MS-102 Deploy and manage a Microsoft 365 tenant Practice Question
Your organization plans to migrate from on-premises Exchange to Exchange Online. You need to ensure minimal disruption during the migration. Which approach should you recommend?
⚠ Common exam trap
MS-102 often tests migration strategies; candidates may choose cutover for simplicity, ignoring that it causes downtime and lacks coexistence, which is critical for minimal disruption.
Answer choices
Why each option matters
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Deploy a hybrid configuration and migrate mailboxes in batches.
A hybrid configuration with batch migration is the recommended approach for minimal disruption because it allows coexistence between on-premises Exchange and Exchange Online, enabling gradual mailbox moves while maintaining free/busy, calendar sharing, and mail flow. Batch migration lets you schedule and control the pace, reducing user impact and allowing rollback if issues arise.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✓
Deploy a hybrid configuration and migrate mailboxes in batches.
Why this is correct
Hybrid configuration preserves coexistence between on-premises Exchange and Exchange Online, letting mailboxes move in controlled batches while mail flow and free/busy sharing continue uninterrupted. This directly satisfies the minimal-disruption constraint, since users keep working throughout and rollback remains possible until each batch completes.
- ✗
Perform a cutover migration during a weekend.
Why it's wrong here
A cutover migration moves all mailboxes in one pass and requires reconfiguring DNS and clients afterwards, so users face downtime and profile rebuilds. It is tempting because it is fast and simple for small organisations, but it cannot provide the coexistence and staged switchover that minimal disruption demands.
- ✗
Use IMAP migration to migrate all mailboxes in parallel.
Why it's wrong here
IMAP migration copies only mailbox contents, not calendars, contacts, tasks or rules, and requires credentials for every mailbox. It is tempting because it migrates many mailboxes in parallel from non-Exchange systems, but it cannot preserve the full mailbox data and coexistence that an Exchange-to-Exchange Online migration needs.
- ✗
Use a third-party migration tool for a one-time bulk migration.
Why it's wrong here
A third-party bulk tool performs a one-time copy without maintaining ongoing mailbox coexistence or directory synchronisation, so changes made during migration are lost. It is tempting for consolidating small tenants quickly, but it cannot sustain the hybrid coexistence that minimal disruption during an Exchange Online migration requires.
Go deeper
Related to this question
Learn chapter
Exchange Mobile Device Policies (OWA)
Key term
Mailbox
A mailbox is a storage location on a mail server where incoming and outgoing email messages are kept for a user or group.
Key term
Exchange Online
Exchange Online is Microsoft's cloud-based email, calendar, and contact hosting service that is part of the Microsoft 365 suite, allowing organizations to manage corporate messaging without maintaining their own mail servers.
About these practice questions
This MS-102 question is part of Courseiva's 712-question bank — original exam-style content with full explanations and wrong-answer analysis, never real exam questions or exam dumps. Learn why practice questions differ from exam dumps →
JA
Written and reviewed by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
Last reviewed September 2026 · checked against the official Microsoft exam blueprint
This MS-102 practice question is part of Courseiva's free Microsoft certification practice question bank. Courseiva provides original exam-style practice questions with explanations, topic-based practice, mock exams, readiness tracking, and study analytics to help learners prepare for the MS-102 exam.