Logicalis US IDs Four Key Questions CIOs Should Ask Before Planning a Domain Migration

NEW YORK, March 28, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- For CIOs, two of the most fear-inducing words in the English language are "mergers" and "acquisitions." One of the most difficult tasks inherent in any merger, acquisition – or divestiture or downsizing for that matter – is the smooth transition from one computing environment to another. Migrating users into one Active Directory or Exchange instance, for example, can pose significant challenges, particularly when there's no time for downtime.  Knowing this, Logicalis US, a Microsoft Gold Partner and international IT solutions and managed services provider (www.us.logicalis.com), has developed a faster, easier migration and consolidation method – the Domain Flip Over solution – that is substantially less painful and burdensome for the IT department undergoing these kinds of transitions.

"With our extensive expertise in the Microsoft stack, we've developed a very consultative solution backed by automated tooling that is completely based on our clients' business requirements and the outcomes that are most important to them," says Wendy McQuiston, Director, Microsoft Professional Services, Logicalis US. "When two companies have merged and the task is to migrate users from both organizations to a single Exchange Online, we look at our client's environment and help them through this process. We can move the users all at once, we can move them by departments or by site locations – whatever works best for the organization. By reducing the complexity of the migration and the manual effort involved, this solution is particularly helpful to even the largest enterprise customers in getting through what would otherwise be a very long and arduous process more quickly. By doing this, we considerably reduce impact to the user community and, by extension, to the organization's productivity. And because we incorporate an effective rollback strategy, we're also able to reduce the risk of downtime and errors, giving our clients a faster and more reliable time-to-value."

Four Questions CIOs Should Ask Before Migrations Begin
The methodology used to complete a software migration, particularly during notable change such as a merger, acquisition or divestiture, will have a sizable impact on the project's timeline and cost, as well as the organization's overall perception of the migration's effectiveness.  Before determining whether to use a custom solution like Logicalis' Domain Flip Over or a more traditional method, Logicalis experts suggest IT pros ask themselves the following four key questions.

1. Is there a size limitation? Knowing what limitations may exist in number of users or number of workstations is a critical up-front first question. Because the Logicalis Domain Flip Over solution handles migrations of both users and their workstations with a unique cutover method rather than a series of events, it fits any customer size from 100 users to tens of thousands of users. This is an especially important consideration for enterprise customers undergoing a merger or acquisition where the number of users is expected to spike dramatically.
2. Does the solution have a rollback option? Best practices dictate that CIOs should insist on a fallback option "in case something goes wrong." With this in mind, Logicalis' solution architects designed its Domain Flip Over solution with an important rollback feature that is both safe and simplistic. Because the solution allows Logicalis to move user profiles while maintaining their old profiles in the same domain, rolling back to the previous solution is as easy as having users log out of the new solution and log back into the old domain.  Because it's automated with no manual intervention needed, rollbacks can happen quickly and securely, Logicalis can comfortably test new domains before cutting over, and IT pros can sleep soundly at night knowing there's a fall-back option during the transition period.
3. How flexible is the solution? Traditionally, migrations have adhered to a rigid process, something which has caused untold headaches for IT pros along the way. Most IT pros will admit, they'd love to have the flexibility to plan migrations in the way that makes the most sense for their individual businesses, something Logicalis designed into its Domain Flip Over solution.  Imagine, for example, being able to migrate all users from two organizations at the same time, moving select business units together, or moving groups of users on a department-by-department basis. Find out up front if you'll be able to plan moves in the way that works best for your organization.
4. Is there a way to reduce the cost? Traditionally, no.  But when things are automated and highly scripted, experts say you can reduce cost, risk and time-to-value. Depending on the project's timeline, McQuiston says CIOs can expect at least a 20 percent reduction in costs with Domain Flip Over versus more traditional migration methods.

Want to Learn More?

• Ever wish someone else could manage your Microsoft Exchange? Find out how a managed services solution can help you get entirely out of the business of supporting email:  http://ow.ly/GJrE309TWm1.
• See how Microsoft's Office 365 can put cloud computing to work for your organization: http://ow.ly/FnCL309TZKy. 
• Learn more about the relationship between Microsoft and Logicalis, a Gold Cloud Platform and Gold Cloud Productivity partner: http://ow.ly/1LvB309TX9C.

About Logicalis
Logicalis is an international multi-skilled solution provider providing digital enablement services to help customers harness digital technology and innovative services to deliver powerful business outcomes.

Our customers cross industries and geographical regions; our focus is to engage in the dynamics of our customers' vertical markets including financial services, TMT (telecommunications, media and technology), education, healthcare, retail, government, manufacturing and professional services, and to apply the skills of our 4,000 employees in modernizing key digital pillars, data center and cloud services, security and network infrastructure, workspace communications and collaboration, data and information strategies, and IT operation modernization.

We are the advocates for our customers for some of the world's leading technology companies including Cisco, HPE, IBM, NetApp, Microsoft, VMware and ServiceNow.

The Logicalis Group has annualized revenues of over $1.5 billion from operations in Europe, North America, Latin America and Asia Pacific. It is a division of Datatec Limited, listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange and the AIM market of the LSE, with revenues of over $6.5 billion.

For more information, visit www.us.logicalis.com.

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Media contacts:
Karen Franse, Communication Strategy Group
for Logicalis US
[email protected]
866-997-2424 x222
www.gocsg.com

Arthur Germain, Communication Strategy Group
for Logicalis US
[email protected]
866-997-2424 x101
www.gocsg.com

SOURCE Logicalis US

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