If you are a mid to large sized company and contemplating an Office 365 deployment or enhancing your existing Office 365 services, I cannot stress how important it is that you know of & take advantage a free service from Microsoft called Microsoft FastTrack (https://fasttrack.microsoft.com). 

With the help of Microsoft FastTrack, you can accelerate your timelines for deploying Office 365 from months to weeks and ensure a smooth transition to the Microsoft cloud in the process.

Some of the benefits of Microsoft FastTrack include:

  • Having dedicated Microsoft FastTrack engineers and a Microsoft FastTrack manager available to be working closely with both your internal teams and any Microsoft partners who may be assisting you on your deployment
  • Have access to best practices, tools, remote assistance, and planning templates / resources customized towards adopting and deploying your Office 365 service
  • Resources and tools to identify and overcome any technical hurdles and obstacles in your deployment
  • Walking through all aspects of your rollout at the forefront of your deployment such as estimating bandwidth requirements and examining your Internet browsers, client operating systems, Domain Name System (DNS), network, infrastructure, etc.
  • Identity any changes needed as a pre-requisite before onboarding
  • Can include assisting you in configuring firewall ports, setting up DNS, configuring Autodiscover, Sender Policy Framework (SPF), and mail exchange (MX) records
  • Having the FastTrack team in conjunction with your Microsoft partner perform setup, configuration, provisioning of services such as Exchange Online, SharePoint Online, Skype for Business Online, Office 365 ProPlus, Yammer, Project and more…
  • Assistance in migrating data from on-premises servers and other cloud-based services to Office 365, some services you can have help migrating from include: local Exchange servers, IBM Domino environments, Google Apps for Work, Novell GroupWise, IMAP-capable email servers. Box, Dropbox, and SharePoint ( Note: 150+ licenses needed on an eligible plan for this service)
  • Support with building remediation plans that will bring your environment up to the minimum requirements for an Office 365 deployment

Eligible plans for FastTrack services include 50 or more users of one or more of the following subscriptions (Note: please visit the FastTrack web site for the most up-to-date eligibility):

MICROSOFT OFFICE 365

  • Office 365 Business
  • Office 365 Business Essentials
  • Office 365 Business Premium
  • Office 365 Education E5
  • Office 365 Enterprise E1
  • Office 365 Enterprise E3
  • Office 365 Enterprise E4
  • Office 365 Enterprise E5
  • Office 365 Enterprise K1
  • Office 365 Government E1
  • Office 365 Government E3
  • Office 365 Government E4
  • Office 365 Government K1
  • Office 365 Nonprofit Business Essentials
  • Office 365 Nonprofit Business Premium
  • Office 365 Nonprofit E1
  • Office 365 Nonprofit E3
  • Office 365 ProPlus

MICROSOFT EXCHANGE ONLINE

  • Exchange Online Plan 1
  • Exchange Online Plan 2
  • Exchange Online Kiosk
  • Exchange Online Advanced Threat Protection

MICROSOFT POWER BI

  • Power BI Standard
  • Power BI Pro

MICROSOFT PROJECT ONLINE

  • Project Online with Project for Office 365
  • Project Online Essentials
  • Project Online Professional
  • Project Online Premium

MICROSOFT SHAREPOINT ONLINE

  • SharePoint Online Plan 1
  • SharePoint Online Plan 2

MICROSOFT YAMMER

  • Yammer Enterprise (standalone)

MICROSOFT ONEDRIVE FOR BUSINESS

  • OneDrive for Business with Office Online

MICROSOFT SKYPE FOR BUSINESS ONLINE

  • Skype for Business Cloud PBX
  • Skype for Business PSTN Calling
  • Skype for Business PSTN Conferencing
  • Skype for Business Online Standalone Plan 1
  • Skype for Business Online Standalone Plan 2

OTHER PLANS

  • Enterprise Mobility + Security
  • Enterprise Mobility + Security (as part of the Secure Productive Enterprise)
  • Microsoft Azure AD Premium
  • Microsoft Intune

For more information, please visit the Microsoft FastTrack web site at https://fasttrack.microsoft.com.

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