Case study
AWO is a global law firm and consultancy that specialises in data rights, digital policy, and regulatory compliance.
AWO is a global law firm and consultancy that specialises in data rights, digital policy, and regulatory compliance.
With a team made up of legal experts, digital policy advisers, and data protection specialists, AWO provides strategic guidance to individuals and organisations navigating complex digital and data challenges.
Headquartered in Belgium, the UK, and Australia, and with a representative office in Italy, AWO works at the intersection of law, technology, and human rights, empowering clients to uphold data rights and stay ahead of evolving digital regulations.
As a business that works with clients on data protection and compliance, AWO needed to align its own systems with strict data sovereignty requirements.
Their Microsoft 365 environment was originally hosted in a US-based tenant, which posed limitations for data residency and EU regulatory compliance.
The organisation wanted to migrate all of its digital assets including emails, files, collaboration tools, and more into a brand-new Microsoft 365 tenant hosted within the European Union.
This move was essential not only for compliance, but also for enhancing control over their systems.
The migration needed to be carefully managed to avoid any disruption to AWO’s day-to-day operations, especially given the global nature of their team and the sensitive nature of their work.
Valto was engaged to manage the complete Microsoft 365 tenant migration for AWO.
Following an extensive workshop with key stakeholders, we then carried out a full assessment of the existing environment to map out assets and develop a detailed, step-by-step migration plan.
The next step involved disconnecting the domains from the existing US-based tenant, which had been set up and managed by a third-party provider.
This plan included a robust communication strategy to keep AWO’s global team informed, along with a pre-migration checklist, asset mapping, and cutover timeline.
We carefully migrated a range of digital assets, including user mailboxes, Microsoft Teams workspaces, and OneDrive storage, ensuring that all data was moved securely, and user experience was a focus point throughout.
Key technical considerations, such as mailbox mapping and the reassignment of shared drives and collaboration spaces, were handled in close collaboration with AWO’s internal team to reduce friction and maintain continuity.
The project was completed successfully, with AWO’s full Microsoft 365 environment now hosted within the EU and the original US tenant now decommissioned. This move has allowed the organisation to align fully with its own high standards for data sovereignty and compliance, giving peace of mind to both internal teams and external clients. In addition to meeting regulatory requirements, the new environment has improved the organisation’s data governance and system security. IT management has also been streamlined, reducing the overhead previously required to maintain the legacy environment. The migration forms a key part of AWO’s broader strategy to ensure their internal operations are as robust and compliant as the advice they offer to clients. The organisation is now well-positioned to scale, collaborate, and support international operations with greater flexibility and confidence. Benefits:
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