Zero-downtime migration for a 68-user law firm from Exchange 2010 to Microsoft 365
A Lisbon law firm running an end-of-life Exchange Server needed a full cloud migration — completed in 6 weeks with zero email downtime.
The Challenge
Our client had been running Exchange Server 2010 and on-premise file shares for over a decade. With the server nearing hardware failure and Microsoft support long ended, they faced mounting risk: no remote work capability, unreliable manual backups, and a growing security gap.
- Exchange Server 2010 — out of support since 2020
- On-premise file shares with no offsite backup
- No remote work capability for 68 staff
- Manual, tape-based backups with no tested recovery plan
- Zero MFA or conditional access policies
Our Solution
Tenant Setup & Pilot
Configured the Microsoft 365 tenant, established mail flow coexistence, and ran a 2-week pilot with the IT team and 5 early adopters to validate the migration approach.
Phased Mailbox Migration
Migrated mailboxes in three weekend batches of ~23 users each using a staged cutover approach — zero interruption to business operations during the working week.
SharePoint & OneDrive Rollout
Migrated 1.2 TB of file shares to SharePoint Online with department-level permissions mirroring existing structure. OneDrive client deployed to all workstations.
Teams Deployment & Training
Deployed Microsoft Teams with calling plans, replacing an ageing PBX. Delivered two half-day training sessions for all staff, with a dedicated champions network for ongoing support.
Security Hardening
Implemented MFA for all accounts, Conditional Access policies enforcing compliant devices, and Microsoft Defender for Business to replace the legacy antivirus.
Results
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