Everything You Need to Know to Migrate from Google Workspace to Office 365

Is migrating from Google Workspace to Microsoft 365 on your to-do list? Planning to create a migration strategy to move the G suite data to O365? Migrating business data and operations from Google Workspace to Microsoft 365 is a big and strategic decision that needs full attention, thorough research, and planning. Therefore, you must have a clear roadmap to execute the process step-by-step wisely to avoid repercussions later on.

This article will provide all the details you need to know before starting the data transfer. Stick around and read the article till last to find guidelines to take care of data and the end users to do the migration right on the first attempt.

Why should you migrate from Google Workspace to Office 365?

Before migrating, it’s important to understand what makes Office 365 a preferred choice that compels businesses to make the switch.

How to migrate from Google Workspace to Office 365?

Let’s go through what you need to know for migrating data from G Suite to Office 365.

Start with efficient planning

Planning is fundamental for efficient and error-free migration. Here’s what you need to consider during the planning phase of the migration:

Identify the type of data you want to migrate

Some businesses migrate everything from Google Workspace, including emails, contacts, calendars, etc., while others migrate emails only. You need to decide what you need to migrate and get rid of any irrelevant or outdated content from the storage.

Plan the users to migrate

If you have a lot of Google Workspace users, you need to decide which one of them you want to take to Office 365. For the mailboxes that won't be active but the data within them is crucial, merge them all into a single mailbox.

Is there any timeline for the migration?

Migrating large Google Workspace accounts can be quite time-consuming and exhausting. The time required to migrate G Suite to Office 365 depends on the size of the data and the complexity involved. To run quick migrations, you should choose a batch or phased migration approach to avoid possible delays.

Plan whether to decommission the source

Once the data is moved to the Office 365 environment, you can switch to work permanently with Office 365. You can decommission the source (Google Workspace) environment if it won’t be in use. This will help you save costs and resources that you might have to spend to retain the source.

Prepare the destination environment

You’ve assessed the source environment, and now you need to prepare the destination. Get your Office 365 subscription, create, and activate the number of users that you want to migrate Google Workspace to Office 365. Assign roles and permissions to the Microsoft 365 users and allocate mailboxes and storage.

Choose the right migration tool

After preparing the migration outline, choose a professional migration tool that will help seamlessly transfer the data. There are several factors you can consider while selecting a migration tool, such as:

1. User-friendly and interactive interface to operate.
2. Easy to scale with the expanding requirements of business.
3. Support quick migration of data even during bulk data.
4. It must provide a feature to perform batch migrations.
5. Allow incremental migration to restrict redundancy.
6. Filters to avoid migration of irrelevant data to Office 365.

Possible migration challenges with manual migration

If you skip a migration tool and prefer to go the traditional way to migrate the data, there can be several complexities, as mentioned below:

1. Temporary downtime can happen during the Google Workspace migration.
2. Some of the data might go missing due to improper configurations.
3. There can be data clustering if not managed properly at the source.
4. Documents from Google Workspace might be incompatible with Office 365.
5. User adoption is a bigger issue if not provided with proper training material.

Conclusion

Google Workspace to Office 365 migration is an essential yet complex procedure that needs to be performed with precision and caution. Therefore, arrange a well-strategized roadmap to migrate before the actual execution. Always consider a professional tool like Kernel Google Workspace to Office 365 to migrate the mailboxes. It will help you achieve effortless migration without making any changes to the data integrity. Always remember that this is not just a platform migration but an attempt to improve your business operations and efficiency.

Frequently Asked Questions

Google Workspace vs Office 365: Which one is better?

The choice between Google Workspace and Office 365 depends on the individual business needs. For businesses that seek higher security, consider Microsoft 365, whereas Google Workspace provides better collaboration.

How can you keep the data secure during the G Suite to Office 365 migration?

Data security should be the major concern when you’re planning the migration, and you must take effective measures to preserve it. Here’s what you can do:

• Backup thoroughly before migrating the mailboxes.
• Restrict access and apply Role-Based Access Control to avoid unauthorized access.
• Regularly monitor the user activities, and if anything unusual is identified, take action against it.