Migrating from Google Workspace to Office 365 is a complex and overwhelming process that requires significant groundwork. Ignoring planning and strategizing may lead to a faulty migration, resulting in a weaker foundation.
Most businesses believe that migrating from Google Workspace to O365 is simply a drag-and-drop process, similar to other platforms. But the truth is: it’s not! There is a lot that goes behind the transfer. The process involves numerous hurdles and challenges that you must overcome to prevent catastrophes. This article targets the top 10 mistakes that you must avoid when migrating Google Workspace to Office 365.
It will help you move ahead on the path to run a successful data migration. So, let’s read this article to the end and learn how to avoid these mistakes and get it right the first time.
Google Workspace to Office 365 Migration Process
Migrating from Google Workspace to Office 365 is a key move for organizations looking to adopt Microsoft’s cloud productivity suite. The process involves planning, preparation, data migration, and post-migration tasks to ensure a smooth transition without data loss or disruption.
Step-by-Step Migration Process
The first stage is planning. Businesses must assess their current Google Workspace environment, including user accounts, email volume, Google Drive data, and shared resources. Establishing a clear migration timeline and strategy is essential for minimal downtime.
In the preparation phase, administrators verify the domain in Microsoft 365 and create corresponding Office 365 user accounts. Mapping Google Workspace users to Microsoft 365 users ensures accurate data transfer. Organizations should also prepare users for upcoming changes and collect necessary credentials.
Email migration can be done using Microsoft’s built-in tools like Migration Manager or IMAP. However, these often do not support full mailbox features or Drive content. For a complete migration, using a third-party solution like Kernel Google Workspace to Office 365 is highly effective. It allows seamless migration of Gmail, Contacts, Calendars, Google Drive, and Shared Drives. Filters, folder hierarchy preservation, and metadata retention are added benefits.
Once the tool is configured with the source and destination credentials, admins select the data to migrate. Migration speed depends on data size and network strength. After migration, data validation is crucial. Admins must verify that emails, contacts, and files are intact and accessible in Microsoft 365.
Post-Migration Tasks
After verifying migrated data, DNS records must be updated to direct new emails to Office 365. Google Workspace services can be deactivated if no longer needed. Training users on Microsoft 365 tools like Outlook, OneDrive, Teams, and SharePoint ensures productivity continuity.
Moving from Google Workspace to Office 365 requires thoughtful planning and execution. Tools like Kernel Google Workspace to Office 365 simplify the migration process with comprehensive features, ensuring accurate, secure, and efficient data migration. This approach minimizes downtime and helps businesses leverage the full capabilities of Microsoft 365.
Read also: The Ultimate Guide to SharePoint Migration
Understanding the data migration structure
It is important to understand both the source and the destination before migration. Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace are both used to improve collaboration and productivity. However, both of them have their own merits and demerits. Therefore, to plan a smooth migration, you must be familiar with them in detail.
Before migrating, study the infrastructure, permission structure, storage, and user arrangement in both the source and destination systems and then act accordingly.
10 Mistakes to Avoid During Google Workspace to Office 365 Migration
Here are the common mistakes you must avoid during the migration:
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Ineffective planning
Planning is the key to any platform migration. Businesses that migrate without a proper roadmap are more likely to experience migration failure. When there’s a lack of planning, you don’t know what you’re migrating and if there’s actually any need to migrate every bit of data. This causes the piling up of data in the destination unnecessarily.
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Ignoring the level of complexity
Over time, businesses accumulate a substantial amount of workload, data, and users, resulting in increased complexity. Ignoring the effort and time spent studying the complexity can cause errors and hurdles in migrating data.
Without managing content and proper mapping, there can be delays and downtime that affect business operations.
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Not taking data backup
Most businesses skip taking Google Workspace backups, resulting in permanent data loss. So, before you migrate Google Workspace to Office 365, you must download a thorough backup of the business data from the source platform. Having a backup strategy can save you from unexpected disasters that you might experience during migration.
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Neglecting user training
User training is a crucial aspect of migration, as end users will be introduced to a completely new framework with which they may not be familiar. Informing the users prior to data transfer is an inevitable element of the process. Train them on the new platform and provide them with proper training material to help them adopt the new environment conveniently.
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Not considering data security an essential
Data security is a major concern for most businesses. Microsoft offers great security and advanced threat protection. However, it’s your job to protect the data before it is actually migrated to Office 365.
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Not migrating user emails
Emails are a crucial data source for organizations, as they contain business-related communication. If the Office 365 migration fails, you might lose significant data from your mailbox, including emails, contacts, calendars, etc.
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Improper user mapping
Sometimes, when Google Workspace users are not mapped correctly with Office 365 users in the destination, there is a chance of a failed migration. Due to this, unauthorized and unintended users may gain access to sensitive information.
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Skipping pilot or test migrations
Test migrations are crucial when you’re migrating large organizations. Skipping them means creating scope for errors in the migration, as pilot migrations help identify and resolve potential errors in real-time.
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Not asking for user feedback
Since end users will be the primary users of the new platform, you cannot skip asking for their feedback after the migration. This is what will create room for improvement. Without feedback, you can’t analyze the way your destination is performing.
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Buying improper licensing
Some business owners who do not give proper time to the research and planning phase often end up buying the wrong licenses. This could lead to unnecessary expenses and costs that you have spent to improve core operations.
What can you do to avoid these mistakes during Google Workspace to Office 365 migration?
Here are some solutions you can try to improve the migration process:
- Evaluate the source as well as the destination infrastructure before planning the migration strategy.
- Identify what your migration objectives are and craft a strategy around them.
- Eliminate duplicate, outdated, or unnecessary content from the source.
- Prepare the destination environment by creating the same number of users as in the source and assigning mailboxes.
- Buy an Office 365 plan that has enough storage to accommodate current requirements and future data growth.
- Gain robust security to safeguard your critical data against threats and phishing attacks.
- Regularly take thorough backups of your entire organization.
- Always test the migration process thoroughly before transferring the data completely.
Conclusion
Migrating data from Google Workspace to Office 365 is a great move to access high productivity and enhanced security. Relying on native techniques to migrate the business data can be risky for the data. Therefore, always consider tools, such as Kernel Google Workspace to Office 365, to securely migrate data without any loss. It simplifies the migration of bulk mailboxes, chats, and spaces to the Office 365 environment.
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