In early 2017, two of Western Washington’s leading pathology groups, CellNetix and PSIP, joined forces, bringing together 70 physicians and over 400 employees across 25 hospitals, labs, and offices in Washington and Alaska. While the merger itself was strategic and forward-thinking, aligning their IT infrastructure presented a unique challenge.

CellNetix operated on an on-premises Exchange 2010 system, while PSIP was already leveraging Office 365 Exchange Online. Rather than moving backward by migrating PSIP to an outdated on-prem environment, CellNetix saw an opportunity to leap ahead. They already held Office 365 licenses but had yet to make the transition.

To streamline communication and unify operations, CellNetix partnered with us to architect and execute a smart, efficient migration. We seamlessly transitioned CellNetix from their legacy Exchange Server to Office 365, while simultaneously consolidating PSIP’s existing mailboxes into the new, unified tenant, laying the foundation for a modern, agile healthcare enterprise.

When CellNetix and PSIP merged, they faced a complex email integration challenge, and we were proud to lead the solution. Our CEO, Tony Lesirge, served as both architect and project manager, designing a streamlined three-step strategy that kept things efficient, cost-effective, and minimally disruptive for the client.

Step 1: Build a Hybrid Exchange Environment
We started by configuring CellNetix’s existing Exchange 2010 server in a hybrid setup with Office 365. This allowed emails to route through Office 365 while supporting mailboxes both on-prem and in the cloud. It gave CellNetix the flexibility to migrate mailboxes at their own pace, with minimal downtime. Since their internal IT team was strong, we focused on solving the most complex pieces first, then handed off the more routine mailbox moves, along with clear step-by-step instructions, so their team could complete them when it made the most sense operationally.

Step 2: Execute a Seamless Tenant-to-Tenant Migration
Migrating from one Office 365 tenant to another isn’t something Microsoft makes easy, so we brought in a trusted third-party tool to make it happen. This tool allowed us to cut over PSIP’s mailboxes into CellNetix’s Office 365 tenant smoothly. Given that CellNetix operates around the clock, we planned carefully to limit downtime to under two days across the entire project, executing most of the work over weekends to avoid disruption.

Step 3: Empower the Client for Long-Term Success
Once everything was in place, we trained the CellNetix team to handle their own mailbox migrations going forward. This not only gave them control over the timeline, but also saved them money. Throughout the project, we collaborated closely with both their LIS and Infrastructure teams to ensure everything ran smoothly.