Case Study: A 50-Person SME Leaves Microsoft 365

Métallerie Durand (name changed) is a 50-employee industrial SME based in the Lyon area. After 8 years on Microsoft 365, the company chose to migrate to Infomaniak\'s kSuite. Here\'s a look back at this migration project completed in 3 weeks.

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The Context

Métallerie Durand manufactures custom metal structures for the construction industry. The company employs 50 people: management team, design office, sales department, accounting, and production workshop. IT is managed by a part-time IT manager, supported by an external contractor for specific projects.

The Initial Environment

The company had been using Microsoft 365 Business Standard since 2018:

• 50 Exchange Online mailboxes
• OneDrive for personal storage
• SharePoint for shared documents (~200 GB)
• Teams for internal messaging
• Outlook desktop on all Windows workstations

Monthly bill: approximately €560 excl. VAT/month (€11.20/user), or nearly €6,700 per year.

Reasons for the Change

Constantly Rising Costs

Microsoft raised its prices multiple times. Additionally, the company needed features only available in higher-tier plans (email archiving, advanced security). The bill was likely to climb even further.

Sovereignty Concerns

A key client in the defense sector asked Métallerie Durand to justify where exchanged data was hosted. It was impossible to guarantee that emails and documents weren\'t passing through American servers.

"Our client confronted us with reality: our data was in the United States, potentially accessible to American authorities. For technical plans of sensitive structures, this was problematic."

Growing Complexity

The Microsoft 365 interface had become increasingly complex over the years. Users were getting lost between Teams, SharePoint, and OneDrive. The IT manager spent a lot of time answering basic questions.

Choosing Infomaniak

After evaluating several alternatives (Google Workspace, open source solutions), the company chose Infomaniak\'s kSuite for several reasons:

• Swiss hosting – A clear answer to the defense client\'s requirements
• Complete suite – Email, storage, video conferencing, instant messaging included
• Attractive pricing – €5.87/user/month, or ~€294/month for 50 users
• French-speaking support – Direct access to real people when issues arise
• Outlook compatibility – Users could keep their familiar email client

The Migration Process

Week 1: Preparation

The InfoSwitch team conducted a full audit:

• Inventory of all 50 mailboxes and their sizes (from 500 MB to 15 GB)
• Mapping of SharePoint folders and access rights
• Identification of key users and their specific needs
• Verification of dependencies (business software, integrations)

kSuite accounts were created and the kDrive folder structure was prepared to mirror SharePoint.

Week 2: Data Migration

The migration was done in two stages:

Emails: Automated IMAP migration over the weekend. All historical emails (going back up to 5 years) were transferred. Duration: 48 hours for all mailboxes.

Files: Transfer of 200 GB from SharePoint to kDrive via the migration tool. Access rights were reconfigured in kDrive.

During this period, users continued working on Microsoft 365. Both systems coexisted.

Week 3: Switchover and Training

Monday: DNS records changed (MX). New emails now arrive on Infomaniak. Outlook reconfigured on all workstations (automated via script).

Tuesday-Wednesday: User training in small groups. Introduction to webmail, kDrive, and kChat. Focus on differences from the previous environment.

Thursday-Friday: Intensive support for special cases. Resolution of remaining issues.

Challenges Encountered

Resistance to Change

A few users were attached to Teams and certain Microsoft features. It was necessary to explain the alternatives (kChat replaces Teams, kMeet replaces Teams meetings) and individually support the most reluctant users.

Complex Shared Calendars

The design office had shared calendars with complex delegation rules. Reconfiguration to CalDAV required particular attention to reproduce the same permissions.

Integration with Business Software

The business management software (industry-specific ERP) sent emails via Exchange. It needed to be reconfigured for SMTP sending through Infomaniak servers. A technical operation but without major difficulty.

Results 6 Months Later

Cost Savings

User Satisfaction

An internal survey 3 months after migration showed:

• 82% of users find the new system as good as or better than the old one
• Main positives: interface simplicity, webmail speed
• Negatives: a few missing Teams features (reactions, threaded discussions)

Meeting Client Requirements

The defense client validated the Swiss hosting. The contract was renewed without difficulty, with an expanded scope.

"The migration allowed us to meet a client requirement while saving money. It\'s rare to be able to check both boxes."

Lessons Learned

What Worked Well

• Weekend migration with no impact on business operations
• Keeping Outlook, reducing perceived change
• Small-group training sessions tailored to user profiles
• Temporary coexistence of both systems during data migration

What We Would Do Differently

• Communicate about the project further in advance (users were notified 2 weeks before, which was a bit short)
• Identify Teams "power users" earlier for targeted support
• Prepare a written FAQ for recurring post-migration questions

Conclusion

The migration from Microsoft 365 to kSuite was a success for Métallerie Durand. The company achieved its goals: cost reduction, compliance with client requirements, and a simplified environment.

The project required 3 weeks of actual work, with professional guidance to secure the technical operations. Six months later, the company has no regrets about its choice.

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