Project Better Energy initially set out to consolidate its Microsoft 365 environments into the Project Better Energy tenant. However, a thorough discovery process led by Cobweb assessed both the technical setup and licensing usage, revealing that migrating into their other existing tenant, Project Solar UK, would deliver a significantly lower total cost of ownership. This approach enabled the business to operate from a modern, secure, and easy‑to‑manage tenant, while giving users a consistent platform that supports effective collaboration across the organisation.
The project included the migration of email, files, collaboration tools, and user identities from different legacy tenants, using specialist automation to ensure accuracy and reduce disruption. Internal permissions were carefully preserved so employees could continue working without interruption.
Cobweb also implemented best‑practice security across the chosen tenant (Project Solar UK), introducing advanced Conditional Access policies, strengthened data‑sharing controls, and modern identity and centralised device management using Microsoft Intune for a more secure digital workplace.
Guided by a Prince2‑certified Project Manager, Solution Architects and our Migration Engineer, Cobweb delivered a structured, transparent, and well‑governed migration, giving Project Better Energy a unified Microsoft 365 platform designed for long‑term growth, security, and productivity.
Main challenges for Project Better Energy:
Before the migration project, Project Better Energy faced increasing challenges from operating across multiple separate Microsoft 365 tenants (Project Solar UK, Project Better Energy, Elco Group and Curv360). This fragmented setup meant users often had several accounts, driving up licensing costs and creating confusion when trying to collaborate or even locate colleagues. Each tenant had its own configuration, security policies, permissions, and identity setup, which made day‑to‑day work more complicated than it needed to be. File sharing was inconsistent, Teams collaboration often broke between tenants, and users couldn’t easily access the same resources or work within a unified set of tools.
Security was also a major concern. Different tenants meant inconsistent security policies, siloed identity management, and varying levels of protection. Two of the tenants were reliant on hybrid identity via Entra Connect, requiring ongoing manual effort to keep identities aligned and secure as the business evolved. Maintaining this across multiple environments increased operational overhead and added unnecessary risk.
Operational efficiency suffered, too. Onboarding and offboarding users, updating permissions, and applying security and compliance controls had to be repeated across tenants, taking extra time and increasing the potential for misconfigurations. Data was scattered across different locations, complicating governance, backups, and legal or compliance requirements. These challenges also limited the organisation’s ability to adopt new technologies such as Intune or make full use of Microsoft 365’s more advanced features.
Project Better Energy needed a single, modern Microsoft 365 environment where all users, files, tools, and security policies could live in one place. By consolidating the three tenants into the chosen Project Solar UK tenant, the organisation would gain a unified platform with strengthened security, simplified management, and a better user experience ready for the business’s future growth and digital transformation.
Cobweb’s Solution:
Cobweb delivered a phased, low‑risk, high‑impact configuration baseline and migration to PBE’s chosen Microsoft 365 environment, from three different tenants, underpinned by Prince2‑qualified project management to ensure controlled, well‑governed delivery. This included a deep technical discovery across all existing tenants, with cost‑optimisation analysis, which was fed back through structured review sessions to build a clear, evidence‑based use case for tenant selection and consolidation.
Phase 1: Discovery, preparation and configuration of the chosen tenant
Cobweb first did a full discovery of all three of the existing tenants, to provide recommendations for data migration and pilot testing certain environments. This enabled a plan to move ahead with the migration into the chosen tenant (Project Solar UK) increase flexibility when it comes to cloud needs, improve collaboration and would allow the business to look ahead when it came to scaling up and improving their security. Throughout the discovery, several things were identified:
Project Solar UK was selected as the preferred tenant for consolidation, as existing Power BI and Power Platform workloads did not need to be migrated.
It also required the least volume of data to be moved, reducing complexity and overall migration risk.
Licensing optimisation opportunities were identified, enabling substantial Microsoft 365 cost savings.
Opportunities to improve security across the consolidated Microsoft 365 tenant were clearly identified and offered for implementation.
Following this, Cobweb prepared the existing Project Solar UK tenant, ensuring it was built to a best‑practice standard before any data was moved across. This included configuring identity settings, cloud apps, Conditional Access policies, and security baselines so the environment was secure from day one. Multi‑Factor Authentication, geo‑blocking, legacy authentication controls, and platform restrictions were all set up to create a consistent and modern security posture. A full configuration list was shared with Project Better Energy so they remained informed and could request changes if needed. This phase laid a secure groundwork in preparation for the migration by ensuring the destination tenant was fully aligned with Microsoft 365 best practice.
Phase 2: Migrating Curv360 into Project Solar UK
Once the Project Solar UK tenant was ready, Cobweb carried out the first live migration wave by moving the Curv360 tenant into Project Solar UK. This involved migrating their Exchange Online mailboxes, SharePoint sites, OneDrive data, and Microsoft Teams structures using AvePoint Fly automation. Permissions and internal sharing settings were carefully replicated to ensure users retained access to the right content. This phase effectively acted as a pilot test, allowing Cobweb to validate migration scripts, data mapping, and process timings while ensuring minimal disruption. Completing Curv360 first meant that any adjustments could be made ahead of the larger Project Better Energy migration.
Phase 3: Migrating Project Better Energy into Project Solar UK
The final phase involved migrating the main Project Better Energy tenant. Cobweb moved all cloud workloads (Exchange Online, SharePoint, OneDrive, and Microsoft Teams) into Project Solar UK, ensuring permissions and structures remained intact.
At the same time, Entra Connect was disconnected from both the legacy Curve360 and Project Better Energy tenants and reconfigured into a multi-forest hybrid identity model. This new setup supports Exchange Cloud Source of Authority management and synchronises identities and passwords with the new Project Solar UK environment. This phase also included the most sensitive technical work:
Removing custom domains from the old tenants
Re‑adding them to the new tenants (Curve360 and Project Better Energy)
Completing DNS and MX record cutover
Managing temporary mail delay windows
Restoring clean mail flow once the cutover was complete
Acronis backup remained active throughout this phase, ensuring a safety net in case any data required restoration. After the migration, Cobweb carried out validation checks to confirm email flow, Teams meetings, permissions, and data access were all functioning correctly.
Phase 4: Migrating Elco Group into Project Solar UK
For the final phase, Cobweb migrated one of Project Better Energy’s acquisition tenants, Elco Group, introducing a standardised Entra cloud-joined, Intune-managed device baseline. This gave Project Solar greater visibility and control over Elco Group’s devices, helping to ensure that security settings, compliance requirements, and user configurations were applied consistently across the estate. By creating a more secure and manageable device environment, this phase not only improved day-to-day IT control, but also created an Intune pilot for future rollout across acquisitions and the wider business.
The Outcomes:
The migration delivered a big step forward for Project Better Energy. By moving everything into a single Microsoft 365 tenant, the team immediately gained clearer collaboration, simpler day‑to‑day management, and had reduced licensing costs (this produced savings that almost paid for the project itself). Consolidation also strengthened their security posture, removing the risks that come from juggling multiple environments and inconsistent policies.
Operationally, the shift to one tenant means onboarding and offboarding staff is now far quicker and more consistent for Project Better Energy. Administrators no longer need to manage separate systems or duplicate settings, and everything from identity management to device policies can now be handled centrally. With the move complete, Project Better Energy can also take full advantage of tools such as Microsoft Intune and Business Premium features, which were previously harder to adopt across their split environment.
Importantly, the project didn’t just fix today’s challenges. The new, unified tenant provides a clean, scalable foundation for future acquisitions, allowing newly acquired companies to be integrated smoothly and securely. This consolidation has effectively become a launchpad for wider digital transformation, giving Project Better Energy a modern, standardised environment that supports their long‑term growth.
PBE secured a unified Microsoft 365 tenant for all business units, enabling seamless collaboration
Elimination of duplicate accounts across multiple tenants
Best practice configuration was configured across the board
PBE now has simplified onboarding and offboarding processes
Improved data security and governance, with all data and backups managed in one environment
Easier implementation of security policies and compliance measures across the tenant
Enabled use of advanced features like Intune and Business Premium licensing
Provided a scalable foundation for integrating future acquisitions
Streamlined administrative tasks, saving time and reducing complexity for IT staff
From the moment of jumping on the call with Alex, Adam and Oliver, I was very, very impressed. It became clear they knew what they were talking about like the back of their hand with their eyes shut. I knew we would be in good hands with them as they were proposing things that other companies hadn’t proposed – really obvious things that have ultimately led to us saving 10s of thousands of pounds had we not gone with Cobweb.
Because of the great work they’ve done, we want to continue working with Cobweb for many projects in the future – these guys know what they’re talking about a lot more than anyone else that we’d spoke to.
– Jason Dutton, Group IT Manager
Main Project Team
Oliver Moazzezi Solutions Architect
Adam Harper Professional Services Lead
Charlton Levendale Project Manager
Andrew Sharpe Modern Workplace Consultant
Alex Tomris Commercial Lead
In need of a data migration?
Migrating to Microsoft 365 doesn’t have to feel overwhelming. At Cobweb, we simplify the process, delivering a smooth, secure, and well‑managed migration from start to finish. Whatever your reason for moving – whether due to M&A, a change in platform, or consolidating an existing Microsoft tenant – our migration specialists are here to take the pressure off your shoulders. If you’d like to discuss how we can support your move, please get in touch with our team.
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