Large NZ-Owned Retailer Automates Office 365 Migration
Migrating thousands of users while reducing manual IT workload
Client Snapshot
Organisation: Large NZ-owned retailer
Industry: Retail
Workforce: 12,000+ employees across 250+ locations
Environment: Active Directory, Exchange, Microsoft Office 365
Use Case: Office 365 migration automation and collaboration platform rollout
Solution - Activate Identity Operations
The Challenge
Our customer, a large NZ-owned retailer, launched a Digital Workplace initiative to modernise communication and collaboration across its workforce. The organisation was transitioning from an on-premises Exchange environment to Microsoft Office 365, but the migration presented several technical and operational challenges. Key challenges included:
Migrating thousands of user accounts and resources
Managing Office 365 license provisioning at scale
Migrating shared mailboxes, meeting rooms and directory objects
Ensuring data integrity across legacy user accounts
Coordinating a rollout across hundreds of locations with minimal disruption
Without automation, the migration process would have required extensive manual effort and risked delays or configuration errors.
The Solution
Our customer deployed Activate’s Identity Operations solution to orchestrate and automate key components of the Office 365 migration. Because Activate was already managing identity lifecycle processes, the platform was extended to automate migration preparation, provisioning and license management. Key capabilities included:
Automated Migration Readiness Checks
Activate validated each Active Directory account before migration, identifying and correcting legacy configuration issues that could disrupt Office 365 provisioning.
Business-Led Migration Scheduling
An interactive dashboard allowed migration teams to schedule rollouts by department or location, ensuring the transition aligned with business operations.
Automated License Management
Office 365 licenses were automatically assigned based on user roles and removed when employees left the organisation.
Migration of Shared Resources
Shared mailboxes, meeting rooms and other directory objects were validated and migrated with automated checks to ensure configuration accuracy.
HR and Payroll Integration
Integration with payroll systems ensured identity data remained accurate throughout the migration process and beyond.
Business Impact
Using Activate’s Identity Operations solution to automate the migration allowed them to roll out Office 365 across the organisation with minimal disruption.
The organisation now benefits from:
Faster provisioning of collaboration services
Automated license management that reduces operational overhead
Improved accuracy of user account data
Reduced manual workload for IT teams
The migration was completed through a structured rollout that allowed teams to transition smoothly to the new platform while maintaining day-to-day operations.
Activate also enabled our customer to embed automation into ongoing identity lifecycle processes, ensuring Office 365 provisioning and governance continue to operate efficiently after the migration.
Key Outcomes of deploying Activate Identity Operations
6,800+ users migrated to Office 365
137,000+ automated changes processed annually
Hundreds of hours of manual IT work eliminated
Automated provisioning and license management
Smooth migration with minimal disruption to business operations