End-User Communication
Transitioning to a new email environment is a big change to end-users and can cause disruption if best practices are not properly communicated to them.
A few days prior to cutover, communicate the timing of the cutover to users. And then the day of the cutover, send another reminder to ensure end-users are aware of the following:
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Date and time of the cutover
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Recommended, but not mandatory – stay off email (in the source) for at least 1 hour before the cutover and don’t log into the new platform for at least 2 hours after the cutover.
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How to access their new mailbox:
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How to log-in on the web
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Log-in credentials
We recommend logging in via the web initially rather than using the desktop Outlook client (which can take time to sync and thus makes it appear as if mail is missing, but in reality it just hasn’t synced yet).
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Users should be made aware that the migration may take hours or even several days to complete, depending on how much data they have. That means they may not see all of their old email, calendar events, etc. when they first log in to the new email system. Communicate to users when the migration has completed.
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If using Outlook, communicate how to update the Outlook profile.
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How to update mobile devices.
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Differences between the old and new platform.