The path to the cloud also includes the migration of the mail system. Armacell therefore switched from Lotus Notes Domino to M365 in 2020 and migrated all 2,000 users company-wide to the new system. Based on the ten-year partnership with TIMETOACT, the experts also provided support in this project - together with novaCapta. As a Managed Service Partner, TIMETOACT continues to ensure optimal functionality of the mail system.
Bundled expertise for fast mail migration to M365
Initial situation:
- Strategic decision to migrate mail system from Lotus Notes Domino to M365.
- Need to migrate all 2000 users of the company with a smooth transition (co-existence of the old and new mail system)
Solution:
- TIMETOACT & novaCapta as partners, starting with requirements gathering, configuration of the new environment up to migration
- Use of Quest Migration for the migration of the mailboxes
- Short and smooth co-existence phase
- Successful migration including all functions
Such projects are often associated with a high level of complexity. TIMETOACT managed to keep this away from us as much as possible, but still involved us sufficiently in the project.
Holger WillenborgCorporate IT Infrastructure Project ManagerArmacellDecision for mail migration to M365
E-mail is the primary channel in most companies when it comes to mutual exchange - both internally between employees and externally to service providers and customers. In the past, Armacell used Lotus Notes Domino for this purpose. As the company decided to move to the cloud for a modern infrastructure, the mail system was also to be migrated to M365. With 2000 users, this project affected the entire company.
TIMETOACT has been supporting the manufacturer of flexible insulation materials with IBM / HCL license optimization and license consulting since 2012.
Due to our good experiences from the last ten years with TIMETOACT, it was only logical that we also revert to the support of the experts for this project.
Holger WillenborgCorporate IT Infrastructure Project ManagerArmacellCore requirement
The mail migration from Lotus Notes Domino to M365 was the central core requirement of the project. This included, above all, the transfer of the mail addresses and mail content of all 2000 users. The transition (co-existence of the old and new mail system) was to function smoothly.
Complex mail migration with minimal effort for Armacell
In August 2020, the project started with an inventory of the Lotus Notes Domino mail environment. Based on this, the target environment was designed in M365. The goal was to complete the migration within nine months. In an initial pilot phase, TIMETOACT experts migrated a small number of users to the new mail system in order to test the process and procedure. Only after this worked perfectly did the actual migration phase begin.
The Quest Migration tool was used to migrate the mailboxes, transferring the large volumes of data and encrypted emails from Armacell. Since only certain user groups can be migrated step by step, each mail migration is characterized by the shortest possible co-existence of the old and the new mail systems. During this time, users in the new mail system were to work together with users in the old system, which worked smoothly.
Cross-company cooperation of the TIMETOACT GROUP
TIMETOACT worked together across the company from requirements gathering and configuration of the new environment to migration. Together with the expertise of novaCapta, the migration from Lotus Notes Domino to M365 was successfully completed. All associated functions such as mail content, mail addresses, calendar entries, tasks and resource information (e.g. meeting rooms) were migrated.
What was particularly great was that our contact persons at TIMETOACT were available at all times and always responded quickly to inquiries. That was very important to me in advance!
Holger WillenborgCorporate IT Infrastructure Project ManagerArmacellThe progress and status of the project was discussed in regular status meetings. New requirements or problems were reported to TIMETOACT via the Atlassian Jira ticket system.
Nach Projektende ging die Zusammenarbeit in einen Managed Service durch die Expert*innen der TIMETOACT über. Im Rahmen dessen werden die Funktionalitäten in M365 sichergestellt und neue Anforderungen, beispielsweise Schulungen der Mitarbeitenden von Armacell, umgesetzt.
Technologies used
As the inventor of flexible insulation materials for plant insulation and a leading supplier of engineered foams, Armacell develops innovative and safe thermal, acoustic and mechanical solutions. With more than 3,200 employees and 25 production sites in 17 countries, the company operates in two business areas: Advanced Insulation and Engineered Foams.
Feel free to contact me!
Bernd Zinn
TIMETOACT GROUPContact