A Comprehensive Microsoft 365 Tenant Migration during Divestiture

The Challenges

As the organization transitioned to an independent IT environment, it encountered a range of strategic and technical challenges that required careful planning and execution.

These challenges spanned infrastructure, security, collaboration, and data migration domains:

• Tenant Separation Complexity: Disentangling from the legacy Microsoft 365 tenant required a full rebuild of identity, access, and collaboration services.
• Legacy Application Rebuilds: Business-critical Power Platform solutions, including the MWR system, had to be redesigned and redeployed in the new environment.
• Endpoint Diversity: A wide variety of user devices needed to be securely migrated and reconfigured without disrupting productivity.
• Voice System Transition: Migrating users and conference rooms to Microsoft Teams Voice involved reassigning phone numbers and configuring telephony infrastructure.
• Security and Compliance Readiness: Establishing a Security Operations Center (SOC) and deploying Microsoft security tools was essential to meet compliance and operational standards.
• Large-Scale SharePoint Migration: Migrating extensive SharePoint content—including structured data, metadata, and permissions required precision and governance to ensure continuity.

Solution

Netwoven adopted a multi-phase strategy across the following workstreams, with clearly defined migration outcomes:

1. Azure Infrastructure & VM Migration

• Built Azure Landing Zones using Microsoft’s Cloud Adoption Framework.
• Migrated 12 virtual machines from the legacy tenant to Azure.
• Configured VPN gateways, Bastion hosts, RBAC roles, and health monitoring.

2. Cybersecurity Implementation

• Enabled Microsoft Sentinel, Defender XDR, and Purview.
• Established SOC with EDR, MFA, and incident response playbooks.

3. M365 Tier 2+3 Support

• Provided ongoing support for Exchange, Teams, Intune, and Azure AD.
• Supported hundreds of users across US and EMEA time zones.

4. Active Directory Migration

• Created a new AD Forest in Azure.
• Migrated all users, groups, and devices to Azure Entra.
• Delivered mapping lists and post-migration support.

5. Endpoint Migration

• Migrated approximately 1,000 workstations using Intune and Autopilot.
• Configured Defender for Endpoint and Conditional Access policies.

6. Power Platform Discovery & Assessment

• Inventoried ~20 legacy solutions and conducted workshops.
• Delivered migration strategy and enhancement documentation.

7. Power Platform Assessment to Implementation Bridge

• Finalized architecture and governance.
• Delivered strategy documents and rebuilt MWR features.

8. Power Platform Migration

• Rebuilt the MWR solution and migrated 168 components across 12 waves.
• Included PowerApps, Power Automate flows, Power BI reports, and SharePoint dependencies.

9. Hosting and AD Bridge Support

• Provided interim support for Azure and AD until MSP onboarding.

10. Teams Voice and Conference Rooms Migration

• Migrated 850 users and 15 conference rooms to Microsoft Teams.
• Configured SBCs, SIP gateways, and reassigned DIDs.

11. SharePoint Online Migration

• Migrated ~16TB of content across 300 site collections using ShareGate.
• Executed pilot, bulk, and delta migrations with validation and remediation.

Migration Process Highlights

The migration was executed using a structured, wave-based approach:

• Wave Planning: Each wave prioritized business-critical components and aligned with stakeholder readiness.
• Component Inventory: Power Platform components were inventoried, reconciled, and grouped into solutions.
• SharePoint Mapping: Site URLs, lists, libraries, and metadata were mapped and validated.
• Delta Migration Strategy: Delta copies ensured no data loss between initial migration and go-live.
• User Acceptance Testing (UAT): Each wave included UAT and break/fix support before production deployment.
• Governance Enablement: Power Platform environments, permissions, and workspaces were defined and implemented.
• Communication & KT: Migration updates were shared via email templates, office hours, and KT sessions.

Benefits

• Tenant Independence: Full decoupling from the legacy Microsoft 365 environment.
• Security Hardening: SOC implementation with Microsoft Sentinel and Defender.
• Modern Collaboration: Teams Voice rollout enhanced communication across global sites.
• Governance & Compliance: Purview and Govern365 integration for data protection.
• Operational Efficiency: Streamlined endpoint management and AD infrastructure.
• Scalability: Azure Landing Zones and Power Platform governance enable future growth.
• User Empowerment: Training, documentation, and support enabled smooth adoption.
• Content Continuity: SharePoint migration preserved structure and metadata across hundreds of sites.