Table of Content
- Understanding Group Migration
- Benefits of Migrate On-Premise Distribution Groups to Office 365
- What are the Methods to Migrate Groups to Office 365
- Using Exchange Admin Center
- Using the PowerShell Method
- Export Group Members From One Distribution List to CSV File
- Transfer All Distribution Groups As Well As Members to a CSV File
- Factors to Consider When You Migrate Groups to Office 365
- So, What is the Best Method Left?
How to Migrate Groups to Office 365? Best Methods Available
Migrating groups to Office 365 can appear like a huge challenge, but is an essential process for organizations to adopt cloud-based solutions. By migrating your groups to Office 365, you’ll open yourself up to a range of benefits that supplement the productivity and security of information. This helps simplify working processes and cut expenses on IT services.
Here, you will find a step-by-step approach including how to prepare for migration, the migration process, and possible problems that might occur. It will also enable us to discuss the benefits of Office 365 group and how they help to shape the working of your team. So, without much further ado, let’s discuss below and find out how to move the distribution group to Office 365 into a positive experience.
Understanding Group Migration
A group is the basic unit of work as far as collaboration is concerned. It involves people with common goals, and interests, or people charged with similar responsibilities in an organization so that they can work more efficiently. Whenever you upgrade your groups to Office 365, you are simply transferring these collaborative communities to a cloud-based platform that has several benefits.
Benefits of Migrate On-Premise Distribution Groups to Office 365
That is where the Office 365 groups have a big advantage over the on-premises ones, as the level of integration is significantly higher. In Office 365, groups are deeply integrated with other applications such as Microsoft Teams, SharePoint Online, and Exchange Online. This means it is easy to transfer files, work on the documents, or even make communication within the group more efficient.
There is also flexibility that is attached to Office 365 groups. Another advantage is that the Office 365 groups are flexible in their use. There are a variety of groups that you can create like a security group for controlling access or even a distribution for the mailing list. Also, you can further configure the groups to suit the requirements of a given organization by, integrating the groups with extra properties or even track workflows.
So, before you start the migration of your groups, you will need to familiarize yourself with the current group environment. This includes the identification of accounts for each of the groups, members of the groups, and the data concerning the groups. In this case, such information will assist in developing a more efficient strategy on how to migrate from one organization to the other and the effective realization of the migration process.
What are the Methods to Migrate Groups to Office 365
There are two approaches to elevating Distributed Groups to Office 365 Groups. One involves having an Office 365 global admin or Exchange admin to carry out the upgrade, utilizing either approach.
Using Exchange Admin Center
- Step 1. First sign in to the Microsoft 365 account using your admin credentials and navigate to the Exchange Server by clicking on the Exchange.
- Step 2. Choose Recipients and navigate to the Groups
- Step 3. Then click on the Distribution list option and click on Export.
- Step 4. Next, click on Export Groups to export the specific group members
- Step 5. A small pop-up window shows the estimated time the process takes. Then click on the continue.
Finally, the process will export the group members from the distribution group to a CSV file.
Using the PowerShell Method
Execute the PowerShell methods using this set of commands to get a proper list to migrate distribution list to Office 365 Powershell.
Run the command mentioned below with Office 365 PowerShell module:
1. $365Logon = Get-Credential
2. $Session = New-PSSession -ConfigurationName Microsoft.Exchange -ConnectionUri https://outlook.office365.com/powershell-liveid/ -Credential $365Logon -Authentication Basic -AllowRedirection
3. Import-PSSession $Session
If you want to list the distribution groups, run the cmdlet mentioned below:
Get-DistributionGroup -ResultSize Unlimited
To obtain the list of group members run the cmdlet mentioned below:
Get-DistributionGroupMember -Identity "" -ResultSize Unlimited
Export Group Members From One Distribution List to CSV File
Move Export Group Members Across Multiple Distribution Lists to a CSV Document
1. $DGName = ""
2. Get-DistributionGroupMember -Identity $DGName -ResultSize Unlimited | Select Name, PrimarySMTPAddress, RecipientType |
3. Export-CSV "C:\\Distribution-Group-Members.csv" -NoTypeInformation -Encoding UTF8
Users can interchange the factor with the names of their actual group
Transfer All Distribution Groups As Well As Members to a CSV File
In this approach, initially, users need to retrieve every distribution list by executing the Get-DistributionGroup command. Subsequently, they must extract the list’s members by looping through each group with the Get-DistributionGroupMember PowerShell command.
The command below will save all the groups and their members to a CSV file.
1. $Result=@()
2. $groups = Get-DistributionGroup -ResultSize Unlimited
3. $totalmbx = $groups.Count
4. $i = 1
5. $groups | ForEach-Object {
6. Write-Progress -activity "Processing $_.DisplayName" -status "$i out of $totalmbx completed"
7. $group = $_
8. Get-DistributionGroupMember -Identity $group.Name -ResultSize Unlimited | ForEach-Object {
9. $member = $_
10. $Result += New-Object PSObject -property @{
11. GroupName = $group.DisplayName
12. Member = $member.Name
13. EmailAddress = $member.PrimarySMTPAddress
14. RecipientType= $member.RecipientType
15. }}
16. $i++
17. }
18. $Result | Export-CSV "C:\\All-Distribution-Group-Members.csv" -NoTypeInformation -Encoding UTF8
What are the Factors to Consider When You Migrate Groups to Office 365
Currently, the only way to migrate distribution list to exchange online Groups is through a specific process. This means that a Distribution Group, initially set up and maintained on-site Exchange, cannot be directly converted to an Office 365 Group. There are additional limitations on lists as well.
Dynamic Distribution lists and security groups are not eligible for this transfer. Furthermore, Distribution Lists that either need an owner or have more than 100 owners are not eligible for an upgrade. However, it is feasible to determine if a Distribution List meets the criteria for an upgrade by employing a PowerShell script.
So, What is the Best Method Left?
Migrating groups to Office 365 is an excellent way to boost collaboration, although it may not be a simple process to accomplish — especially for companies transitioning from on-premises systems.
Microsoft 365 Groups does have great features for easy communication and collaboration, but many organizations may find a group migration to be a tedious task. They will especially find it to be tedious and complicated when doing a migration process through PowerShell as it needs technical expertise.
A UI-based migration process may be simpler for the non-technical person to use. However, you will not have the flexibility offered by PowerShell commands to customize your migration process (especially for advanced configurations and bulk updates).
Working with a migration service can make all of the above considerations much easier. SysTools does offer complete Office 365 migration services that are designed to help ease you smoothly into Office 365 with minimal downtime and no chance for data loss.
Their experts will assist you with all your migration planning and execution, whether you are going with a full migration or a hybrid model where resources get moved up in phases. This makes for a great option if you are in a commitment phase of whether you want to stay in the cloud fully or not.
The technical expert’s support is available 24/7 and can be reached through phone, chat, or email. Reach out to a migration expert at any time during your migration, whether you have a technical question, or are looking for strategic help with your Office 365 group migration. The team of professionals is here every step of the way through your migration process! If you require any additional information please contact their experts today!
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