Undoubtedly, Google Workspace is the best collaboration and communication suite on the market. If you are not using it currently, you are missing out on many awesome features. If you have decided to move to Google Workspace, you will realize the importance later. With the pandemic and the move of working culture from office to home, there’s a huge need for collaboration. Google’s collaboration suite includes Gmail, Google Drive, Chat, Meet, and Calendar, which cover all essentials needed to work effectively as a team or within an organization.
The power of sharing and working in real-time on a document simultaneously while someone watches it over a VC is what the next level of collaboration looks like. With the revamped Gmail version, Google also lets you access all other services like Calendar, Chat, Keep, contacts, etc., right from the Gmail view so that you wouldn’t have to switch screens.
Moving to Google Workspace is also possible if you use an existing collaboration suite. You can plan to transition after migrating the data into Google. If you are reading this article, you are probably using the Microsoft 365 suite of applications. There are many options to migrate the account data to Google. Cloudasta has helped more than 1000 businesses to do such migrations effectively.
Below are the steps that can help you migrate data from M365 to Google Workspace:
Using Google Data Migration Service:
- Create Google Workspace accounts: Once you have decided to migrate, the first step involves provisioning the identities or accounts on Google Workspace. Following this guide, you might have to add the domain and verify it earlier. You must add accounts for all users and shared mailboxes(if any). You will need an admin account to create these users. From M365, you can export your user list that includes the first name, last name, and email address in advance.
- Create a routing rule: To ensure that there’s no loss of email during this transition, you need to create a routing rule to route all incoming emails to Google Workspace. This will ensure the emails are not lost, and the users can start using the new account while you migrate the legacy data. Emails and documents are always critical data for any organization, and it should be ensured to set this up effectively.
- Setup Data Migration service: You can migrate yourself as Google provides the “Data Migration service” that can help to migrate Emails, Contacts, and Calendars. You can access this service right from the Google Admin console. Follow the below instructions to set up and use this service:
I. Once you login to the admin console and go to the Data migration service page, select the elements you would like to migrate (for example, email, calendar, contacts)
II. Select “Microsoft 365” as the Data migration source.
III. Choose “Exchange Web services” as the connection protocol.
IV. Enter the credentials of the mail server’s admin account with impersonation rights.
V. Check the connection, and if it’s successful, go to the next page.
VI. On the next page, select the list of Microsoft accounts and the new Google Workspace accounts to be migrated. Click on “Start” to commence the migration.
VII. Ideally, you should always prefer to start the migration over the weekend.
VIII. Repeat the same process for Calendars and contacts.
IX. If you plan to move files, you need to use a third-party application or set up Google Workspace Migrate. You can take help from an external partner like Cloudasta to do this.
Migrate from Microsoft 365 to Google Workspace using Cloudasta’s free DIY migration tool:
Cloudasta has developed a great migration tool that takes care of all the intricacies of migrating data seamlessly from Microsoft 365 to Google Workspace. The tool is easy to use, and you can follow the guided steps or always get in touch with our support team to understand the details.
We also migrate and take care of everything for free while you are hands-off if you subscribe to Google Workspace with us as your reseller. As experts in the platform and after doing 100s of migrations, we have the required experience to move your data to Google Workspace safely. If you are not tech-savvy or want to focus on your business while we take care, switch from O365 to Google for you. Our tool can be used for free during the whole migration process.
Cloudasta’s managed migration service to move from O365 to Google Workspace:
Cloudasta also provides managed migration services that are completely hands-off, and we migrate all required services like Email, documents, calendars, and contacts that are business critical. We boast of years of expertise in this domain and the success gained from more than 100 migrations in the past years. We take care of the change management and ensure data security and transition completeness. If you have any concerns or doubts regarding the migration, we are happy to talk to you and clarify them beforehand.
Change is difficult, but it’s constant. Google Workspace introduces you to a whole new world of collaboration. You should not miss out on the benefits of moving to Google workspace, working in a hybrid connected environment, and communicating and collaborating across mobile devices on the go. As a business owner, your focus should always be on improving employee productivity, and what better than Google Workspace to do that?
As you are already using Microsoft 365, it might be difficult for employees to use a new environment for a start, but with proper change management and training, they would love the product once they start using it. To lessen the pain of the migration and plan it properly, especially if you are a medium to large organization, reach out to us today.