta be careful how you approach things.