Great news for Performing Exchange Staged Migrations to Office 365

Though we have different Ways to migrate multiple email accounts to Office 365, each option has a limitation and the most painful one is the staged migration limitation for customers running Exchange 2010 on premises, because staged migration is possible only if you have either Exchange Server 2003 or 2007 and this left them only with the option to deploy Exchange Hybrid, because most customers don't prefer the Cut Over migration with its own limitations, and they really don't need all the benefits that come along with the Hybrid deployment but they still need to have one in place. This was the outstanding issue for few customers to migrate to Office 365.

Microsoft team has now made a significant improvement to the new Hybrid Configuration Wizard that removes the Staged Migration limitation by introducing the new option, which was recently announced the Minimal Hybrid Configuration option. When you launch the Hybrid Configuration Wizard (for the first time), you will be presented with a new dialog option, entitled Hybrid Features. This dialog allows you to choose between a Minimal Hybrid Configuration or a Full Hybrid Configuration.

What’s the difference? In a nutshell, the Minimal Hybrid Configuration allows you to just to perform migration and administration in a hybrid deployment. The Minimal Hybrid Configuration excludes configurations of secure email and any Exchange Federation related features, such as free/busy. One good thing is you will not have to recreate the user’s Outlook profile; online mailbox moves are performed, unlike in a Staged or Cutover migration.

More is covered in the Official EHLO Blog post here: HCW Improvement: The Minimal Hybrid Configuration option

As stated in the blog post Microsoft Exchange Team is working on a new MRS migration portal interface for MRS based moves, but you can still use the Exchange Administration Center to move your mailboxes and both options will be available in the future for your migrations.

This is a great news for all customers out there getting ready for their migrations as they can choose the best one for their needs.

Update:

Now in addition to the above Minimal Hybrid deployment option, you have the new Express Migration, announced recently in November 2016.

With Express Migration option you will get a onetime directory synchronization of your users along with the Minimal Hybrid configuration to allow you to perform the migrations. After that initial synchronization of user accounts, directory synchronization will be automatically disabled in both Office 365 and on-premises. This will give small and medium customers that would have previously perform a Cutover migration the ability to get the benefits of the hybrid migration without the overhead.

Review the Official EHLO Blog post here to know more: New Exchange Online migration options

Read this excellent walk through on Express Migration from MVP Steve Goodman: Hop on board an Express Migration for Exchange Online

Add-on Read:

Also review the Microsoft Ignite 2016 conference sessions below to know how to maintain your hybrid across patching cycles and upgrades; accommodating changes to network models; adapting during acquisitions and mergers; Learn about Common Migration Myths, Best Practices, Troubleshooting techniques and much more.

View here: BRK3217 - Run Microsoft Exchange Hybrid for the long haul

View here: BRK3219 - Migrate to Exchange Online via Exchange Hybrid 

Update:

Access  Microsoft Exchange Server 2016 Hybrid Topologies Microsoft virtual Academy course to know how you can setup a Hybrid environment with Latest Exchange server version.

Update:

Access the latest Exchange Hybrid Deep Dive Microsoft Virtual Academy session to explore full hybrid, minimal hybrid, or Express Migration to see which is the best option for your migration. Learn about common migration myths, best practices, and deployment blockers. Plus, see what’s coming in the future of hybrid.

Update:

Exchange 2007 has reached end or Life in April 2017 and if your still using this Legacy version of Exchange Server, you need to start your Move soon to the either newer Version of Exchange Server or Exchange Online.

Access this blog post to know more: Exchange Server 2007 End of Life !

Update:

Watch this below Microsoft Ignite 2019 Session to know the latest enhancements in Exchange Hybrid deployment.

Watch here: Exchange hybrid: Advanced scenarios, roadmap, and real-world stories!

Stay tuned for more updates...