Synnex, SkyKick Aim to Make Office 365 Migrations Stupid Simple

In the latest IT distribution move around cloud services, Synnex (SNX) has added technology from SkyKick to help SMB customers move their Microsoft (MSFT) accounts to the cloud.

Offered through Synnex’s CLOUDSolv division, the SkyKick Application Suite enables VARs, MSPs, consultants and IT folks to migrate their SMB customers to Office 365 automatically, saving time, money and (most likely) a whole lot of good hairstyles. The technology manages all the essential steps of a migration project including the sales, planning, migration and on-site phases of a move to Office 365, according to the company.

“Moving millions of SMBs to the cloud is no small task, but with SkyKick’s technology the process is greatly simplified, allowing our cloud partners to save time and money to scale their cloud practices, and our non-cloud partners to get in the game,” said Rob Moyer, vice president at Synnex in a prepared statement. “SkyKick, in combination with the Synnex Capture the Cloud Program, allows our partners a differentiated solution to scale their cloud revenue and profitability.”

The Application Suite consists of three components:

• Web Planner—A sales assessment, planning and configuration application including email assessment, mailbox discovery and Office 365 licensing;
• Migration Sync—Just what the name implies, Migration Sync first syncs all a customer’s data from the server, then performs a DNS Sync, then performs account and mailbox provisioning; and
• SkyKick Assistant—A lightweight client app that works in conjunction with Migration Sync to finalize the migration. It automatically sets up Outlook and retains Outlook extras such as address autocomplete and email signatures, performs local PST migrations and ensures timely transfer of all the customer's email data.

The big news here isn’t SkyKick’s adoption by Synnex or even the proliferation of cloud services among IT distributors. In this case, it’s more about the effort to make the cloud an easier sell by channel partners to their SMB customers. With all the noise about cloud security, not to mention the FUD around difficult cloud migrations, SkyKick’s technology is one tool that can help the channel keep their cloud hopes high.