Still using IMAP for email? Email keeps your business moving - but not all email systems are built for growth. One Gold Coast engineering firm learned this the hard way. Their IMAP-based email worked fine when they were a one-person operation. But as the team grew to six, the cracks started to show. IMAP was okay for basic email and that was about it. They needed something secure, integrated, and future-ready. That’s where Microsoft 365 came in.

IMAP might sound fine on paper, but in reality, it’s incredibly restrictive for modern businesses. Here’s why:

• No calendars or contacts - IMAP only handles email.Scheduling meetings? Forget it.
• Zero integration - Connecting IMAP to other apps or tools? Not happening.
• Security gaps - No MFA, no conditional access, no compliance features.
• Server dependency - Everything sat on the web server, which meant storage limits and downtime risks.

On top of that, the firm had been sharing a personal Microsoft 365 subscription among staff—a quick fix that caused licensing headaches, sync issues, and no centralised control.

Our Solution

The fix? A full migration to Microsoft 365 Business. We moved their IMAP emails into a new Microsoft 365 tenancy, set up SharePoint libraries for file storage, and replaced the old personal subscription with proper business licences.

Preparation

Every migration project is unique, and this one was no exception. Here’s how we handled the transition:

Initial Consultation and Planning

We began with a consultation to understand the business requirements, particularly their frustrations with IMAP so that we could ensure their business needs were met.  

From here we developed a detailed migration plan to ensure a seamless transition, including timelines, mailbox prioritisation, and integration needs.

During the planning stage we identified all user accounts tied to their IMAP accounts, this one was actually a little bit of a challenge as they weren't exactly sure how to access their existing settings for email or DNS records. We helped guide them through identifying their website and domain host who they then contacted for access to the administrative functions we needed to do the migration. 

Audit and Preparation

A comprehensive audit of their existing accounts was critical. This allowed us to identify potential migration risks — such as any large mailbox sizes and legacy permissions that could impact data access. We were able to identify some older mailboxes that were no longer in use but that still needed the data to be retained. We made plans to include those in the migration and then turn them into shared mailboxes once they were in the Microsoft environment to retain the data, without needing an ongoing mailbox license.

The Process

Data Migration

Two weeks before the cutover, we moved 90% of their historical email data to Microsoft 365, this allowed us to verify the data before the final cutover and leaving only the final 10% (being the most recent emails) to migrate when we cut over to the new system.

As the migration took place over a weekend it allowed us time to preconfigure all their computers to sync with OneDrive and setup new Outlook profiles ensuring that come Monday morning, everything was running smoothly without disruption to their team or clients.

Setup and Training

Once the migration was completed, we configured their Microsoft 365 tenancy to suit their business needs.

Key tasks included:

• Assigning appropriate licenses across users, in this case they went with Microsoft 365 Business Premium licenses for added security and Planner & Project licensing for the Project Manager.
  
• Implementing multi-factor authentication (MFA) and enforcing geolocation restrictions, limiting access to Australian-based logins only.
• Setting up Outlook and OneDrive on mobile devices for access on the go. 

The Result

The difference was night and day:

• Reliable, secure email backed by Microsoft’s SLA.
• Individual OneDrive accounts for personal storage.
• A SharePoint site for centralised file sharing.
• Calendars and contacts synced across all devices.
• A platform ready for growth.

Are you ready to make the move from IMAP for your emails?

Still stuck on IMAP? You’re not alone—but there’s a better way. Let us handle the heavy lifting and get your business running on Microsoft 365. Call us on 1300 778 078 today.

Talk to us today about migrating to a full Microsoft 365 Business tenancy, give us a call at 1300 778 078.