Moving to the cloud: 5 easy steps for migrating from Microsoft Office to Google Workspace

Migrating from Microsoft Office to Google Workspace can seem daunting, but with the right approach, it can be a smooth and seamless process. With its cost savings, collaboration features, and user-friendly interface, Google Workspace is quickly becoming the go-to solution for businesses of all sizes. Customers such as Airbus, Veolia, and Carrefour, to name a few, have already made their switch to Google Workspace. But where do you start? How can you ensure a successful migration without disrupting your business?

In this guide, we’ll take you through the 5 steps to migrate from Microsoft Office to Google Workspace, highlighting the importance of change management and the benefits of Google Workspace.

Step 1: Conduct a Needs Assessment

Before making the switch, it’s important to conduct a needs assessment and readiness survey to identify your business requirements and ensure that Google Workspace meets your needs. This will help you determine which Google Workspace plan is right for your business and what features you need to enable. In this phase, you’ll want to make sure we get to talk to the business leaders of your organization so that they can experience Google workspace and see for themselves what the change will entail. We will work together with Googlers who have the expertise to guide you and find the right licence for your business.

Step 2: Plan Your Migration

Next, you’ll need to plan your migration. This involves identifying which data needs to be migrated and creating a timeline. In this section, we’ll make sure to separate migrating data related to communication (Mail, Calendar, Chat) and data related to collaboration (Ms Office Editors, Sharepoint, Local servers) and both are tackled separately to ease the change management efforts and transition. Devoteam G Cloud will assist you with experts in 3 areas: project management, technical management and change management. We will need one or several counterparts in your company to help us with the project, this can be defined in the sales cycle. As we plan for the migration we also plan for the change management looking into the impacted user groups so that we can adequately communicate the “why” and “what’s in it for them” that is relevant to their needs. We will also do a stakeholder analysis to understand who the important stakeholders are and how we can involve them in the project. This is where we’ll look into an ambassador program and how to implement that in your organization.

Step 3: Prepare for Data Migration

The next step is to prepare for the data migration. This involves, cleaning up your files and folders, and mapping your data to the appropriate Google Workspace apps. Step 3 takes place together with our change management including a communication plan and a training plan. 

Step 4: Migrate Your Data

With the preparation complete, it’s time to migrate your data. You can use Google’s migration tools or a third-party migration tool to transfer your data to Google Workspace. Be sure to test the migration process before proceeding to ensure that everything is working as expected. At Devoteam GCloud we do 2 migrations: a first migration before the “Go Live” and then a delta migration over the weekend to ensure that all the data is successfully transferred to the new environment. This ensures a stress-free transfer.

Step 5: Support

Support happens in various ways: it takes the form of a project page or website with all the project information, in the form of Q&As, brochures, physical posters, etc. We’ll work together with you to put in place a support system that works for you and your team.

The Benefits of Google Workspace

Migrating to Google Workspace offers many benefits, including:

• Cost Savings: Google Workspace is a cost-effective solution that eliminates the need for expensive on-premises servers and licensing fees.
• Collaboration: Google Workspace enables real-time collaboration, allowing teams to work together on the same documents simultaneously.
• Security: Google Workspace provides advanced security features to protect your data from cyber threats.
• Mobile Productivity: With Google Workspace, your team can work from anywhere, on any device, increasing productivity and flexibility.
• Seamless Integration: Google Workspace integrates seamlessly with other Google products and third-party tools, streamlining workflows and improving efficiency.