Rackspace to Office 365 Migration – A Quick Guide with Top 3 Ways

This write-up guides you through all the necessary steps required to perform Rackspace to Office 365 migration. Moreover, three different ways are explained to execute this task without any downtime or communication gaps. Go through this step-by-step guide to learn multiple techniques to migrate Rackspace email to Office 365 accounts safely.

Rackspace has been a constant target of nefarious entities and has faced one too many security breaches in recent times. This constant threat kept Rackspace webmail users on their toes. To pacify its user base, Rackspace also gave free access to the Microsoft 365 E1 license to the affected users up until further notice.

Security isn’t the only concern, many users have also become wary about increasing service costs and reliability issues. Reports about a Rackspace email price hike have further encouraged businesses to consider migrating their email infrastructure to Microsoft 365.

If, by any means, your Rackspace-hosted server is affected or the email service simply becomes disrupted, it is better to move it to another platform. After taking a look at the recent update, the best alternative would be to migrate mailboxes from Rackspace to a reliable cloud platform. And when it comes to reliable and trustworthy platforms or cloud services, Microsoft 365 comes out as a savior. A user also posted his query on the Microsoft Community regarding the migration.

We are attempting, but failing, to transfer sixteen accounts from Rackspace Exchange to 365 Exchange. Since none of the migration techniques will initiate the process, we have tried them all without success. We create a Full Access account at Rackspace and enter it as the account authorization; however, it requests the Exchange server’s FQDN, and all Rackspace provides is the proxy address. Has anyone successfully performed a move similar to this, and if so, how did they achieve it?

Now, before getting into the solution, let’s understand the most prominent reasons for users to be inclined towards Microsoft 365.

What Reasons Influence Users to Choose Microsoft 365 Over Rackspace?

Most users opt for Rackspace to Office 365 migration as Microsoft Office 365 is a popular choice for almost all businesses either for replacement or for implementing a new intranet system. As it provides various features to manage data securely in the cloud.

Here is a detailed Rackspace vs Office 365 comparison:

Factor	Microsoft 365	Rackspace
Productivity Suite	Full suite (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Teams, OneDrive)	Primarily email hosting and cloud services, no full suite
Integration	Deep integration with Microsoft products (Azure, Windows)	Limited third-party integrations
Updates & Innovation	Frequent updates, new features are regularly added	Reliable, but slower pace of innovation
Scalability	Flexible plans for small to large businesses	Scalable, but fewer options
Security & Compliance	Advanced security features, compliance with global standards	Robust security, but not as comprehensive
Collaboration Tools	Integrated tools like Teams and SharePoint for real-time work	Focus on email/cloud, fewer collaboration features
User Experience	Familiar Office apps, easier transition	Reliable but less familiar to Microsoft users
Support	Extensive resources, global support network	Strong support, but more focused on cloud services
Cost-Effectiveness	Inclusive, can be more cost-effective over time	Lower upfront costs, but may need additional tools

From the above comparison table, you can easily understand why users are more inclined towards Office 365. Now let’s have a quick look at how we can proceed.

Pre-Migration Steps

Follow the pre-migration steps for a flawless migration process.

1. Set up a Rackspace Admin Account

Before performing the Rackspace to Office 365 migration, you need to set up an admin account in your Rackspace. This admin account has permission to access all of the mailboxes.

2. Unhide All Objects

Do not forget to unhide the other objects in Rackspace prior to migration. For instance, distribution lists for sending and receiving emails in bulk.

3. Collect Data

There might be several accounts in the Rackspace, but not all are crucial ones. So, deselect the unimportant ones and prepare a list of the accounts that matter to you the most.

4. Internet Connectivity

Verify your Internet connection to meet the specific requirements for an error-free and efficient migration.

5. Backup your Rackspace Account

Take a backup of your Rackspace account to protect it from accidental loss.

6. Rackspace Server Details

Collect the details of the Rackspace server on which the mailboxes are hosted. These details will be required while migrating mailboxes from IMAP to Office 365.

7. Pick an Office 365 Plan

Among the numerous Office 365 plans, pick the best one as per your requirements. You can also upgrade your Office 365 plan whenever you want.

8. Create Users in Destination Office 365 Account

After taking the Microsoft subscription plan, create the users in the destination Office 365 account. Assign the valid licenses to them. Train them about M365 for quick user adoption.

After understanding the pre-migration steps. Now is the time to discuss the possible methods to accomplish the task. Let’s start discussing each one of them sequentially.

Method 1. Quick & Direct Rackspace to Office 365 Migration Solution

To save yourself some time and effort, it would be wise to simply go for a quick or professional solution. For that, we suggest you just opt for the safest and most reliable SysTools IMAP to Office 365 Migration Tool to easily migrate from Rackspace to Microsoft 365.

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This is the best automated solution that helps in quick migration to all Rackspace account emails with all the features. In short, with the help of this tool, all users, including novices or beginners, can operate this tool because of its simple GUI interface.

Furthermore, it is the best tool to provide instructions for every step of migrating bulk emails from the source Rackspace account to the destination O365 account. To take care of all the concerns, the tool has a support facility with availability to resolve queries.

Step-by-Step Software Guide to Migrate Rackspace Email to Office 365

Step 1. Download & run this Rackspace to Office 365 Migration Tool on your local version of Windows OS.

Step 2. You have to select the IMAP and Office 365 options as source and destination accounts, respectively, to start the migration of Rackspace webmail email data.

Step 3. Now, choose the Others option and then add your Rackspace Server URL plus the port number. Press the Validate icon to establish a connection with the Rackspace user account. Once the green signal appears, hit Next.

Step 4. Thereafter, select the Office 365 radio button, and enter all required credentials (Admin Email and App ID) for account validation. Once complete, press Next.

Step 5. At last, import the required users and hit the Start Migration option to migrate mailboxes from Rackspace to Office 365.

Steps to Take After Rackspace to Office 365 Migration Completes

1. Update the DNS (MX records) to receive the email messages on the destination Office 365 server.
2. After the users can access their email accounts, decommission the Rackspace email accounts.
3. Update the passwords of all the user accounts.
4. Test the platform by sending and receiving the test emails.

If you fail to complete these post-migration steps, all of the upcoming email data will still point towards a non-existent Rackspace. So email senders will receive a non-delivery message, which is not at all acceptable in a professional environment.

I would recommend that you stick with the tool as it is by far the most intuitive way to perform the transfer error-free. However, if you still insist on trying out a DIY method, I am not going to hide the methods from you. Below, you will find 4 other methods to perform the Rackspace to O365 migration on your own.

Method 2. Setting Email Forwarding to Migrate Rackspace Email to Office 365

In this scenario, where Rackspace is trying to restore its email services, which have created havoc. It looks like there are plenty of users who are distressed by this sudden security breach and need an instant fix.

For those users, Rackspace has offered free access to Microsoft 365 E1 to simply set up a Microsoft 365 tenant and then move forward with creating a tenant for a Rackspace to Office 365 migration later.

What this trick does is it permits you to recover the email services, and you will be able to send/receive emails and messages from now on.

Steps

1. Open the mailbox to be forwarded to apps.rackspace.com.
2. Hit your username from the upper right-hand corner, then choose Settings.
3. From the Settings window, click the Incoming Email tab.
4. To the right, click the Forwarding tab.
5. Enable the On option for Status.
6. Tick the checkbox of Save a copy of forwarded email.
7. Provide the destination email address and Save.

But here comes the twist.

Even after following this key method, you won’t be able to access your old mailboxes or any other items.

But do not lose hope, for we have many more surprises for you along the way. So, stay tuned.

Method 3. Use “Archive Subscription Service” for Rackspace to Office 365 Migration

Even though the Rackspace Hosted Exchange outage, the Rackspace Archive service is still unaffected by all this and is working properly.

Now, this Rackspace to Office 365 migration method will only work for those who have subscribed to the Archive services for their users and mailboxes.

They can use this method to restore their emails or save the emails into a PST file. Once done with that, they can simply import the PST file into a Microsoft 365 profile. This way, users will be able to recover the mailboxes and provide them with access to their old mail items.

To do that, there are 3 steps that you can follow, which are:

1. Log in to the Rackspace Archive Manager
2. Create an Archive Search
3. Choose and export mailboxes to the PST file.

Note:- One can also download the search emails from the archive to either EML or PDF format accordingly.

Carefully repeat the steps if needed to find and export the mailboxes of all the users to PST format.

Once you are done with that, you need to read this guide and import PST to Office 365.

Method 4. Using Email Client

Another option for small businesses or solopreneurs who currently use Rackspace and want to fully transition to M365 but have a tight budget is to use desktop email clients.

The process is rather simple: just add both your Rackspace mail and Office 365 accounts into a single desktop client, it could be Outlook, Apple Mail, Thunderbird, or any other niche service. The core idea remains the same regardless of the platform you use.

Once the accounts are there, open a second instance of the same client on your system and arrange both windows in such a manner that they appear side by side.

Now all that’s left is to grab a bunch of emails from Rackspace and drop them into Office 365. Repeat till you move all the mail. Now you might get why this process is not recommended; it carries a lot of risk of losing emails, not to mention the complete lack of any tracking or reporting.

Method 5. M365 Admin Tool

If you have a business or enterprise O365, and you are an admin, then you have the option to use the built-in option in the Admin Center portal to bring all emails of all the users from an outside environment to the M365 cloud.

Here is a brief overview of how the process looks:

• Create user accounts and add licenses to those accounts.
• Verify your source IMAP server/custom domain in the M365 cloud.
• Inform users about the changes happening to their accounts.
• Collect all user account credentials and keep them in a CSV list.
• Create the endpoint that connects Microsoft 365 to your source email system.
• Build a new migration batch and verify whether or not emails are being copied correctly.
• You can optimize your IMAP settings to make the transfer faster.
• Reroute all new incoming email to Microsoft 365.
• Update MX records and verify new routing.
• Delete the migration batch and send a welcome mail.

Ending Lines

In this article, we have discussed the security breach of Rackspace. The incident has wreaked havoc as many users are now trying to restore their emails. So, we have managed to discuss the major methods that can be useful for Rackspace to Office 365 migration and the alternative solutions provided by Rackspace itself.

However, these methods can take hours to migrate each user’s mailbox from Rackspace to Microsoft 365. So, to save you some time, we have suggested the automated tool that will help you migrate Rackspace email to Microsoft 365 in no time.

Frequently Asked Questions by Different Users

Q 1: How to bulk migrate emails from Rackspace to a Microsoft 365 account?

Follow the 5 quick steps to migrate Rackspace email to Office 365 in bulk:

• Step 1. Download & Run the Tool on a PC.
• Step 2. Select IMAP & Office 365 Platforms.
• Step 3. Validate Rackspace User Credentials.
• Step 4. Authenticate the O365 user account.
• Step 5. Click Start Migration to complete.

Q 2: How long does it take to migrate Rackspace email to an Office 365 account, usually?

Migrating mailboxes from Rackspace to Office 365 using manual or traditional methods is slow and takes weeks to complete. On the other hand, the software will provide instant results with complete data security.

Q 3: What is the email limit for Rackspace mailboxes?

In total, Rackspace email addresses are limited to 10,000 total recipients per day. For instance, if you are sending a single message that includes 100 recipients, then this email will be counted as 100 total recipients against your daily limit for sending emails.

Q 4: How do I cancel my Rackspace subscription?

Manual steps to know how to cancel the Rackspace subscription:

• Sign in to the Cloud Control Panel first.
• Then, click ‘Account: yourUserName.‘
• Now, Menu >> Account Settings
• Scroll down the Account Settings page, and tap ‘Cancel My Account‘.

Q 5: How to delete Rackspace users’ mailboxes?

Follow the steps below to do so:

• Sign In to the Rackspace Cloud Control Panel
• Click Mailboxes from the Email section.
• Choose the mailboxes.
• Hit on the Manage option to the right of the mailbox and then click the Delete Mailbox option in the upper-right corner.

Q 6: What items can we not migrate from Rackspace to Microsoft 365?

Here is a list of them:

• Aliases
• Alternate addresses
• Group lists
• Distribution lists
• Public folders
• Custom groups created via Outlook
• Custom color-coded calendar items
• Local data