A Microsoft 365 migration in Dubai is priced as a project, driven by how many mailboxes move, how much file data comes with them, and what you are moving from. Licences are a separate monthly cost. Listonics projects run from AED 2,500 to AED 30,000 depending on requirement, quoted fixed after a scoping call.
Part of our guide to Microsoft 365 & Cloud.
What is in a migration quote, and what is not?
Two different things get confused here. The project is the one-off work of moving you across: tenant setup, security configuration, mail and file migration, the cut-over and the support immediately afterwards. The licences are a recurring monthly cost per user that you pay to Microsoft either way, and what each plan includes is set out in the Microsoft 365 platform service description.
A quote should separate the two clearly. A single figure that blends project work and a year of licences makes comparison impossible and hides which part you are actually paying for.
- Project: tenant setup, security baseline, migration, cut-over, hypercare.
- Licences: monthly per user, paid to Microsoft, listed separately.
- Data migration: sized by mailbox count and file volume.
- Optional: device setup, training, and a separate backup for the tenant.
What moves the project cost most?
Where you are moving from, first. A move from another cloud platform is generally more predictable than a move from an on-premises Exchange server or a hosting provider, because the tooling is better and the source is healthier. Microsoft provides bulk tooling for file moves in Migration Manager.
Then volume. Mailbox count sets much of the effort, and file data volume sets how long the pre-staging takes. A large, messy shared drive costs more than a large tidy one, because somebody has to decide what moves and how it is structured on the other side.
Which plan should you be quoted on?
The licence decision changes the monthly cost more than any project line, and it is frequently made on price alone without anyone checking what the cheaper plan leaves out.
The entry plans cover mail, the web versions of the Office applications and file storage, which is genuinely enough for some offices. What they do not include is the security and device management layer: conditional access, device policy, the stronger threat protection and the tools to wipe a lost laptop. Those sit in the business premium tier, and an office that needs them will end up buying them separately at a higher combined cost.
The practical test is whether staff work on company-managed laptops holding client data, and whether anyone works from a personal device. If either is true, price the tier that includes device and identity management rather than adding it later. Our Microsoft 365 support page sets out what the administration involves either way.
- Entry plans: mail, web apps, storage. Enough for some small offices.
- Business premium tier: adds conditional access, device management and stronger threat protection.
- Desktop Office applications sit above the very cheapest tiers.
- Decide on what you need to manage, not on the monthly headline.
Which decisions save money, and which cost more later?
The saving people reach for first is skipping the security setup, and it is the one that costs most later. Multi-factor authentication, administrator separation and device policy are quick during a migration and disruptive to retrofit once everyone is working.
The genuine savings are elsewhere: deciding what not to migrate, agreeing the SharePoint structure before rather than after, and cutting over on a weekend so hypercare is cheaper than emergency support. Our Microsoft 365 support page covers what happens after go-live.
- Decide what not to move; old data costs time to migrate and clutter afterwards.
- Agree the file structure before the move, not during it.
- Set security up during the project, when it is cheap.
- Cut over at a weekend, so the first working day is supported rather than fixed.
What about backup, which is not included?
Microsoft keeps the service running and replicates your data; protecting the contents is the customer's responsibility, and retention is sold separately as Microsoft 365 Backup rather than being part of a licence.
That belongs in the budget at migration time rather than being discovered after a deletion. Our business backup services page covers the options.
What does a Listonics migration cost?
Projects run from AED 2,500 to AED 30,000 depending on requirement. A small office moving a handful of mailboxes with little file data sits toward the lower end; a larger migration from an on-premises server with a substantial shared drive, a security baseline and device setup sits toward the upper end.
Licences are supplied at Microsoft's published rates and listed separately so you can see exactly what is project work. The quote follows a scoping call and is fixed, and our migration plan guide sets out the phases it covers.
How do you compare migration quotes?
Check three things before the total. Whether licences are included or separate, whether the security baseline is in scope or an extra, and what happens during the first week after cut-over.
That last one separates most quotes. A migration that ends at cut-over leaves you alone on the morning everything is new, which is when the problems appear. A free scoping call covers what your move actually involves.
Frequently asked questions
It is priced as a project, driven by mailbox count, file data volume and what you are moving from. Listonics projects run from AED 2,500 to AED 30,000 depending on requirement, with licences listed separately as a monthly per-user cost paid to Microsoft.
They should be shown separately, and we do. Licences are a recurring monthly cost per user; the migration is one-off project work. A single blended figure makes it impossible to compare providers or to see what you are actually paying for.
Usually, yes. Cloud-to-cloud moves are more predictable because the tooling is better and the source is generally healthier. An on-premises Exchange or a hosting provider adds discovery, clean-up and often surprises, all of which is effort rather than software.
Yes, and it is the most effective saving available. Deciding what not to move shortens the migration and leaves a tidier result. Old mail and abandoned file shares cost time to move and then clutter the system afterwards, so the decision pays twice.
No, and it should be budgeted separately. Microsoft protects the platform rather than your data within it, and sells retention as a separate product. Adding it during the migration is straightforward; discovering it is missing after a deletion is not.
Written by Srinivasan Ramachandran, Founder, Listonics · Last reviewed September 27, 2026