How the Rackspace Outage Is Moving Users to Microsoft 365

The recent Rackspace outage has left hundreds of thousands of customers without access to their emails. Although the ransomware attack appears to only affect hosted Microsoft Exchange accounts, this globally managed cloud service giant recommends that its customers temporarily migrate to Microsoft 365. While some users may view this migration as a short-term solution, a permanent move to Microsoft 365 could serve as an overall advantage for current Rackspace users.

The Negative Effects of a Rackspace Outage 

Rackspace proactively shut down its Hosted Exchange environment to investigate the root cause of its service issues. Considering their wide customer base, this outage has considerable negative impacts.

Limited Access to Emails 

Although Rackspace emails are currently unaffected, the ransomware attack may impact hybrid accounts that use both Rackspace and Microsoft Exchange. Prior to Microsoft 365 migration, users will not have access to their emails.

Profit Loss for Business Owners 

Lack of email access can create a serious financial burden on business accounts that rely on email for communication with clients. If a user needs to access older emails to satisfy a client project, this Rackspace outage can potentially cause client dissatisfaction for Rackspace users.

Slow Migration Process for Rackspace Users 

Because Rackspace is the world's largest managed cloud service provider, hundreds of thousands of clients will be attempting to migrate their hosted Exchange to Microsoft 365. This funneled response will naturally cause the migration process to be slow as cloud service specialists become overburdened with clients.

Future Security Concerns for Current Clients 

While Rackspace has not yet disclosed the cause of the ransomware attack, there have been many concerns regarding the company's security. Many customers worry that there are further vulnerabilities that could still be uncovered.

The Advantages of Migrating to Microsoft 365 

Migrating to Microsoft 365 is beneficial to cloud platform users despite a Rackspace outage. The three major perks include:

• Cheaper service: The subscription prices for Microsoft 365 are relatively inexpensive compared to Rackspace service charges. 
• Direct cloud platform: Rather than relying on a hosted environment, Microsoft 365 utilizes its own cloud platform. 
• A broad suite of applications and services: A subscription to Microsoft 365 not only offers access to Outlook email but also access to Office applications, such as Word, Powerpoint, and Excel, and even OneDrive storage space and free Skype minutes.

Premigration Preparation During the Rackspace Outage

Before you make the move, there are several important steps that you must take for an effective migration.

1. Take Stock of Your Current Cloud Usage

Catalog all user accounts, the size and number of email mailboxes, network settings, file storage, necessary intranet websites, client configurations and integrations, and essential messaging services.

2. Clean Data for Migration

Update your current software and delete any duplicate files. Determine if your enterprise requires additional security and finalize archival management.

3. Create a Deployment Plan 

Formulate a plan to streamline your user connectivity during migration. This plan should include a method for synchronizing user accounts and deactivating redundant applications and a resolution for any short-term or long-term integration issues.

4. Educate Users on Changes

Prepare your enterprise with training materials and information regarding essential changes for post-migration.

Different Ways of Migrating to Microsoft 365

There are several means of performing this move.

• Assisted Migration: This type of migration involves a cloud service provider or partner that will be in charge of the ongoing maintenance of Microsoft 365. 
• Third-Party: An external cloud service consultant performs the entire migration from start to finish and can also oversee maintenance post-migration.
• Self-Service: Your enterprise performs the entire move in one operation. 

Depending on how large your enterprise is and the number of customized integrations your business uses with Rackspace, a Microsoft 365 migration can become an extremely intricate process. If you have years of data to migrate, this Rackspace outage is a huge burden.

The Importance of Partnering With a Migration Specialist

While the migration process may seem straightforward at first, the move can uncover vulnerabilities and issues if you do not execute it properly. If your enterprise is a Fortune 100 company that has reconfigured your Rackspace account with numerous integrations and holds hundreds of user accounts, migration to Microsoft 365 is no simple task.

Partnering with a migration specialist is essential, especially since there are thousands of Rackspace users that will be migrating as well. Moreover, opting for a specialist that is hyper-familiar with Microsoft 365, in particular, is also important because this will allow for a more streamlined migration process.

Our Technology Will Help You Overcome the Rackspace Outage 

At Cloudficient, we specialize in migrating emails from on-premise Microsoft Exchange to Microsoft 365.  We have developed numerous software applications specifically for migrating to the Microsoft Cloud, including:

• Onboarding 365 Complete: This application enables enterprise organizations to streamline the onboarding of large user populations to meet strict deadlines. 
• PSTComplete: This application allows businesses to reduce their risk by transferring PST data directly into Microsoft 365. 
• EVComplete: This application allows an enterprise to legacy archive data from Enterprise Vault to Office 365 (there are versions of this product that support other source archiving systems)
• Backup 365 Complete: With unlimited storage options, this application provides critical data protection within Office 365. 

With over 100 years of collective experience, our team is passionate about what we do. If the Rackspace outage has caused significant problems for your organization, or you simply want to migrate your legacy files, we can help. Contact our team for a solution that works for your business.

With unmatched next generation migration technology, Cloudficient is revolutionizing the way businesses retire legacy systems and transform their organization into the cloud. Our business constantly remains focused on client needs and creating product offerings that match them. We provide affordable services that are scalable, fast and seamless.

If you would like to learn more about how to bring Cloudficiency to your migration project, visit our website, or contact us.