iiNet Hosted Exchange closure paves way for migration to Microsoft 365

iiNet is bowing out of Microsoft Exchange hosting services, with the final date for operation being 30 April 2023.  MobileCorp is assisting former iiNET and Westnet customers to migrate to Microsoft 365.

Why is iiNet closing its hosted email services?

From 30 April 2023, the iiNet Hosted Exchange email service will no longer be operational. Customers will no longer be able to access or retrieve any email data or use the Hosted Exchange Email Service in any way.

The decision - and how the company has gone about communicating it - has angered many former customers. An email sent out in early March announcing the shutdown caught most everyone by surprise. Specifically, customer complaints include the short timeframe to migrate at around 7-8 weeks,  the lack of a staggered shutdown, and lengthy waits for phone or web support. 

iiNet has not been overly forthcoming about why it decided to shut down its email hosting service.  An early notification on its website referred to "changing market conditions" and the desire to "focus on other areas of the business." However, even that sparse explanation is now missing.

It has not gone unnoticed that in December 2022, TPG - owners of iiNet - revealed a cyber breach with the emails of 15,000 iiNet and Westnet customers exposed in a hack. 

It seems the combination of security risk, high maintenance costs, and low profitability, means the Return on Investment is no longer there.

What are your alternate hosted email vendor options ? 

For many customers, the most straightforward choice will be to migrate their Exchange email service to Microsoft 365. 

The alternatives are somewhat sparse, but for those who have smaller non-sensitive email accounts, have good IT expertise inhouse, and are very price conscious, shopping around the internet will turn up some local, smaller, independent hosting service providers. This Whirlpool Forum outlines some of the vendors found by current iiNet customers.

Why to consider migrating to Microsoft 365?

There are some key benefits with migrating to M365 to host your email services. These include:

• Integrated Unified Communications: Microsoft 365 offers a suite of integrated applications beyond just email, such as Microsoft Teams, SharePoint, OneDrive, and more. These tools can improve collaboration, productivity, and efficiency within your organisation - and MobileCorp can show you how to take full advantage.

• Improved Security: Microsoft 365 has advanced security features, such as Multi-Factor Authentication, Data Loss Prevention, and Advanced Threat Protection, which can protect your data and minimise cyber threats.
• Automatic software updates: With Microsoft 365, you don't have to worry about upgrading software or maintaining servers because Microsoft handles all of that for you. 
• Scalability: Microsoft 365 can easily scale to meet the changing needs of your organisation. Whether you need to add or remove users, or change storage capacity, you can do so easily and quickly - or MobileCorp can manage this for you with our ongoing M365 Managed Service.
• Cost savings: Microsoft 365 can be more cost-effective than hosted Exchange, especially when you consider the additional features and benefits it provides.

How can MobileCorp help you to migrate from iiNet?

Migrating to M365 is a project requiring both IT resource and knowledge to ensure data security and business continuity.

MobileCorp is offering a Managed Migration from iiNet hosting to Microsoft 365.

MobileCorp will take responsibility for the end-to-end migration including your Microsoft licensing, all aspects of the operational workload, security of your data, testing, and end user support.  

We also have the capabilities to provide more complex migrations including Active Directory and can introduce the full  benefits of the Microsoft licensing stack including Teams and Sharepoint/OneDrive.

What does a migration to Microsoft 365 cost?

There are two main costs to a simple migration to M365 - the M365 licence, and the Migration Service fee charged by the IT MSP.

If you do not already have an M365 business licence this will cost between A$8.20 per user per month for M365 Business Basic to A$30.20 per user per month for Business Premium. 

For SMBs our migration service is priced either per mailbox starting from as few as 10 mailboxes, or by the hour for fewer than 10 users.

Complex Migrations

For complex migrations our 365 migration specialists will work with you to understand the required business outcomes and will scope and design the solution and information architecture.

MobileCorp can help decide what to keep and migrate vs archive, develop security permissions, and re-validate the folder structure.

We will devise an end-to-end migration plan, setting up Identity, Active Directory, migrating Exchange, and files; and demonstrate the wider unified communications capabilities of the 365 platform.