Company | Contact | FAQ | Site Map

shim
MXToolbox - IT Managed Services

FlexBox Home

FlexBox Changes the Rules of Email Migration

FlexBox's Patent Pending Drag and Drop Migration and Synchronization Technology changes the rules of email migration. You can literally Drag and Drop users from one FlexBox service to another. Unlike traditional email migration, a FlexBox migration is:

  • Self-paced, with
  • Zero switch over time and
  • Instant fallback to your old configuration. And, there is
  • Never any migration down time.

FlexBox Hosted Email Migration

Non-FlexBox Hosted Email Migration

   
1. Migrate One, Some or All of Your Users
1. Migrate All of Your Users, All At Once
2. Minimal Help Desk Impact
2. Help Desk Overload / Bottleneck
3. Instant Fall Back To Existing System
3. No Easy Way Back To Old System
4. Exact Customization
4. Limited Customization
5. No Technical or Financial Risk To Try
5. Substantial Risk To Try

 

What is Email Migration?

Email Migration is the act of moving users from one email system to another. Typically, it describes moving from a self-managed email server to an outsourced, or Managed Email solution (AKA Hosted Email). It is also used to describe the move from one managed system to another.

There are numerous reasons that organizations decide to move to a Managed Email Platform. Generally, Managed Email saves money and reduces email risk (Why Managed Mail?).

However, an IT Manager who sees potential benefits from moving to a hosted email solution must weigh the potential benefit with the potential risks and barriers associated with traditional migration. This leads many managers to forgo testing a managed solution altogether.

But now there is another way…FlexBox makes it easy to try Managed Email. There are two types of Email Migration: FlexBox Migration and Non-FlexBox Migration. Let’s take a closer look at the difference.


The Non-FlexBox Migration

Because of traditional technology limitations, the idea of Email Migration elicits apprehension or worse in the hearts and minds of IT Managers.

While this apprehension is not unfounded (for reasons we will discuss shortly), it does prevent many organizations from testing and experiencing the benefits of Managed Email.

A Non-FlexBox Migration requires the following steps:

  • Plan Mass Migration
  • Create Accounts on New System for All Users
  • Change MX Records (at which point, the old server is no longer in the loop)
  • Move Data from Old System to New (Old Email, Contacts and Calendar Events)
  • Shut Down Accounts on Old System
  • Integrate New System with Other Applications
  • Setup User Email Clients to Work with New System
  • Teach All Users to Use New System
  • Hope That It All Works

Each step above represents a substantial amount of work and creates a new layer of risk for the organization. What’s more, this must be done for ALL of the users, ALL at once.

Without FlexBox, The barriers to Hosted Email Migration fall into three major categories.

1. All or None Migration
A move from in-house email to hosted email requires a single mass migration of all users. ALL USERS are moved to a hosted solution, or NO USERS are moved to a hosted solution. IT spends weeks preparing for the migration and then works a 24-72 hour weekend marathon to “cut over” all users to the new solution.

This is the only way that the hosted system can be tested...ALL USERS, ALL AT ONCE.

2. Help Desk Overload
After moving all users to a new system at once, the requests for help in setting up and using the new system overwhelm IT Support. This causes several more weeks of disruption, increased workload, and diminished quality.

3. No Road Back
The "All or None Migration" becomes an absolute nightmare if the new system doesn't work. Then, IT must migrate users back to the old system AND deal with the out-of-sync data from both systems.


The FlexBox Migration

A FlexBox Migration is different. FlexBox eliminates the barriers and risk associated with moving to a Hosted Solution.

FlexBox allows IT Managers to:

  • Migrate One, Some, or All Users
  • Migrate at their Own Pace
  • Put Users on Multiple Classes of Service
  • Synchronize New System with Existing System
  • Fall Back to Old System Instantly

Because the FlexBox Managed Mailbox runs in paralell with the mailbox on the in-house server, IT Managers literally can have one user that exists in two places. They can also have some users on the old system and others on the new system, all under the same domain.

This means that users can be "migrated" to a managed solution, without any change to their existing mailbox. The old server stays in place until the IT Manager is sure that the new system meets their needs. Or, if the IT Manager sees benefits in keeping the old server for some users while moving other users to a managed platform, they can do that as well.

With FlexBox Managed Mail there is:

  • No Migration Risk
  • No Technology Risk
  • No Financial Risk
  • No Help Desk Flood

Whether you want to move your user base to a managed solution, or just try it out with a few of your users, FlexBox gives you the flexibility to migrate who you want, when you want.

Call 866-698-6652 to speak with a FlexBox Specialist and start your 30 Day Risk Free Trial.


Get Started with FlexBox  Talk to us about FlexBox

 

FlexBox Email Services

FlexBox

Junk Mail

Emergency Mail

Managed Mail

Managed Mail Pro

 

30 Day Trial

Partner Program

Remote Data Backup

MxTools

Blog & Resources

About MxToolbox

Why MxToolbox?