How Dotchi saved time & money with an Office 365 migration

Splitting off from a 2,000-person parent company is a huge undertaking. Restructuring people and processes while maintaining business as usual presents serious challenges for a small company. But migrating company email servers and delicate data doesn’t have to complicate the process.

That’s what Harry Tchira, president of Miami-based Dotchi, discovered after partnering with Agile IT to migrate his company mailboxes from Microsoft Server 2010 to Office 365.

Dotchi had separated from parent company Darnel, Inc. to form an independent 17-user entity that designs and creates functional products for the home and garden and needed a trusted partner to lead its email migration.

Balancing an Email Migration and Company Transition

Managing sensitive, mission-critical company information and infrastructure requires a delicate balance, especially when transporting it to a new system entirely. One wrong move could result in prolonged downtime and thousands of dollars in lost productivity.

In transitioning to an independent organization, Dotchi was also changing accounting software, losing key employees who had previously provided back-end support, and maintaining a large and international client base. Harry simply didn’t have the time or resources to successfully complete the migration himself, especially with important company information on the line.

Before proceeding with the company’s email move, Harry also had to address one last question: Should Dotchi stay on-premises or migrate to cloud-based Office 365?

Harry sought the flexibility of the cloud and wanted to continue using a Microsoft platform for its enhanced business and collaboration capabilities. However, he also didn’t want his to overwhelm his team with new systems and technology.

After speaking to organizations of similar size, Harry found that the flexibility of Office 365 made perfect sense for the growing business. The next step was finding a partner to handle the migration from Exchange Server 2010 to Office 365.

Partnering for the Future

While Dotchi could have utilized its parent company to move to Office 365, it was committed to finding a partner that would provide continued and reliable IT support. Harry needed a knowledgeable, long-term partner to initiate a smooth, seamless transition to the cloud and help manage Dotchi IT moving forward. And that’s exactly what he got.

After reaching out to Microsoft in search of an experienced partner, Harry was directed to Agile IT. Having migrated over 750,000 users to Office 365, won Microsoft Cloud Partner of the Year 5 years in a row and been named a Microsoft Gold partner (sitting in the top 0.5% of the online services channel), Harry was sure he’d found a partner for years to come.

Leading a Successful & Pain-Free Migration

Not only was Harry migrating to Office 365; he was also spearheading a new company. Agile IT and Harry worked closely throughout the migration process while still allowing him to focus on what he knows best: running a business. After working with Agile IT to migrate to Office 365, Harry continues to rely on the company for his IT needs today. Being able to outsource both the migration and the accompanying IT monitoring and maintenance has allowed him to spend less time on his IT infrastructure and rest assured knowing he has an expert team in his corner.

“Perhaps it just seems simple because Agile IT has made it simple for us…in the end, this just made sense,” Harry said.

When asked if he would recommend Office 365 to other companies like his, Harry responded, “Absolutely. And I have.”

If you’re considering migrating to Office 365 and need a proven partner to lead the way, contact Agile IT today!