The service helps customers understand Microsoft 365 capabilities, determine readiness for migration to Microsoft 365 services, and get hands-on experience with Microsoft 365.
IT Partner helps you run a Microsoft 365 pilot with resources, tools, and experts to support a successful rollout. The engagement includes tenant creation, domain verification, user account setup, mail forwarding setup and testing, and reviews of Microsoft 365 features and ROI versus existing software. The objective is a successful Microsoft 365 rollout focused on driving adoption and helping everyone understand the benefits.
Kickoff and pilot planning — confirm pilot goals, stakeholders, schedule, communication path, pilot user list, current mail environment, and success criteria for the pilot engagement.
Readiness and prerequisite validation — review access requirements, DNS management capability, current email provider forwarding capability, pilot mailbox data, and known high-risk users or mailbox constraints.
Tenant and domain setup — create the Microsoft 365 tenant, verify the customer domain, and confirm the required DNS-related steps with the customer’s DNS owner or provider.
Pilot user configuration — create pilot user accounts, apply required user attributes, and configure primary reply-to addresses for the users included in the pilot spreadsheet.
Mail forwarding and mail flow validation — configure forwarding at the current email provider where supported, test mail flow for pilot users, and document any findings that may affect a broader migration.
Microsoft 365 feature and ROI review — walk through relevant Microsoft 365 capabilities, compare expected value against existing software, and capture observations that inform rollout decisions.
Pilot closeout and next-step recommendations — review pilot outcomes against success criteria, summarize readiness findings, identify risks or dependencies, and recommend logical next steps for migration, adoption, or additional Microsoft 365 workloads.
Microsoft 365 Proof of Concept/Pilot is an IT Partner consulting service that helps you deploy, configure, and test the feasibility of Microsoft 365 cloud technologies such as Exchange Online before a broader rollout. It helps you understand Microsoft 365 capabilities, assess readiness for migration, and gain hands-on pilot experience.
The listed duration is 5 days. Scheduling depends on DNS access, pilot user data, and your current email provider's forwarding capability, so confirm timing specifics with IT Partner before kickoff.
The pilot is $800 per project for the stated consulting scope. Microsoft 365 licenses and subscriptions are not included and are purchased separately — IT Partner sells Microsoft subscriptions at Microsoft's published list prices, the same price as buying direct.
Included deliverables are creation of a Microsoft 365 tenant, domain verification, user account creation, setting primary reply-to addresses, email forwarding setup at the current provider, and mail flow testing. IT Partner also reviews Microsoft 365 features and compares Microsoft 365 ROI against the customer’s existing software.
No, this service is a proof of concept or pilot, not a full production migration. It focuses on configuring and testing Microsoft 365 feasibility, mail flow, user setup, and business value so the customer can make informed rollout decisions.
The pilot does not include a fully functional demo tenant with PSTN and conferencing, a built-out SharePoint site or OneDrive for Business environment, identity federation (AD FS) configuration, or production mailbox migration. The scope focuses on tenant setup, domain verification, pilot user accounts, mail forwarding, mail flow testing, and the feature and ROI review.
Your current email provider must support email forwarding, because the pilot includes forwarding setup and mail flow testing from the current provider. You also need the ability to manage Microsoft 365-related DNS records at your DNS hosting provider, because domain verification and related configuration depend on DNS changes.
Yes, DNS changes may be required because the service includes domain verification and Microsoft 365-related DNS configuration. The customer is responsible for performing internal and external DNS changes and must be able to manage Microsoft 365-related DNS records at the DNS hosting provider.
Email forwarding is set up at the customer’s current email provider and mail flow is tested as part of the pilot. This requires the current provider to support forwarding, and the exact forwarding behavior or business impact should be confirmed with IT Partner based on the customer’s existing email environment.
The service content does not specify a planned downtime window or guarantee no downtime. Because the pilot involves DNS-related work, user setup, forwarding configuration, and mail flow testing, customers should review timing and business impact with IT Partner before changes are made.
Yes, the service includes a review of Microsoft 365 ROI compared with the customer’s existing software. This review helps the customer evaluate whether Microsoft 365 provides sufficient business value before committing to a broader rollout.
At completion, the customer should have a Microsoft 365 tenant created, domain verified, pilot user accounts configured, mail forwarding and mail flow tested, and a better understanding of Microsoft 365 features and ROI. Any next steps, such as a broader migration, additional workloads, or production deployment, are outside the stated pilot deliverables and should be scoped separately with IT Partner.