Last Review: September 18, 2012
Product(s): Office 365, Exchange Online, SharePoint Online, Lync Online
The Office 365 Setup instructions will help you get started with a trial, perform an Exchange migration, configure SharePoint and Lync Online, and setup desktops. Office 365 Setup consists of 7 major areas:
Planning implementation by recording settings, gathering requirements, and setting expectations.
Starting an Office 365 free trial to take advantage of the free 30 days while you get services configured and perform a migration.
Performing an Exchange migration and cutover.
Configuring a SharePoint team site for document sharing.
Selecting preferred Lync settings for instant messaging and presence.
Setting up desktops for Outlook and Lync.
Decommissioning servers to prevent future network problems.
It is assumed you already have a working Office 365 account and the credentials to sign in. If you do not have an Office 365 account, it is very easy to sign up for trial. See Office 365 Free Trial.
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Review the Office 365 requirements. Minimum requirements for Office 365 include Office 2007+, IE8+, and Windows 7. Office 2003 users must use Outlook Web App or upgrade to the current version of Microsoft Office. Customers with T-1 or lower Internet connections should increase bandwidth.
Management should have already reviewed:
For Exchange:
You may be required to purchase an SSL certificate for migration.
If you're using Exchange 2003, you'll need to find the CD or download an image as it is required to uninstall Exchange 2003.
Exmerge and remove any old employee mailboxes.
Delete any unused public folders and note permissions of the remaining as they must be exported to PST and imported into resource or user mailboxes.
You may want to exmerge all mailboxes either before migration or before Exchange server decommission. The migration is typically very good, but you may have some instances where users are missing mail most often from large attachments > 25Mb.
Identify a server to be a local SMTP relay server for copiers or applications that send e-mail and record the IP addresses of each.
For SharePoint
For desktops - updates.
for staff - demo and announcement
Prior to the transition, you will begin to get e-mails with instructions to prepare. Verify the listed administrator e-mail addresses are monitored. The most important consideration is desktops must have Office 2007 (including the latest service packs and updates) or greater as previous versions are not compatible.
Next Microsoft will send an e-mail to propose a date range for transition. If the administrator does not respond, Microsoft will select a date. A customer can request a later date, but a transition date before June 2012 is recommended.
Before transition, administrators should ensure online passwords are at least 8 characters or have users change passwords. Administrators should also save these Office 365 Downloads. The Single Sign-On applications is replaced by an Office add-in and Lync replaces both Communicator and Live Meeting. The Office add-in and any updates may be installed before transition, but it is recommended to install Lync after the transition. Although not required, it is recommended to add a CNAME to external DNS of autodiscover.yourdomain.com that points to autodiscover.outlook.com. In addition, administrators must advise users of new Office 365 Important URLs.
Microsoft e-mail notice to administrators about transition will generally arrive on a Thursday, but transition does not start until late Friday or early Saturday. During transition, SharePoint sites are read-only, Outlook will continue to function, and mail flow will be uninterrupted.
After transition, Administrators should add the DNS records for Lync and change the MX record as specified in the Admin/Domain section of portal.microsoftonline.com. Users should re-open Outlook if left open and Outlook settings will automatically be redirected preserving existing profiles. Smartphone server addresses should be updated to m.outlook.com. Next for users using Communicator, Lync should be installed which will automatically uninstall Communicator and retain previous settings. Going forward, the first time a user opens Outlook they will be prompted to authenticate, but will not be prompted subsequently for Lync or SharePoint. There is also a save password option.
Prior to the transition, you will begin to get e-mails with instructions to prepare. Verify the listed administrator e-mail addresses are monitored. The most important consideration is desktops must have Office 2007 (including the latest service packs and updates) or greater as previous versions are not compatible.
Next Microsoft will send an e-mail to propose a date range for transition. If the administrator does not respond, Microsoft will select a date. A customer can request a later date, but a transition date before June 2012 is recommended.
Before transition, administrators should ensure online passwords are at least 8 characters or have users change passwords. Administrators should also save these Office 365 Downloads. The Single Sign-On applications is replaced by an Office add-in and Lync replaces both Communicator and Live Meeting. The Office add-in and any updates may be installed before transition, but it is recommended to install Lync after the transition. Although not required, it is recommended to add a CNAME to external DNS of autodiscover.yourdomain.com that points to autodiscover.outlook.com. In addition, administrators must advise users of new Office 365 Important URLs.
Microsoft e-mail notice to administrators about transition will generally arrive on a Thursday, but transition does not start until late Friday or early Saturday. During transition, SharePoint sites are read-only, Outlook will continue to function, and mail flow will be uninterrupted.
After transition, Administrators should add the DNS records for Lync and change the MX record as specified in the Admin/Domain section of portal.microsoftonline.com. Users should re-open Outlook if left open and Outlook settings will automatically be redirected preserving existing profiles. Smartphone server addresses should be updated to m.outlook.com. Next for users using Communicator, Lync should be installed which will automatically uninstall Communicator and retain previous settings. Going forward, the first time a user opens Outlook they will be prompted to authenticate, but will not be prompted subsequently for Lync or SharePoint. There is also a save password option.
Prior to the transition, you will begin to get e-mails with instructions to prepare. Verify the listed administrator e-mail addresses are monitored. The most important consideration is desktops must have Office 2007 (including the latest service packs and updates) or greater as previous versions are not compatible.
Next Microsoft will send an e-mail to propose a date range for transition. If the administrator does not respond, Microsoft will select a date. A customer can request a later date, but a transition date before June 2012 is recommended.
Before transition, administrators should ensure online passwords are at least 8 characters or have users change passwords. Administrators should also save these Office 365 Downloads. The Single Sign-On applications is replaced by an Office add-in and Lync replaces both Communicator and Live Meeting. The Office add-in and any updates may be installed before transition, but it is recommended to install Lync after the transition. Although not required, it is recommended to add a CNAME to external DNS of autodiscover.yourdomain.com that points to autodiscover.outlook.com. In addition, administrators must advise users of new Office 365 Important URLs.
Microsoft e-mail notice to administrators about transition will generally arrive on a Thursday, but transition does not start until late Friday or early Saturday. During transition, SharePoint sites are read-only, Outlook will continue to function, and mail flow will be uninterrupted.
After transition, Administrators should add the DNS records for Lync and change the MX record as specified in the Admin/Domain section of portal.microsoftonline.com. Users should re-open Outlook if left open and Outlook settings will automatically be redirected preserving existing profiles. Smartphone server addresses should be updated to m.outlook.com. Next for users using Communicator, Lync should be installed which will automatically uninstall Communicator and retain previous settings. Going forward, the first time a user opens Outlook they will be prompted to authenticate, but will not be prompted subsequently for Lync or SharePoint. There is also a save password option.
Prior to the transition, you will begin to get e-mails with instructions to prepare. Verify the listed administrator e-mail addresses are monitored. The most important consideration is desktops must have Office 2007 (including the latest service packs and updates) or greater as previous versions are not compatible.
Next Microsoft will send an e-mail to propose a date range for transition. If the administrator does not respond, Microsoft will select a date. A customer can request a later date, but a transition date before June 2012 is recommended.
Before transition, administrators should ensure online passwords are at least 8 characters or have users change passwords. Administrators should also save these Office 365 Downloads. The Single Sign-On applications is replaced by an Office add-in and Lync replaces both Communicator and Live Meeting. The Office add-in and any updates may be installed before transition, but it is recommended to install Lync after the transition. Although not required, it is recommended to add a CNAME to external DNS of autodiscover.yourdomain.com that points to autodiscover.outlook.com. In addition, administrators must advise users of new Office 365 Important URLs.
Microsoft e-mail notice to administrators about transition will generally arrive on a Thursday, but transition does not start until late Friday or early Saturday. During transition, SharePoint sites are read-only, Outlook will continue to function, and mail flow will be uninterrupted.
After transition, Administrators should add the DNS records for Lync and change the MX record as specified in the Admin/Domain section of portal.microsoftonline.com. Users should re-open Outlook if left open and Outlook settings will automatically be redirected preserving existing profiles. Smartphone server addresses should be updated to m.outlook.com. Next for users using Communicator, Lync should be installed which will automatically uninstall Communicator and retain previous settings. Going forward, the first time a user opens Outlook they will be prompted to authenticate, but will not be prompted subsequently for Lync or SharePoint. There is also a save password option.
Prior to the transition, you will begin to get e-mails with instructions to prepare. Verify the listed administrator e-mail addresses are monitored. The most important consideration is desktops must have Office 2007 (including the latest service packs and updates) or greater as previous versions are not compatible.
Next Microsoft will send an e-mail to propose a date range for transition. If the administrator does not respond, Microsoft will select a date. A customer can request a later date, but a transition date before June 2012 is recommended.
Before transition, administrators should ensure online passwords are at least 8 characters or have users change passwords. Administrators should also save these Office 365 Downloads. The Single Sign-On applications is replaced by an Office add-in and Lync replaces both Communicator and Live Meeting. The Office add-in and any updates may be installed before transition, but it is recommended to install Lync after the transition. Although not required, it is recommended to add a CNAME to external DNS of autodiscover.yourdomain.com that points to autodiscover.outlook.com. In addition, administrators must advise users of new Office 365 Important URLs.
Microsoft e-mail notice to administrators about transition will generally arrive on a Thursday, but transition does not start until late Friday or early Saturday. During transition, SharePoint sites are read-only, Outlook will continue to function, and mail flow will be uninterrupted.
After transition, Administrators should add the DNS records for Lync and change the MX record as specified in the Admin/Domain section of portal.microsoftonline.com. Users should re-open Outlook if left open and Outlook settings will automatically be redirected preserving existing profiles. Smartphone server addresses should be updated to m.outlook.com. Next for users using Communicator, Lync should be installed which will automatically uninstall Communicator and retain previous settings. Going forward, the first time a user opens Outlook they will be prompted to authenticate, but will not be prompted subsequently for Lync or SharePoint. There is also a save password option.
Prior to the transition, you will begin to get e-mails with instructions to prepare. Verify the listed administrator e-mail addresses are monitored. The most important consideration is desktops must have Office 2007 (including the latest service packs and updates) or greater as previous versions are not compatible.
Next Microsoft will send an e-mail to propose a date range for transition. If the administrator does not respond, Microsoft will select a date. A customer can request a later date, but a transition date before June 2012 is recommended.
Before transition, administrators should ensure online passwords are at least 8 characters or have users change passwords. Administrators should also save these Office 365 Downloads. The Single Sign-On applications is replaced by an Office add-in and Lync replaces both Communicator and Live Meeting. The Office add-in and any updates may be installed before transition, but it is recommended to install Lync after the transition. Although not required, it is recommended to add a CNAME to external DNS of autodiscover.yourdomain.com that points to autodiscover.outlook.com. In addition, administrators must advise users of new Office 365 Important URLs.
Microsoft e-mail notice to administrators about transition will generally arrive on a Thursday, but transition does not start until late Friday or early Saturday. During transition, SharePoint sites are read-only, Outlook will continue to function, and mail flow will be uninterrupted.
After transition, Administrators should add the DNS records for Lync and change the MX record as specified in the Admin/Domain section of portal.microsoftonline.com. Users should re-open Outlook if left open and Outlook settings will automatically be redirected preserving existing profiles. Smartphone server addresses should be updated to m.outlook.com. Next for users using Communicator, Lync should be installed which will automatically uninstall Communicator and retain previous settings. Going forward, the first time a user opens Outlook they will be prompted to authenticate, but will not be prompted subsequently for Lync or SharePoint. There is also a save password option.
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