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Case study: migrating from Office 365 to Google WorkSpace
Rzilient recently completed the migration from Office 365 to Google Workspace for one of our client's teams.
Presentation of the context, the issue to be resolved and the approach implemented by our teams of iT experts.
The context: our client, based in Paris
Our client is an agency of about fifteen people. They help their clients to make their legal documents simple, readable and intuitive.
The company was initially working with Office 365 and its suite of tools, then decided to switch to the Google suite, as they were using the office tools on Microsoft (Word and Excel mainly), as well as email. ✉️
The problem: incomplete use of Office 365
The problem is that our client's teams never really fully adapted to using Office 365 tools.
Sharepoint was used, but its use was backwards, "undergoing" the solution rather than taking full advantage of it.
And in the age of telecommuting, video conferencing tools have become a must. But the team was using the Teams video conferencing solution in a very timid way.
The reason for this is simple and not up for debate: they found Teams less easy to use and less user-friendly than other tools. ⚙️
The solution: migrate to Google WorkSpace
We analyzed the client's context, and recommended a switch to Google WorkSpace, while preparing this migration in every detail!
Phase 1: analysis, recommendations and action plan
The company called on Rzilient to find a suitable and effective solution.
Our iT experts analyzed the teams' usage, and quickly identified the source of the customer's frustration: the friction caused by using Office 365 and Teams in particular.
We have identified a significant potential productivity time savings, compared to the existing system, but also a disadvantage in terms of licensing.
Indeed, Google's offer is a little more expensive than Microsoft's, but the customer did not consider this to be a significant barrier.
Following the decision to migrate to Google WorkSpace, the key issue for us was to anticipate the change management, which is fundamental to the success of such a project.
In particular, the switchover meant the loss of the use of Word and Excel licenses, which the teams used extensively.
Our recommendation was to make a smooth transition to Google Spreadsheets and Google Docs, keeping active licenses for Word and Excel for a few months.
Our analysis of internal documents showed that there were no documents with compatibility problems. For example, no complex macros were used in Excel. We could therefore migrate to Spreadsheets without any difficulties.
Phase 2: Implementation of the switch to Google WorkSpace
For the migration, the customer wanted to migrate without disrupting the production of its teams, i.e. in the evening or during the weekend.
So we agreed with the employees that it would take place on a Saturday evening, and that the loss of access to the tools would only last a few minutes, especially for email, which was of major importance in their context.
We used native Google tools (Mail, Calendar, Contacts) as well as Cloud HQ, to migrate Teams and Sharepoint.
The new procedure was scheduled to take effect on Sunday.
The migration went perfectly: it was carried out within the planned timeframe, without any loss of data or loss of activity.
Phase 3: Support and management of change
Our main focus was on change management and support, which are often the key success factors for a successful migration.
On the Monday morning following the switchover, Rzilient provided an iT expert on site at our customer's premises to help the teams in their new context.
In concrete terms, the migration did not have any major impact. There were mainly processes to be re-explained to the teams.
The most disruptive aspect was the switch from Outlook to Google's online email system. Our team took the time to train and support the client's team on this tool.
Some minor usage behaviors, as well as settings and configurations, have been adjusted to meet their expectations as closely as possible.
The importance of change management in an IT migration
At Rzilient, we are convinced that a successful migration is one that is prepared in advance, during which the teams that will be affected by the change are trained and prepared!
It is also a question of analyzing the company's needs in terms of business continuity and of being available in case of errors (of data copying, for example), in order to correct them quickly and not to block the customer's production.
Post-migration support is also vital, so that teams can quickly return to their usual productivity and enjoy working with the new tools.
Rzilient supports you in your software migration projects, how about we talk about it? 😊
Written by
Mathieu Maréchal
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