Leave Exchange Server without losing Outlook, on a scope and price agreed in writing
Since July 2025, on-premise Exchange means Exchange Server Subscription Edition: a subscription or Software Assurance for every seat, and server prices up 10 to 20%. The XgenPlus team moves your Exchange organisation or Microsoft 365 tenant to XgenPlus in batches while Outlook keeps working, then switches MX and autodiscover on a date you pick. Every address stays the same.
An Exchange migration to XgenPlus is done by the XgenPlus team in three stages: an inventory of the Exchange organisation or Microsoft 365 tenant that produces a written scope and a fixed price, a batch migration of mailboxes, shared mailboxes and distribution lists while Outlook keeps working against the old server, and a cut-over on a date you choose, usually a weekend, when MX and autodiscover records switch and Outlook profiles are repointed. The target is XgenPlus Enterprise on your own servers or private cloud, or the hosted service in Indian data centres. Migration is included in every on-premise Enterprise deployment and on hosted plans from Premium upwards.
Three stages, Outlook on every desk throughout
1. Inventory and scope
We list the tenant or the Exchange organisation: mailboxes, shared mailboxes, distribution lists, sizes, journaling and retention rules, Active Directory, and the applications that relay mail through Exchange. You get a written scope, a fixed price and the cut-over plan.
2. Batch migration
XgenPlus is installed on your hardware or private cloud, or provisioned hosted, and connected to Active Directory. Mailboxes are migrated in batches into XgenPlus while Outlook keeps working against Exchange. Distribution lists become XgenPlus groups; shared mailboxes are recreated with the same members.
3. Cut-over
MX and autodiscover records switch on the agreed evening. Outlook profiles repoint to XgenPlus, users sign in with the same address, and mobile devices reconnect over ActiveSync. Exchange stays readable until you sign off, then it is retired and the AMC or hosted plan begins.
What is in the scope, and what stays the same
In every migration
- Mail, folders, contacts and calendars, per mailbox, with counts verified after each batch
- Shared mailboxes and distribution lists recreated as XgenPlus shared boxes and groups
- Active Directory or LDAP connected for sign-in and the global address book
- SPF, DKIM and DMARC set for the new hosts before MX moves; relay for applications that send through Exchange today
- Administrator training at go-live and support under the AMC or hosted plan
What does not change for users
- Email addresses and domains
- Outlook on the desktop, over IMAP and SMTP, with calendars and contacts syncing
- iPhone and Android mail over ActiveSync
- Folder structure, archives, shared calendars and group addresses
What changes: a per-user perpetual licence instead of a per-seat subscription, archiving, litigation hold and eDiscovery included on Enterprise, a built-in certificate authority for S/MIME, and Word, Excel and PowerPoint files opened in Xgen Office online. Details and prices on the Microsoft 365 alternative page.
What we need from you for a fixed price
Size
Number of mailboxes and shared mailboxes, total mail storage, and the largest mailboxes. Exchange admin center or the 365 admin portal reports all three.
Version and estate
Exchange 2016, 2019 or SE, or a Microsoft 365 tenant; hybrid or not; the applications that relay through Exchange; any journaling or litigation-hold rules that must carry over.
Target
On-premise on your hardware or private cloud (Standard or Enterprise edition), or hosted XgenPlus in India. Regulated organisations usually stay on-premise; the audit recommends one either way.
Exchange migration, answered
Does Outlook keep working after the migration?
Yes. Outlook connects to XgenPlus over IMAP and SMTP with calendars and contacts syncing, and profiles are repointed at cut-over. There are also XgenPlus web, Windows, iOS and Android apps for anyone who prefers them.
Will there be downtime?
No planned outage. Mailboxes are migrated in batches while Exchange keeps serving Outlook, and the switch is a DNS change to MX and autodiscover on an evening you choose. Mail that arrives on Exchange during the final hours is synced across before it is retired.
What happens to journaling, litigation hold and eDiscovery?
They are part of the inventory. XgenPlus Enterprise includes archiving, litigation hold and eDiscovery, so the rules are recreated on the new server before cut-over rather than lost with the old one.
What does the migration cost?
It is included in every on-premise Enterprise deployment and on hosted plans from Premium upwards. The inventory gives you a written scope and a fixed price for the deployment as a whole.
Can we keep Exchange on-premise and still avoid the subscription?
Not with Exchange: since July 2025 the only supported on-premise Exchange is Subscription Edition, which needs a subscription or Software Assurance per seat. XgenPlus Enterprise on your own servers is a per-user perpetual licence plus an annual maintenance contract, which is the on-premise model Exchange used to have.
Tell us about your Exchange organisation or 365 tenant
Mailbox count, version and where you want to land. We reply within one business day with the questions we still have and a date for the inventory call.
Planning the wider move? Read the email migration guide for 2026 →
