5 Things You Need to Know Before Upgrading from On-Premise LYNC to Skype for Business

Are you confused and maybe even overwhelmed by the migration process from LYNC to Skype for Business?

There are a lot of moving parts to a software migration. Auditing, planning, strategizing, executing, and maintaining can take hundreds or thousands of hours. Executives, CIOs, managers, and other decision-makers often wonder:

• Will the new solution be better and worth the hassle of migration?
• Will our organization even use the new solution long enough to merit all this work? Or will we replace it within a year?
• Will this affect our bottom line in a positive way?

We understand these frustrations. In fact, we have the same reactions when planning migrations for our internal software.

Being wary or hesitant of another software migration project isn’t just normal – it’s actually good. The real problems come when companies decide they want to move from one solution to another but don’t do their due diligence. There are 5 things you need to consider before the migration if you want to avoid trouble.

1. LYNC Has a Reputation for Being Complex and Unique

LYNC’s limitations make it unsuitable for the needs of the modern workplace. In a world where 37% of workers have telecommuted, video conferencing capabilities, voice support, and real-time collaboration integrations are more important than LYNC can deliver.

It is more expensive, and its narrow features reduces customer choice. It has network issues, such as when connecting to ethernet or WiFi. Some users have even seen strange issues where a clipboard is shared across multiple computers, making simple tasks confusing.

But perhaps the biggest challenge with LYNC is version control, especially in mixed environments. If one version, such as LYNC Server 2013, needs to be patched for a security update, users running LYNC Server 2010 or other versions will no longer be able to access certain features. This means more work for IT.

2. All LYNC Functionality Migrates to Skype for Business, and You Even Get Additional Functionality

Core LYNC functionality – such as phone systems and video chat – is included in Skype for Business. However, Skype for Business is more than just new packaging for LYNC’s features. It also includes new functionality based in Skype, such as call forwarding, video conferencing, and team phone numbers.

Migrating won’t cause your business to lose functionality. Your workflows may need to be adjusted, but overall productivity should increase.

3. Moving from On-Premises to the Cloud Services is Cost Effective

Moving your private branch exchange (PBX) off-premise means there’s no longer a need to spend money maintaining half a dozen servers on-site. You’ll also gain geo-redundancy, allowing your workers to access key services even if one server experiences an outage.

With SFB, Microsoft handles security and version updates, freeing your business to stop worrying about unpatched vulnerabilities. Combine this with SFB’s remarkably low pricing, a migration becomes a no-brainer.

4. Upgrading LYNC On-Premise to Skype for Business is Simple Compared to Other Migrations

For LYNC, migrating users from on-premises to online is straightforward. With just a few PowerShell commands, external DNS zone value changes, and modifications to internal DNS SIP domain zones, your users can log into SFB instead of LYNC.

5. A Successful Migration Starts with Planning and Strategy

Migration is more than just changing the software your business uses to communicate. Moving from LYNC On-Premise to Skype for Business also represents a shift in how work happens in your organization.

This requires developing a careful strategy before you even begin to migrate. You need to audit and ensure your business does not rely on any on-premises features of Skype for Business or LYNC. You also need to plan for disruption.

Therefore, our guidance begins with assessment & planning – we want to make sure our clients don’t just have working software; we ensure the software works for their needs.

Conclusion

If the benefits are so obvious, why doesn’t everyone migrate? People aren’t aware of the robust capabilities of Skype for Business. To save money, enhance productivity, and gain additional useful features for your organization, you should consider upgrading from LYNC to Skype for Business. Contact us today to receive personalized guidance on how to migrate your on-premise LYNC infrastructure to Skype for Business.