Overview
Occasionally customers who started with Rackspace Email accounts want to upgrade to the more sophisticated Microsoft Exchange account. Typically, this happens when a customer is an avid Outlook user, and they would like their contacts and calendar items synchronized with their mobile device or shared with others in their organization.
However, just to be sure, please read the following to be certain you understand when to use Microsoft Exchange over Rackspace Email:
Now that you've decided to migrate your mailbox over to Microsoft Exchange, please read on!
Before Getting Started
Modern Retail recommends you work with your store's Information Technology (IT) expert to make sure you have a backup of all your data in Microsoft Outlook. This PST file should include all your Microsoft Outlook data including Email, Contacts and Calendar items.
If you are a Rackspace Webmail user, please ask your IT professional to make a CSV backup of all your Contact data directly within Rackspace Webmail.
While you will probably never need this backup, it is always prudent to have a saved copy of your data when performing upgrades of this sort. Making a backup of your data is the responsibility of you and your IT staff.
What is Migrated?
An easy way of understanding what gets migrated is to log into Rackspace Webmail:
Everything you find under (1) Email, (2) Contacts and (3) Calendar will be migrated.
If you don't see it or can't find it under the Email, Contacts and Calendar tabs in Webmail, then it will not migrated!
What is NOT Migrated?
Unfortunately, this migration does not move everything from Rackspace Email to Microsoft Exchange. Luckily, the items not being moved aren't nearly as vital as your Email, Contacts and Calendar items. However, we still would like you aware of what's not being migrated so there are no surprises.
Task and Notes in Rackspace Webmail are not migrated.
Nearly all of the settings you have configured in Rackspace Email will not be migrated to Exchange such as:
- Forwarding
- Spam Settings
- Custom Signatures
- Rules & Alerts
- Etc.
You can assume that everything you see under the Settings menu in Webmail will not be copied over to Exchange when your mailbox is migrated.
You can reset all of these settings in either Microsoft Exchange or Outlook after your mailbox has been successfully migrated.
Other Considerations
Sorry, we know this has been a lot to read, but there are a few other considerations we'd like you to understand about this migration.
- Sub-folder names cannot contain special characters or any foreign language. If so, these folders will need to be renamed prior to scheduling this migration.
- Rackspace cannot predict the amount of time that it will take for the migration to complete.
- Mac users will want to ensure their IMAP folders are mapped correctly through their Mac/Apple Mail Client before scheduling this migration. If not correctly mapped, we have seen duplicated folders created under their Exchange account. See:
http://www.rackspace.com/knowledge_center/article/setting-up-rackspace-email-with-mac-mail
Migration
All migrations are scheduled 7am-7pm CST Monday-Friday and based on availability. During the migration please be aware of the following:
- You will NOT be able to read or reply to email during the migration.
- You will NOT have access to your mailbox whatsoever during the migration.
- All email messages WILL be successfully received during the migration. People sending messages during this time will have email delivered to you without interruption.
Modern Retail will notify you as soon as the migration is complete and will give you the new password to your Microsoft Exchange email account.
Outlook & Device Configuration
The easiest way to configure your Outlook and your mobile devices to work with your new Exchange account is by using Rackspace's Email Setup Wizard:
This wizard does a nice job of providing the documentation you need to configure your specific software and devices. However, Modern Retail recommends you ask your store's IT expert to participate to ensure everything is configured correctly.