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There is a frequently referenced part of Romeo and Juliet where Juliet seems to argue that it does not matter that Romeo is from her rival’s house of Montague, that is, that he is named ‘Montague’. The reference is often used to imply that the names of things do not affect what they really are. When it comes to choosing a tenant name…. They really do!

Within Office 365 the choice of the tenant name is something you really need to think about from day one. Failure to do so often leads to later headaches and unhappiness.

Here are some points to consider:

  • The tenant name always appears in the SharePoint url for example https://contoso.sharepoint.com so you need to consider whether the url makes sense. Also you might be typing it a lot so choosing something short is great for users.
  • Has the right team in your organisation been involved? The name will be there an awful long time so make sure the right teams are involved in the choice, does your marketing or legal team need consulting. Does the name factor into the company growth?
  • Is the name already taken? If your desired name is in use Microsoft can contact the current owner and you may be eligible to regain that name. Often other elements of an organisation may well have already claimed the main name during a POC etc. This process can take a very long time upwards of 120 days.
  • If you choose the wrong name you will end up with a migration project entangled with rollout project.
  • You need to make sure you get the right licenses are assigned on the tenant. If the tenant gets created incorrectly it can sometimes lead to deletion and recreation which can take upwards of 60 days. This is due to the teardown process SLA for a tenant to release the name for reuse. Also Microsoft are the only ones who can perform this action.
  • The tenant name is used in cloud identities in the email address for example wes@contoso.onmicrosoft.com
  • The choice can be complicated if the company is split into groups or operating companies which have strong brand identity.

So when considering Office 365

The standard set of questions should be:

  • Do you have an Office 365 tenant?
  • What is the tenant name (i.e. <tenantname.onmicrosoft.com>)
  • Are you happy with this name to appear in the URL for (future) SharePoint Online? Has this been signed off by your comms / marketing team?

If you want to set up a new tenant for a client and want to know whether the name is free or not, use this awesome little Azure App: http://office365check.azurewebsites.net/