Business email depends on more than mail arriving in a new inbox. A migration or handover must preserve the information, access and sending routes the team needs, with evidence that customer messages continue to work.
This guide covers migration scope, shared mailboxes, website notifications and delivery investigation. It helps a business specify the accepted result without treating one provider's defaults as universal behaviour.
Inventory mailboxes and connected services
List users, shared addresses, aliases, groups, forwarding rules and archives. Record mailbox size, folder structures and access requirements. Include calendars, contacts, tasks and local files where staff rely on them.
Identify website forms, order notifications and other applications that send mail. Record the configured method and sender identity. An installed mail plugin does not prove that every notification uses the intended authorised route.
Confirm what the migration method transfers
Check the supported source, destination and item types. A method transferring mail folders may exclude contacts, calendars or tasks. Review size and item limits, permissions and the effect of archive or retention arrangements.
Establish destination accounts and required licensing before the transfer where the method requires them. For imported files, record the target mailbox, archive and folder mapping. Test a representative batch and inspect placement before committing the full collection.
Treat shared mailboxes as governed resources
Give staff access through supported individual accounts rather than treating a shared password as the operating model. Check the actual service's licensing and feature requirements. Keep a membership record with the business owner and approved delegates.
Reading and managing mail, sending as an address and sending on its behalf can be separate permissions. Verify each required capability. Access to a shared inbox alone does not prove that staff can send using the intended identity.
Test reply visibility and client behaviour
Confirm where sent messages are stored and whether authorised colleagues can find them. A reply saved only in one person's account can leave the next staff member without the customer history. Demonstrate the agreed behaviour in the clients the team uses.
Check desktop, web and mobile applications, including signatures for new messages, replies and forwards. A signature configured in one experience may not apply everywhere. Make the accepted setup part of the handover instructions.
Plan routing and sender authentication together
MX records direct incoming mail, while other records and service settings support authentication of outgoing messages. Additional gateways or forwarding services can affect routing. Use the instructions for the actual architecture and preserve records needed by other services.
Test incoming and outgoing mail from relevant external destinations, with replies and attachments where appropriate. Include website enquiries and automated customer notifications. A successful file transfer does not establish that the mail path is complete.
Separate application events from delivery
An order or form submission can trigger a notification, which is then handed to a sending system. That handover does not establish that the customer received the message. Check event conditions, notification settings, sender authorisation and the later delivery evidence separately.
Providers may distinguish individual triggered messages from wider broadcasts using their own categories. Those technical labels do not determine the legal purpose of a message. Keep promotional content and operational notifications under an appropriate reviewed policy.
Investigate with specific message evidence
Record exact addresses, direction, time and a safe message reference. An authorised administrator can use the provider's supported logs to investigate receipt, rejection, delay or delivery. Interpret status according to that service's meaning and reporting delay.
Review bounce reasons rather than treating every failure as a misspelt address. Permanent and temporary conditions can require different handling. Check the platform's rules for suppressing or retrying recipients before changing the sending list.
Agree acceptance and ongoing ownership
- Compare representative folders and required item types.
- Verify delegated reading and sending permissions.
- Check shared reply history and signatures.
- Test staff mail, forms and customer notifications.
- Record unresolved exceptions and the recovery route.
- Assign ownership for access reviews and delivery problems.
Our email authentication guide explains sender identity checks. The hosting migration checklist connects email acceptance with website, DNS and operational handover.
