Implications choosing Tenant name for Office 365

[John Galley]

Hi there,

I am currently starting a deployment of Office 365 and the first choice is what to use as the tenant name. The actual company name has already been taken so I am looking at possible alternatives and would like to understand what implications this might have further down the line.

A registered domain alias will be added to Office 365 but from reading other posts there are some areas that will always show the tenant name, including the link for SharePoint Online and links within Skype for Business meeting requests. Can anyone provide any details about when the SharePoint Online address will be used and when users would be expected to see/type this? (I'm not too bothered about the links embedded in Skype messages). Is there anywhere else that the tenant name I used?

Also, does anyone also have any suggestions for the creating a tenant that has worked well when the company name had already been used? Assuming the company name is 'ABC' some of the possible options for the tenant name include:

• abcuk.sharepoint.com (using a geographic identifier for the company)
• ukabc.sharepoint.com (reversal of above)
• myabc.sharepoint.com (suggesting a personal address, not Malaysia country code!)
• goabc.sharepoint.com (similar to above)
• abconline.sharepoint.com (might be useful in a SharePoint address, but not longer term?)

Do you have any other suggestions of possible options that have worked for you?

I've read both horror stories about choosing the wrong tenant name (e.g. using a phone number!) and also others saying that it doesn't matter what the choice is as it's not seen when using a personal domain.

Any advice from previous experience would be greatly appreciated in helping to get the right tenant name instead of regretting it later on.

Many thanks,

J.

[#2]

As you've said - the tenant name will only be visible in SharePoint/OneDrive and related resource.
If you want to use a vanity URL (eg. intranet.yourdomain.com) then you'll need to host your own server to perform a 302 redirect, however this will only be on initial request and also introduces a point of failure.
My suggestion would be to make the tenant domain match the organisation name as close as possible.
I've seen a school call their tenant "go247.sharepoint.com" because they wanted the fancy URL - but now it's stuck and doesn't reflect their school name at all.
Don't put country codes into the tenant name unless you absolutely never intent to expand to another country. I have seen a government agency do that when their name was already used, but as they are a state-based government agency it wasn't a big deal.

[#3]

Depending on which part of the business you work for (e.g. IT) I'd go and talk to some management-ey people about something like this. There might be a legal entity for the business (e.g. Contoso Holdings LLC) that can be used in place of the "brand name". They should also be across the implications in terms of SPO/OD/Skype links and what can/can't be changed in future.

[#4]

Skype links are now based on vanity domain per user, so tenant domain doesn't factor in any more.
Similar to a point with ODFB, except for the "orgname-my" before sharepoint.com.

[#5]

Use something short and something that makes sense.  This is actually a huge decision because it will follow you EVERYWHERE in Office 365.  Even though quite often your users will be moving around via links, your tenant name will stay with you forever.  You won't be changing it, no matter what.  Everything in Office 365 is customized through the tenant name, so whatever you pick, it's yours, for better or worse. 

Others may see it differently, but I actually would advise against just picking a company name (I realize yours is taken).   I would NOT try to use anything catchy + company name.  I also wouldn't add a country/state/region code or anything like that.   Instead, is there something else your company uses for short? 

Also keep in mind that admins are almost certainly going to type it out 4.73 billion times.  If you pick something like JACKSAUTOANDREPO then you will almost certainly be bloodied in the future for that choice.  Don't do it.  The powers that be might favor something quite a bit longer if your business name is taken, be very wary of something longer and just adding on to it.

I work for........... Minnesota Lawyers Mutual Insurance Company (I don't know who thought that was a good idea) and our tenant name is MLMINS.  I type it out probably 50-100 times a day in powershell, visual studio code, admin panels, navigating, configuring settings, etc.  If i would have made it something like MINNESOTALAWYER, I would have been in the hospital getting wrist surgery by now.  Shorten it somehow that makes sense and is usable.  In the instance of JACKSAUTOANDREPO, examples would be JACKS, JAUTO, JAKSAUTO, JAAR, etc.  

[#6]

Thanks for all your replies on this. It has helped us consider the options about the tenant name more carefully and come up with some better options than we were previously considering.

The guidelines I'm now working to based on your comments are that the tenant name should be:

• Representative of the business function or purpose
• Not restricted by a geographic region or location
• Short enough to be accessible (e.g. administrators, website links)

This has led us away from the original consideration of using the country/region in the tenant name.

Following on from my first post, and assuming an example company name of Advanced Building Contractors, the consideration currently is to use something along the lines of:

• abcbuilding.onmicrosoft.com or
• abcbuild.onmicrosoft.com

Using the full company name would be far too long so these are the current options being considered. They include the short company name and relate to the line of business.

What is the general feeling about the longest acceptable length for a tenant name? Would the shorter name be preferred over the longer name or vice versa?

Many thanks.

[#7]

I don't think there's necessarily any rule of thumb for length -- do what feels comfortable.

If you had     abcbuild   vs.  abcbuilding     here's my thought process --

• Is either of the options already a well-known short name/convenience name already used?  If so, score a point for that one, even if it's the longer option 
• That said if neither (or both) are already short names/convenience names, opt for the shorter option, because, why not?
• How much harder is it to type the longer vs. shorter?  Type it out a few times.  I know, I know, you're laughing at that, because, who cares?  This is the admin in me because if everything else is fairly equal, and you can't decide, be good to your admins and systems people.
• Does one look better?  Seems minimal but sometimes it's that simple
• Is there ANY possibility you will be adding another company or expanding in such a way where you will want another Office 365 tenant?  If so, would either option be more likely to fit in or easier to build on?
• Would there be any reasons to pluralize it or any option?  I ask just to keep your brain working...
• With the two options above, would abcbuilds, abcbuilders work too?  Do either of those feel better?
• How does your current domain name fit into this scheme?
• Choose a few co-workers and get their quick opinions on what they like or what they think feels right.  Type is out without any intro or background and just ask which they prefer...

Ok, enough blabbing from me.  Just wanted to expand a little bit on the above, likely without anything helpful.  GOOD LUCK!