{"id":880494,"date":"2026-10-20T10:51:21","date_gmt":"2026-10-20T08:51:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=880494"},"modified":"2026-10-20T10:51:24","modified_gmt":"2026-10-20T08:51:24","slug":"diy-email-migration-or-professional-help-what-businesses-need-to-know","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/industry-news\/880494\/diy-email-migration-or-professional-help-what-businesses-need-to-know\/","title":{"rendered":"DIY Email Migration or Professional Help? What Businesses Need to Know"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Migrating business <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.domains.co.za\/email-hosting?utm_source=BusinessTech&amp;utm_medium=Article&amp;utm_term=October+2026\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">email hosting<\/a><\/strong> from one host to another can help a business find a better fit for its needs. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>However, the move is not as simple as copying messages from one account to another. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.domains.co.za\/?utm_source=BusinessTech&amp;utm_medium=Article&amp;utm_term=October+2026\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Click here to learn more about Domains.co.za.<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>For South African SMEs, the challenge is keeping communication running smoothly despite the update in mailboxes, server settings and domain records.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Wondering whether to migrate your business email yourself or let your hosting provider handle it? <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The answer depends on the size of your business, the complexity of your setup, and how comfortable you are managing the technical side.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What Does DIY Email Migration Involve?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>If you have a handful of mailboxes and understand basic DNS settings, migrating email yourself may be manageable. &nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>To prevent downtime, the switch involves the following steps:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>1. Prepare your existing email accounts:<\/strong> Make a list of all mailboxes, aliases and forwarding rules. Back up your messages, check mailbox sizes, and confirm where your domain\u2019s DNS records are managed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>2. Set up your new mailboxes:<\/strong> Create matching email addresses on the new hosting service before making any changes to your domain. This ensures incoming messages have somewhere to go when the switch happens.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>3. Copy your existing emails: <\/strong>An IMAP-to-IMAP migration tool or desktop email client can transfer messages and folders between servers. Mail stored locally by POP3 users may need to be uploaded separately.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>4. Update your DNS records: <\/strong>This is the critical stage. Changing your domain\u2019s MX records directs incoming email to the new server. You may also need to update SPF and DKIM records to help ensure outgoing messages are authenticated correctly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>5. Test and monitor everything:<\/strong> Check that messages arrive and send successfully, reconnect email apps and devices, and run a final sync to capture messages that reached the old server during the changeover.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Your old email hosting should remain active until the migration is complete. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>DNS changes can take roughly 48-72 hours to propagate fully, so switching off the old service too soon can cause problems.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>You&#8217;ll find a complete guide on <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.domains.co.za\/blog\/migrate-business-email-without-downtime\/?utm_source=BusinessTech&amp;utm_medium=Article&amp;utm_term=October+2026\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">migrating your business email<\/a><\/strong> on our website.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">When Is It Better to Let Your Host Handle Email Migration?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>DIY migration can save you from coordinating with a service provider, but it requires time, technical confidence, and careful planning. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A mistake with DNS settings or an overlooked mailbox could disrupt communication with customers, suppliers, and staff.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For businesses with multiple users, large mailboxes, or more complex email systems, host-assisted migration can reduce the workload and the risk of errors. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It also gives you a point of contact if something goes wrong.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Before choosing a provider, ask what its migration service includes. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Will it transfer existing messages and folders? What happens to aliases, contacts, calendars, and email rules? Are connected devices and applications included, or will your team need to configure them separately?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Make the Move Without Unnecessary Disruption<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;When it comes to a successful email migration, timing is everything,&#8221; says Simon Mokolutlo, Support Manager at Domains.co.za. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;Even a small mistake with DNS settings, or switching off your old hosting too soon, can disrupt email delivery. Take your time, and if you are unsure, let our support team handle the migration on your behalf.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If you&#8217;re moving to Domains.co.za, free email migration is included on every Email Hosting plan, and the Support Team can help transfer your existing emails. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>You can compare the <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.domains.co.za\/email-hosting?utm_source=BusinessTech&amp;utm_medium=Article&amp;utm_term=October+2026\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Email Hosting plans<\/a><\/strong> or <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.domains.co.za\/submitTicket\/sales?utm_source=BusinessTech&amp;utm_medium=Article&amp;utm_term=October+2026\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">submit a migration request<\/a><\/strong> to get started.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.domains.co.za\/?utm_source=BusinessTech&amp;utm_medium=Article&amp;utm_term=October+2026\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Click here to learn more about Domains.co.za.<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Migrating business email hosting from one host to another can help a business find a better fit for its needs. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":57,"featured_media":880495,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_sma_x_autopost_status":"posted","_sma_x_autopost_error":"","_sma_x_post_id":"2112466863342961083","_sma_facebook_post_id":"191437357620492_2243124163174649","_sma_instagram_post_id":"","_sma_x_attempts":1,"footnotes":""},"categories":[10459],"tags":[14469,26853,26852],"class_list":["post-880494","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-industry-news","tag-domains-co-za","tag-email-hosting","tag-email-migration"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/880494","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/57"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=880494"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/880494\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":880496,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/880494\/revisions\/880496"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/880495"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=880494"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=880494"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=880494"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}