Microsoft 365 workplace migration

A workplace ready for wherever work happens.

At HCH-Supply, I brought identity, email, shared files and collaboration into Microsoft 365. As COVID approached, the need to be ready for mandatory work from home pushed us to complete the core migration.

My roleIT Manager & Microsoft 365 administratorFocusAzure AD · Exchange Online · OneDrive · SharePoint · Teams · Document collaboration · Whiteboard · Loop

Explore the workflow

One workplace. Four connected moves.

Explore each workstream in the migration. The diagram illustrates the changes without exposing the organization’s private infrastructure.

Local Active Directory → Azure AD

I moved user identity from local Active Directory to cloud-only Azure AD and retired the local directory.

Workflow illustration · No customer data

Why the timing mattered

The deadline was a change in how everyone worked.

COVID was approaching while the migration was under way. The prospect of mandatory work from home gave the project a clear priority: finish the core cloud workplace so people could keep working away from the office.

Ready for work from home

Cloud identity, email, shared files and Teams formed the core migration.

Making more of Microsoft 365

Document collaboration, Whiteboard and Loop are part of the broader adoption story.

The starting point

The problem behind the project.

The workplace depended on local Active Directory, a large shared-file server and on-premises Exchange, with Zoom used for meetings. The approaching mandatory work-from-home period made completing the move to cloud services a practical business priority.

My contribution

Connecting the right pieces.

I moved identity from local Active Directory to cloud-only Azure AD and retired local AD. I migrated shared-server files to OneDrive and SharePoint, moved Exchange Server 2016 to Exchange Online, and switched meetings from Zoom to Teams.

The result

What changed.

We completed the core migration in time to be ready for mandatory work from home. Staff could use cloud identity, email, files and Teams to work away from the office. Microsoft 365 adoption also included shared-document collaboration, Whiteboard and Loop.

What matters in the work

The details worth getting right.

Connect the workplace

Bring identity, files, email and meetings together.

Make collaboration useful

Enable shared documents and tools for working together.

Be ready for change

Complete the core move for mandatory work from home.

Explore another projectLess spreadsheet juggling. More useful answers.