How to Perform IBM Lotus Notes to Office 365 Migration

Microsoft 365 has gained popularity in the recent past due to several benefits it offers over email platforms, such as HCL Note, formerly known as IBM Lotus Notes. Both small and large businesses are now migrating to Office 365 from other platforms, especially those using IBM Lotus Notes. This is because managing Lotus Notes is not only difficult, but it also lacks several features.

Office 365 provides a collaborative environment where users can cooperate with their team members or customers and communicate better with Skype for Business that comes with Microsoft 365. Moreover, users can access and work from anywhere as Office 365 is cloud-based and available for mobile devices.

Overall, Microsoft 365 handles emails and performs other tasks significantly better. However, migrating IBM Lotus Notes (HCL Notes) data items stored in NSF file formats to Office 365 requires the necessary technical skills to execute the transfer process properly, minimize downtime, correct evaluation of data that the user wants to migrate, and most important avoid any data loss situation.

This blog covers various methods to migrate Lotus Notes to Microsoft 365 (Office 365). Follow the one you find most suitable for your need.

Methods for Lotus Notes to Office 365 Migration

Following are the methods to migrate IBM Lotus Notes to Office 365.

Method 1: Migrate Lotus Notes to Office 365 using MONTI

Microsoft Online Notes Inspector (MONTI) is Microsoft’s official guide to migrating Lotus Notes to Microsoft 365 or Office 365. It’s an 86-page long guide that explains the entire process of Lotus Notes to Office 365 migration. You can download the MONTI.exe file from here.

• Once downloaded, double-click on the MONTI.exe file and click ‘Browse’ to choose a save location on your system.
• Then click ‘Unzip’. This will extract the MONTI documents to the selected location.
• Navigate to the folder location and go to Office 365 Deployment Tools\MONTI\Docs folder.

• Now open the MONTI 3.2 Configuration Guide and read it to learn Lotus Notes to Office 365 migration process.

This process is quite overwhelming, and not all users can execute this. It will take a lot of time to understand the documentation, and you might end up making errors or losing data in the process. However, if you still want to try it, read the documentation carefully and understand it fully before proceeding with the transfer.

Alternatively, you may follow the much easier methods explained below for Lotus Notes to Microsoft 365 migration.

Method 2: Use the IMAP Connector for migrating Lotus Notes to Microsoft 365

Using IMAP Connector in IBM Lotus Notes is another way to migrate IBM Lotus Notes to Office 365. You can employ this manual method when you want to move your business communications to Microsoft Office 365. Follow the four steps as explained below:

Step 1: Create a backup of Lotus Notes NSF files

The first step is to create a backup of all existing users’ mailboxes stored as NSF files. Creating a backup before migration is necessary to avoid data loss, which may occur due to discrepancies during the transfer procedure. You can create Lotus Notes archives for backup.

Step 2: Create new mailboxes

Once you have created a backup, the next step is to create new mailboxes for every user having an existing profile in the Lotus Notes desktop email client.

Step 3: Enable IMAP TCP/IP Port for all users

The third step is to enable IMAP for all users. To do so, follow the steps below:

1. Open Domino Administrator in IBM Notes.
2. Next, click on the Configuration tab.
3. Open the Server document for the server that runs the IMAP service.
4. Click the following tabs sequentially: Ports – Internet Ports – Mail tab
5. Enable the default IMAP TCP/IP Port. To do so, you will have to alter the ‘TCP/IP port value status’ to ‘Enabled’ in the Mail (IMAP) column (By default, the IMAP clients get connected to TCP/IP port number 143 on the Domino server).
6. Finally, click on ‘Save’, and then exit.

Step 4: Connect with IMAP Connector

Lastly, use the IMAP Connector to synchronize emails in Office 365 from the Lotus Notes email client.

Once you execute all four steps, migrating to Office 365 environment from Lotus Notes becomes possible. However, this procedure involving IMAP Connector is not without its limitations.

Limitations of IMAP-based Migration Method

The Lotus Notes to Office 365 migration using IMAP Connector bears the following limitations:

• If the Notes client is behind the firewall and proxy, it will not connect to the Internet.
• If the Lotus Notes email client is disabled, it will not permit an IMAP connection.
• If the IMAP Connector restricts the transfer of calendar entries, one must perform it manually.
• The manual creation of calendar entries takes more time and slows down the transfer process.
• The migration with the use of IMAP protocol moves only online data to Office 365.
• The IMAP Connector can move emails of a maximum 1 GB size.
• It involves applying various filters that are costly and complex.

Method 3: Lotus Notes to Office 365 Migration using NSF to PST Converter Tool

The methods explained above (Method 1, Method 2) have their limitations and can’t be performed by just any user. It requires technical expertise and an understanding of Office 365 or Microsoft 365 and IBM Lotus Notes to execute the process successfully. Moreover, these methods aren’t feasible if you migrate multiple accounts or mailboxes from Lotus Notes to Office 365.

Thus, if you want to migrate single or multiple mailboxes on Lotus Notes to Office 365 seamlessly, use a 3rd Party tool such as Stellar Converter for NSF Technician.

Stellar Converter for NSF Technician avoids all the limitations associated with the manual procedure. Also, it lets you convert and export the NSF mailboxes directly to Microsoft 365 or Office 365 accounts. This helps with seamless Lotus Notes to Office 365 migration and provides you with an enhanced user experience.

It also consistently migrates emails, contacts, attachments, calendars, notes, and all available mailbox data items. Further, it gives you the option to save converted files in PST, EML, MSG, RTF, PDF, and HTML formats. The software supports HCL notes & Lotus Notes 10.0.1, 9.0.1, 9.0, 8.5, 8.0.2, 7.0, 6.5 and 6.0 versions.

To use Stellar Converter for NSF Technician for Lotus Notes to Office 365 migration, follow these steps:

• Run the software. Click Browse and locate the NSF files on your system.

• Click Convert to begin the file conversion process. The software will display a progress bar when converting the data. Once done, it will preview the NSF items in a three-pane window.

• Preview the NSF file’s contents and select the folders that you want to migrate to Office 365. Then click Save Converted File.
• In the Save As window, select Microsoft 365. Then click Next.

• Enter your Office 365 credentials and click OK. The software will automatically move Lotus Notes to Office 365.

The software takes significantly less time to migrate NSF database to Cloud Office 365. To know about how it works, you can also watch the product video below.

Download Stellar Converter for NSF and migrate a few email items in office 365 for free.

Method 4: Migrate Lotus Notes to Office 365 using CSV File

This is an additional method that you may follow for Lotus Notes to Microsoft 365 or Office 365 migration. In this method, you export the emails from IBM Lotus Notes to CSV format and then import it into Microsoft 365 account. This method is suitable for the migration of one or a few Lotus Notes accounts.

• Run the Lotus Notes email application and open the NSF file that you want to migrate to Office 365.

• Click on File > Export.
• Browse and select a location where you want to save the CSV file.
• From the ‘Save as type:’ drop-down, select ‘Comma Separated Value’.
• Then click on Export.
• In the CSV Export window, choose the documents you want to export. Then click OK.
  

This will convert and save NSF data to a CSV file. Now you can import this CSV to your Outlook account which is associated with Microsoft 365.

Conclusion

This guide helps IBM Lotus Notes users migrate their mailboxes to Microsoft 365 using various methods explained above. Although all manual methods explained in this post help you perform Lotus Notes to Office 365 migration, there are several limitations and data consistency issues that you may experience during and after Lotus Notes migration. Also, these methods only help migrate emails from Lotus Notes. You may not be able to migrate other mailbox items, such as contacts, calendars, notes, etc.

To avoid these issues and migrate Lotus Notes to Office Notes while maintaining data integrity along with attachments and other mailbox items, you must use an NSF to Microsoft 365 migrator tool, such as Stellar Converter for NSF Technician. It helps you migrate NSF (Lotus Notes) mailboxes directly to Office 365 accounts in a few clicks. It also saves time & resources, and doesn’t require any technical skills; just access to IBM Notes and Microsoft 365 accounts is required.

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About The Author

Eric Simson

Eric Simson is an Email Platform Consultant and is associated with Stellar Data Recovery from last 6 years. He writes about the latest technology tips and provides custom solutions related to MS Outlook, MS Exchange Server, Office 365, and many other Email Clients & Servers.