On January 14, 2020, Exchange Server 2010 will reach end of support. If you haven’t already begun your migration from Exchange 2010 to Office 365 now’s the time to start your planning.
When Exchange 2010 reaches its end of support on January 14, 2020, Microsoft will no longer provide:
- Technical support for problems that may occur
- Bug fixes for issues that are discovered and that may impact the stability and usability of the server
- Security fixes for vulnerabilities that are discovered and that may make the server vulnerable to security breaches
- Compliance issues with GDPR
Migrating your email to Office 365 is your best and simplest option to help you retire your Exchange 2010 deployment. With a migration to Office 365, you can make a single hop from old technology to CT’s latest offering. Office 365 receives new features and experiences first and you and your users can usually start using them right away. Upgrading to a new version of Exchange – you’re always on the latest version of Exchange in Office 365.
Depending on your organisation, you have a few options that will help you get to Office 365. When choosing a migration option, you need to consider a few things such as, the number of mailboxes you need to move, how long you want the migration to last, and whether you need a seamless integration between your on-premises installation and Office 365 during the migration.
Here are some common questions we encounter on Hosted Exchange:
Hosted Exchange to Exchange Online
Q – When does this service go end of life?
A – As CT’s Hosted Exchange service is built on Exchange 2010 we have aligned the end of service date with Exchange 2010 to ensure the services we provide always include the latest security updates and support where required. CT will cease our Hosted Exchange service on the 31/12/2019. We will be working with all customers on the HEX service to move them to Exchange Online before this date.
Q – Why is CT not just upgrading the Hosted Exchange platform to a newer version of Exchange?
A – As Microsoft adopt a “cloud first” strategy and focus significant research and development into the Office 365 services it makes sense for CT and our customers to be aligned with this strategy. This will ensure they receive the benefits of the improvements made to the O365 services beyond the traditional on-premises services.
Q – I like working with CT for support issues, do I now have to try and get hold of someone at Microsoft if I have a problem with the service?
A – In all cases where CT provides the Exchange Online licenses (or other Office 365 services) we will also provide the support for any user issues relating to the services. This will ensure we maintain the user experience.
Q – What other advantages can I expect from moving to Office 365?
A –Microsoft has put considerable effort into Office 365 tools that improves the security of mailboxes, for example enforcing two factor authentication when accessing mailboxes from non-trusted devices. Office 365 includes many other services such as Office products, Teams and Sharepoint. By migrating mailboxes to Exchange Online you can take advantage of these services being tightly integrated.
Q – Is backup included with Exchange Online like it was with Hosted Exchange?
A – No, a separate service called Veeam for MS Office 365 is required to backup the data in Exchange Online.
Q – Is much work involved to upgrade?
A – No, Microsoft provide tools to make the migration to Exchange Online as simple as possible – some downtime at a pre-arranged time will be required.