For my summer “Microsoft All-In” experiment, which also meant for a time giving up Google, I moved my main email domain from Google Apps for Business to Office 365—the latter through my registrar rather than Microsoft directly. I had used the domain on Apps for five years.
The registrar did all the setup for MX records and such, and I expected to do it all for myself when switching back to Apps—that was my experience half-a-decade ago. My how things have changed. Setup was scarily easy—much, much more than expected.
I signed up for Apps, and Google identified the registrar holding the domain during the process. I then gave Google permission to make changes on my behalf. The cloud company verified the domain, then prompted my permission to do everything. No mucking MX records for me!
Microsoft should be very afraid how easy is the process to switch from Office and Exchange to Apps—for consumers, schools, and small businesses. I had no idea!
As for Office 365 hosting, something about it just doesn’t fit for me. There are lots of people who will get value from the service. If I stayed “Microsoft All-In”, I likely would remain with Office 365. But where I’m headed, going back to Google Apps and trying out Apple’s iCloud Drive, is more sensible decision.
Photo Credit: Danny Sullivan