Hey everyone! We're gearing up for a migration to Microsoft 365 and I'm looking for recommendations on the best tools or services to efficiently move our Outlook mailboxes, OneDrive data, and SharePoint sites without breaking the bank. Here's our situation:
- We're migrating existing email accounts, whether they're on Exchange or other platforms, to Microsoft 365 Outlook.
- We need to transfer user files from local storage or other cloud services to OneDrive.
- Additionally, we want to migrate our team sites and document libraries to SharePoint Online.
- Our main goals are to minimize downtime, keep costs manageable, and ensure everything is secure.
I've come across a few options:
- Microsoft native tools, like Exchange Online migration (cutover, staged, or hybrid) and the SharePoint Migration Tool (SPMT) for SharePoint/OneDrive.
- Third-party tools like ShareGate, AvePoint, and Quest Migration Manager (although these might be pricier).
- Manual methods like PST export/import, which I know aren't great for large operations.
I'm keen to hear your experiences and any tips or pitfalls to watch out for! Thanks!
4 Answers
In my experience handling migrations for over 30 companies, I lean heavily on BitTitan MigrationWiz for emails and ShareGate for OneDrive and SharePoint moves. BitTitan offers flexible licenses and is quite affordable. ShareGate, however, can get pricey and requires some PowerShell skills for large SharePoint batches since you can't run too many migrations at once without throttling issues.
I've had good success using BitTitan MigrationWiz as well. We used a contractor for our last email migrations, so I can't speak to pricing, but I know it's effective. I've also worked with ShareGate, which costs around $5,000 to $6,000 per year and does a great job.
When considering tools, the difference between per-user licensing and tools like ShareGate is significant. ShareGate involves downloading a mailbox and recreating it in the new tenant, which requires some tech savvy. I've learned a lot from doing migrations manually. ShareGate is great for my workplace because we onboard many new acquisitions regularly, making its $15k for 3 years worth it—unlimited migrations! However, I'd still suggest learning to use Microsoft’s native tools if you can, as understanding the process is always beneficial.
We did a large migration last year with around 2000 mailboxes and SharePoint sites. Microsoft's native tools are free but quite manual. The SharePoint Migration Tool (SPMT) worked fine for smaller sites but struggled with larger document libraries, especially those over 100GB. We used a hybrid approach for Exchange, which took a while to set up but gave us better control on when to cut over. If you have the budget, I'd recommend BitTitan MigrationWiz. It's not the cheapest option, but it saved us significant time and handled everything seamlessly, including permissions. One crucial tip: make sure to check your source data first—corrupted PST files or illegal characters in SharePoint lists can break migration tools until you clean things up.
I've also used MigrationWiz a lot, and while it's more complicated for tenant-to-tenant setups, it's solid for on-premise to 365 migrations.
Absolutely agree! MigrationWiz definitely streamlines the process.