What you engineer
- 30+ years building fall-protection gear in Franklin, PA
- In-house engineering and an ISO-accredited testing lab
- Products that meet or exceed OSHA & ANSI Z359
- Redundancy and testing so the gear performs before anyone needs it to
Microsoft 365 Migration Prepared for FrenchCreek Fall Safety
No drop. No downtime.
A phase-by-phase plan to move your team from on-premises Exchange Server 2019 to Microsoft 365 — engineered with the same care you build into every lifeline. Your mail keeps flowing the entire way.
- 0
- mailboxes
in scope - 0
- email
domains - 0
- minutes of
mail downtime - 0–0
- weeks,
kickoff to cutover
FROM Exchange 2019 · on-prem
TO Microsoft 365 · cloud
The principle
The standard you build into every harness —
applied to the systems you run on.
“FrenchCreek has spent three decades building the equipment workers trust as their last line of defense. We bring that same standard of dependability to the systems a business runs on — and that principle shaped every recommendation here.” — Joshua, Managing Partner, Diversicom
What we engineer
- Exchange-to-Microsoft 365 migrations run regularly for regulated industries
- A staged method where mail is never offline
- A pilot, a rollback plan, and a controlled cutover window
- Two weeks of hypercare and full documentation at close
We did our homework
We studied your setup
before we wrote a word.
Here's what we understand about your environment today. We'll confirm and refine each detail in a short discovery session before any work begins — no surprises.
Users / mailboxes
~25
User, shared & distribution groups
Mail platform
Exchange 2019
On-premises server
Email domains
2 domains
fcsafety.com · frenchcreekproduction.com
Email security
Proofpoint
Kept in place through cutover
DNS management
Cloudflare
All record changes made here
Also handled
SMTP & scan-to-email
Printers & line-of-business apps
The plan
Six phases, fully controlled.
Think of it as a controlled descent. We move one variable at a time, test before we commit, and keep a hand on the line the whole way down. Follow each phase below.
Mail flow
Online & uninterrupted
You're on
Phase 1 — Assessment & Planning
Progress
Phase 01 · Week 1
Assessment & Migration Planning
Before anything moves, we learn your environment cold and write the runbook.
- Full discovery: mailbox inventory, sizes, shared mailboxes, distribution groups, mail flow
- Review of your Proofpoint configuration and Cloudflare DNS records
- Identify SMTP relay, scan-to-email printers, and any apps that send mail
- Confirm the identity model (cloud-only) and licensing plan
- A migration plan and cutover runbook — including rollback and a user communication plan
Your experience Nothing changes yet. Your team keeps working exactly as they do today.
Phase 02 · Week 1
Microsoft 365 Tenant Configuration & Licensing
We stand up your new home in the cloud and lock down security from day one.
- Provision and configure your Microsoft 365 tenant
- Verify both domains — fcsafety.com and frenchcreekproduction.com
- Assign Microsoft 365 Business Premium licensing through ClearKey
- Baseline security: multifactor authentication, recommended Entra ID & Defender settings
- Configure the migration platform and secure connection to your source environment
Your experience Still business as usual. The new environment is built quietly alongside the old one.
Phase 03 · Week 2
Mailbox, Shared Mailbox & Group Migration
We copy your mail to the cloud — we never cut. Your live inbox is untouched.
- Pre-stage all user mailbox data into Exchange Online
- Migrate shared mailboxes with delegated permissions preserved
- Migrate and recreate distribution groups
- A pilot migration for a small group to validate the process first
- A final delta sync to capture every change right up to cutover
Your experience You keep working in your current inbox. We copy in the background — pilot first, full run second.
Phase 04 · Week 3 · Cutover
DNS & Mail-Flow Cutover
The switch — scheduled for a quiet window, with Proofpoint still guarding the door.
- MX record cutover in Cloudflare during an agreed low-traffic window (typically Friday evening)
- SPF, DKIM and DMARC configured for both domains
- Proofpoint re-pointed to deliver into Exchange Online; the inbound connector locked to Proofpoint
- SMTP relay, scan-to-email and application mail flow reconfigured
- Inbound and outbound mail validated across both domains
Your experience The switch happens after hours. By Monday morning, mail just works — same as before, now in the cloud.
Phase 05 · Week 3
Endpoint & Mobile Reconfiguration
We set up every device — desktop and phone — so no one is left figuring it out alone.
- Reconfigure Outlook desktop profiles for all users
- Set up and support mobile mail on iOS and Android
- Resolve any client connectivity issues during the transition
- End-user quick-reference guidance for the new environment
Your experience Hands-on help at the desk and on the phone. People stay productive.
Phase 06 · Weeks 4–6
Decommission & Hypercare
We retire the old server properly — and stay on call while everyone settles in.
- Verify all mail and data migrated successfully and mail flow is stable
- Gracefully decommission the on-prem Exchange 2019 server — a supported removal, not just powering it off
- Two weeks of priority hypercare support
- Final as-built documentation package and a knowledge-transfer session
Your experience The old server is retired the right way. We're a step away if anything comes up.
Continuity by design
Why your email never hits the ground.
Email is mission-critical, so the whole method is built around one objective: move your mail to the cloud with no interruption. Here's how that works — and the four safeguards that catch anything unexpected.
Internet mail
delivers to
Proofpoint
stays in place
re-pointed at cutover
Exchange 2019 retired
Exchange Online live
Your inboxes
always delivering
We change one variable at a time. Proofpoint keeps filtering throughout, the Microsoft 365 connector is locked so it only accepts mail routed through Proofpoint, and the cutover itself is reserved for a controlled, low-traffic window.
Pilot first
A small group migrates and is validated before the full run — we test the load before trusting it with weight.
Delta sync
A final synchronization at cutover captures every message that arrived during staging. Nothing is left behind.
Rollback ready
Mail flows through the old system right up to the switch — a backup anchor that lets us reverse course safely if needed.
Two-week hypercare
After cutover, priority support stands by to catch and resolve anything before it becomes a problem.
Timeline
Three to four weeks, start to finish.
Followed by a two-week hypercare period. Exact dates are set jointly, with cutover scheduled for a low-traffic window — typically a Friday evening or weekend.
Week 1
Assessment & Tenant Setup
Discovery, migration plan, tenant configuration, domain verification and licensing.
Week 2
Pre-Staging & Pilot
Migration tooling, mailbox pre-seeding, pilot migration and validation, mail-flow prep.
Week 3
Cutover
The Switch
Final delta sync, MX/DNS cutover, Proofpoint re-point, relay reconfiguration, endpoints & mobile.
Week 4
Validation & Decommission
Mail-flow validation, graceful Exchange decommissioning, documentation and knowledge transfer.
Weeks 5–6
Hypercare
Priority post-migration support and issue resolution while everyone settles in.
Investment
Two ways to do this.
Option 1 is the migration as a standalone, fixed-fee project. Option 2 pairs the same migration with ongoing Guardian-IT managed services — and cuts the project fee in half. No obligation either way.
Option 1
Standalone migration project
$10,500
One-time, fixed fee · billed 50% at kickoff, 50% at cutover
- Full-scope Exchange 2019 → Exchange Online migration (Phases 1–6)
- Documentation & knowledge-transfer session
- Two-week hypercare period
- Ongoing support available by request afterward
Option 2
Migration + Guardian-IT managed services
$5,250 $10,500
Project fee cut 50% · onboarding fee waived · with a 12-month agreement
- The same full-scope migration as Option 1
- Guardian-IT managed services — your whole IT environment, run as one
- Unlimited helpdesk, 24/7 monitoring, security & backup
- Ongoing Microsoft 365 administration & periodic vCIO reviews
Managed services: $120–$150 / user / mo ≈ $3,000–$3,750 / mo for 25 users
Talk through Option 2Licensing
Both options · via ClearKey
$550/mo
Microsoft 365 Business Premium · 25 users × $22/user/mo
- Office apps + Exchange Online
- Entra ID P1, Intune & Defender for Office 365 P1
- Annual commitment, billed monthly through ClearKey
- A path to retire third-party add-ons over time
Side by side
| Component | Option 1 — Standalone | Option 2 — With Guardian-IT |
|---|---|---|
| Migration scope | Full (Phases 1–6) | Full (Phases 1–6) |
| One-time project fee | $10,500 | $5,250 |
| Onboarding fee | — | Waived |
| Post-migration support | 2-week hypercare, then optional | Included, ongoing |
| Ongoing IT support | By request | Full managed services |
| Microsoft 365 licensing | $550/mo (ClearKey) | $550/mo (ClearKey) |
| Monthly managed services | — | $3,000–$3,750/mo |
Why Option 2 costs us little to discount: the migration produces the same discovery and documentation we'd otherwise do during onboarding. Passing that saving to you is easy — and it gives FrenchCreek a fully managed environment from day one.
After cutover
What partnership
looks like.
With Guardian-IT, we don't bill by the ticket. We take ownership of your entire environment — network, servers, the workstations across engineering and the production floor, Microsoft 365, security and backup — and keep all of it running as one managed whole.
“We own the outcome. Your technology simply works, you have one team accountable for all of it, and we stay a step ahead so you don't have to — the same way your gear is built to perform before anyone ever needs it to.”
- Unlimited helpdesk & end-user support
- 24/7 monitoring, alerting & patching
- Network, server & infrastructure management
- Endpoint protection & security management
- Backup & business-continuity protection
- vCIO strategy reviews & roadmapping
Straight talk
What this assumes.
Transparency up front. Our pricing is based on the assumptions below — we'll confirm each in discovery, and we'd review any material change with you before proceeding.
- ~25 mailboxes in scope (pricing assumes no more than 30); public folders, if any, reviewed separately
- A cloud-only Microsoft Entra ID identity model (we'll confirm your preference in discovery)
- Mailbox data volume within typical ranges for an organization of this size
- Proofpoint retained as the email gateway through the migration
- Timely admin access to Exchange, Microsoft 365, Cloudflare and Proofpoint, plus a point of contact
- Workstations in working order with a supported, licensed version of Outlook
- Work performed remotely; on-site visits available on request, quoted separately
- Microsoft 365 license costs billed separately from project labor
Next steps
Here's what happens next, Brady.
A short discovery call to confirm a few open items, then we finalize the schedule and begin.
- 1A 30-minute discovery call
- 2Confirm the open items: identity model, data volume, public folders, SMTP/scan-to-email
- 3Finalize the schedule and begin Phase 1
This proposal is valid through July 1, 2026 (30 days from June 1, 2026).