Plan Your Migration to Office 365 or G Suite

Plan Your Migration to Office 365 or G Suite

Below is a very high-level summary of steps and pricing for making the move to Microsoft Office 365 or Google G Suite.

Beware, there are often people in an organization who will lean toward wanting to do this themselves and will trivialize the process — It’s just email, right? In our experience, it’s best if you get assistance from someone with experience (like us!) to help you make this transformative change.  

Basic Overview
Start 5 Weeks before go-live

• Discuss making a smooth transition.
• Prepare, plan and educate your team.
• Test the environment.
• Schedule the transition.
• Plan for several hours (overnight) of email downtime.
• Schedule education time with employees: what to expect, day-one onboarding and training.
• Consider follow-up training to enhance the experience and workflow of your team.

Monthly Pricing

• Microsoft Office 365 Premium (most popular version, includes Office desktop apps): $15/user/month.
• G Suite Business: $10/user/month. (If the Office desktop apps are required, add an additional $10/user/mo for Office 365 Business, and a total of $20/user/mo.)

IMPLEMENTATION PLAN

Week 1

• Finalize current/planned email infrastructure.
• Purchase and setup accounts at new host.
• OPTIONAL: Setup a subdomain for mail routing and dual delivery.
• Educate employees about the transition: What to expect!
• NOTE: Current email account passwords may be needed (or must be reset).

Week 2

• Begin migrating mail data (First Pass).
• Install desktop apps (if applicable).
• Begin setup of users in mail client (desktop and/or web app).

Week 3

• Assist with mobile device setup.
• Help employees verify they can access their account from all devices.
• Prepare employees for Go Live date. 

Week 4

• Begin final migration of email and calendar data (Second Pass)
• Make MX and DNS changes.
• Go Live. Be on site for support.
• Complete any remaining tasks.
• Test all group email addresses, web links, and forms.