Email Migration from Mail.ru for Business: What to Check and Where to Move

What changed and who might be affected

A free mailbox often becomes the primary work email for a small company. Inquiries, invoices, and vendor documents are sent to it. It is specified in website settings and accounting software. When a provider changes access rules, the consequences extend well beyond a single employee's email app.

Check which product you are using. A personal free mailbox, email on a company domain, and a dedicated business service may have different terms. A provider's name in the address or a familiar interface does not answer what access is permitted for your organization. You need details from your account portal and a response from support for that specific account.

Protocol restrictions do not automatically mean your correspondence has been deleted. Emails may remain accessible via the web interface even if a third-party app stops connecting. Separately determine the status of your archive and owner access. A single error message is not enough to determine what data is accessible and what scope of work can be agreed upon.

Not every disruption is caused by recent news. An incorrect password, permission changes, or an issue within the app itself also require verification. Record the date the issue appeared and the exact error text. Discussing a specific mailbox and symptom with support is far more productive than merely referencing news headlines.

What is corporate email

Corporate email is email that an organization manages for business operations. Usually, addresses are linked to the company domain. It is equally important who grants access, manages shared department inboxes, and preserves business correspondence when an employee leaves. Having a custom domain address alone is not enough.

Separate the address from the individual. The sales department address must remain part of company operations even if team members change. Decide who reads incoming inquiries, who responds to clients, and who can grant access to a new manager. These rules are essential regardless of the chosen platform.

Clarify who owns the administrator account and domain management portal. If everything is registered to a former employee, resolving access becomes a separate task. Resolve this before selecting a new service. Having a website on a domain does not prove that your team has the right to manage that domain's email settings.

Email connects to other business systems. The website sends incoming requests, the CRM tracks deal correspondence, and the accountant sends documents from 1C. A company must understand who is responsible for each integration. Otherwise, a fixed employee mailbox might coexist with broken invoice delivery.

What are IMAP, POP3, and SMTP

IMAP is a protocol that allows an email client to access messages and folders on the server. When this access is disabled, the app may stop displaying new emails. The ability to open the mailbox in a browser is verified separately. On the surface, the issue looks like a password problem, though the real cause may be access restrictions.

POP3 is also used by email clients to receive messages. During an inventory, it is important to find out where the necessary history is stored. An employee might have a local archive on an old computer. Simply logging into webmail does not prove that all past team correspondence is visible there.

SMTP is a protocol for sending email. It can be used by websites, CRM, 1C, scanners, and other applications. Therefore, sending failures from an accounting system and receiving failures in an email client require separate troubleshooting. Functionality in one direction does not confirm the other.

When migrating via IMAP, only emails and folders are included. Calendars, contacts, and tasks are not transferred automatically. You need to identify the data scope in advance and agree on it separately. For an executive, meeting history can be just as important as a contract folder, even though they represent different parts of the project.

What to check in your company right now

Compile an address registry. List active mailboxes, their owners, purposes, and important correspondence. Include shared mailboxes, email aliases, and forwarding rules. If a mailbox's purpose is unclear, mark it as an open question. Do not delete an address just because no one remembered it during the initial meeting.

Ask employees to list all devices and applications they use for email. You need work computers, phones, shared office equipment, and legacy connections. Separately find out whether they use calendars, contacts, and local archives. This information directly affects project deliverables and user support.

Make a list of automated sending systems. Include website forms, CRM notifications, documents from 1C, newsletters, and backup alerts. Each system must have an owner who can confirm its purpose.

Define operational constraints. Who critically needs to receive emails on mobile? Which shared address takes orders? Where is email correspondence for pending contracts stored? These answers help set verification priorities. They do not replace a technical audit, but they give it a clear business objective.

Where you can migrate your email

The list of options includes Yandex 360, Google Workspace, Microsoft 365, VK WorkSpace, and your own mail server. The choice starts with company requirements. Do not pick a winner based on a familiar name or advice from a peer with a different team setup and different software.

If your team already works in a specific environment, evaluate email in the context of that work. Show future users typical tasks: replying from a shared address, searching for an old email, working from a phone, and sending a meeting invite. Confirm the required features and terms for the selected offering.

Hosting your own server requires maintenance. Administration, spam protection, updates, and backups become the company's responsibility. Control over hosting does not automatically guarantee email delivery. It makes sense to discuss this option with the team that will support the email system after the project.

A comparison based on the same criteria is covered in our article on where to migrate corporate email. We also break down the choice between your own mail server or the cloud. Use these guides as a list of questions for the vendor, and make your final decision based on confirmed requirements.

What businesses in Kazakhstan need to consider

For a company in Almaty or Astana, the choice involves product availability for the organization, contract terms, and access to support. Do not assume these issues are resolved just because the interface is in Russian. Request confirmation from the vendor specifically for your legal entity and the selected service.

Review data requirements with your legal counsel. They depend on your industry, the contents of your correspondence, and your contracts. Emails may contain client and employee documents. Questions about storing and processing such data must be evaluated specifically for your company. A general article cannot replace this analysis.

Factor in multiple offices. For example, a business might have sales in Almaty, accounting in Astana, and remote employees. This is a hypothetical scenario. It is crucial to define who owns shared addresses and how access works across different devices. A simple employee list without role descriptions will not reveal these needs.

Appoint someone to gather requirements from leadership, accounting, and website managers. They do not have to perform technical work. Their role is to consolidate requirements from different departments into a single aligned specification. This helps you avoid choosing a solution that suits only one stakeholder.

How to choose an email migration contractor

Ask to clarify the project scope. Which email addresses and data are included in the quote? Are calendars, contacts, and shared mailboxes covered? Who is responsible for the website and sending software? The response must clearly outline the deliverables. Simply saying "we will migrate your email" is not enough for an agreement.

Clarify what baseline information is required for the audit and which limitations are still unknown. Working access to mailboxes is essential. Without it, migration feasibility cannot be confirmed in advance. The contractor should flag this question upfront rather than promising results without verifying the source system.

Ask whether domain DNS management is included. These settings determine incoming email delivery and sender authentication. You need a designated owner and an agreed-upon list of changes. An explanation of these records is available in our article MX, SPF, DKIM, and DMARC in plain English.

Require a non-disclosure agreement. The contractor gains access to your business correspondence. Sign an NDA before sharing credentials. Clarify how the contractor handles access and when credentials are revoked after the work is completed. At Yashcher, we sign an NDA with every client: email access is used solely for the migration and revoked as soon as the project is finished.

Discuss acceptance in terms of daily operations. Employees can see the required correspondence. The designated manager can access the shared inbox. The website sends notifications. The accountant can send documents directly from their system. A specific checklist is agreed upon based on audit results, so you know exactly what to verify with the contractor.

Clarify post-completion responsibilities. Who does an employee contact if they have an issue on their phone? Who fixes form errors? Who manages accounts for new hires? The answers must account for both the contractor and your internal team. Email continues to require ongoing management after switching platforms.

Promises that should raise red flags

Promising 100% deliverability without analyzing your senders provides no solid basis for choosing a provider. Email delivery also depends on the recipient's policies. Ask the vendor to explain how the project results will be documented and verified, and what constraints could impact them.

Skipping the audit leaves unknowns. If a provider does not ask about access, domains, message history, and connected software, critical scope items may be left out of the estimate. Bring a list of baseline inputs to the discussion. A handy checklist is available in our article how to prepare for email migration.

Another red flag is being told that "someone on your end" is responsible for everything. You need specific individuals assigned to the website, accounting software, and domain. Define who provides data, who approves decisions, and who accepts the completed work. This is a matter of project management that you can resolve without knowing the contractor's internal tech stack.

Do not evaluate a contractor by how much technical jargon they use. A good response allows a business owner to understand the terms and boundaries of responsibility. If you still do not know whether website forms and calendars are included after the conversation, return to the scope of work. These details matter much more than an impression made by complex phrasing.

What your company should receive after the agreed work is completed

Deliverables should be defined through data and operational workflows: which mailboxes are accessible, what history must be preserved, who uses the shared address, and where notifications are sent from. Contacts and calendars are included in the scope separately. Constraints are documented clearly so that both management and future users understand them.

Request a clear breakdown of responsibilities. Your company must know who handles administration, who to contact for errors, and how to request support. For a private server, maintenance and backups are especially important. For cloud solutions, you must also establish who manages user accounts and software integrations.

Yashcher handles corporate email alongside web studio projects. If your website, CRM, or 1C stop sending emails, that becomes a separate part of the discussion. During an audit, we can identify which integrations apply to your task.

All articles in the series

1. Email migration from Mail.ru for business: general overview.
2. Where to migrate corporate email: comparing options.
3. MX, SPF, DKIM, and DMARC: what they are and why you need them.
4. Your own mail server or the cloud.
5. How to prepare for email migration: a company checklist.

Frequently asked questions

Do all companies need to leave Mail.ru?

The decision depends on your product, access terms, and business goals. The announcement about restricting free access does not mean identical changes apply to all business contracts. Check your plan terms in your account portal or with support. Then compare keeping the current platform with migration based on your company's requirements.

If the mailbox opens in a browser, is migration possible?

Logging in via a browser confirms only that specific access method. Evaluating the migration requires an audit of the source mailbox state and available features. Do not promise employees any results before this review. Separately specify local history, contacts, and calendars that you want to include in the discussion.

Will calendars and contacts migrate along with emails?

IMAP migrates emails and folders. Calendars, contacts, and tasks require separate consideration. Include them in your data list and agree on availability and the scope of work. The fact that an employee has this information on their phone does not clarify where it is actually stored.

Why did the website stop working after email changes?

A website may send notifications via the email provider's SMTP. These settings are handled separately from employee mailbox access. Ask the person responsible for the website to check the specific form and error messages. Also include CRM, 1C, and other known senders in the task.

Where should a manager without a technical team start?

Appoint a coordinator, gather email addresses, mailbox owners, and a list of software. Note the observed errors and required workflows. You can take this list to an audit. To choose a platform, verify the vendor's terms separately and review data requirements with your company's legal counsel.