Plenty of small businesses start out on a Gmail or Hotmail address, or a mix of personal accounts. It works until you hire staff, someone leaves, or a customer wonders why your invoices come from a free email address. Moving to Microsoft 365 fixes that. Here's what's involved.
1. Pick the right licence
Microsoft 365 comes in a few business plans. Broadly, the basic plan covers email, Teams and online file storage with web and mobile apps. The standard plan adds the desktop apps like Word, Excel and Outlook. The premium plan adds the security and device management tools that let you control company computers centrally. You can mix plans, giving premium licences only to the people who need them.
2. Use your own domain
Your email should be you@yourbusiness.com.au, not a free address. Your domain is verified in Microsoft 365 and a few DNS records are updated so email flows to the right place. Done carefully, mail keeps arriving throughout the change.
3. Bring your old email across
Old emails, contacts and calendars can be copied from Gmail or Google Workspace into each new mailbox, so nobody loses their history. Large mailboxes take time, so copying usually starts a few days before the switch.
4. Set up files and Teams
Shared folders move into SharePoint and each person's own files into OneDrive. Teams takes over internal chat and calls.
5. Link company computers
This is the step that makes the biggest difference. Company Windows computers can be joined to your Microsoft 365, so staff sign in with their work email and password. Security settings and updates are applied from one place, and when someone leaves you disable one account and they're locked out of their computer, email and files at once.
You'll need Windows 10 or 11 Pro or above. Windows Home can't be joined, though it can often be upgraded.
6. Switch on two-step sign-in
Turn on multi-factor authentication for every account. It's one of the most effective protections against stolen passwords and email scams.
How long does it take?
For a business with a handful of people, planning and set-up usually takes a few days, with the actual switch done after hours so there's little or no downtime. We handle the whole move, including joining your computers.