How do accounts work while being migrated?

[thatonealma]

Hello!

I have done my research on Google, but I need to hear it from actual people and an actual case, basically a "for dummies" explanation of what exactly happens during the migration process.

1. When you decide to migrate your business (by yourself), what are the usual, concrete next steps? (not the technical step-by-step procedure on "how to migrate", but the next steps for the company, like notifying the staff, choosing a test group, etc)

2. How are we going to work during the migration period? Do we have a private/unmanaged and managed account at the same time? What changes will be there in the work process?

3. How much time is it going to take to transfer the documents from unmanaged to managed accounts? 

4. Can the test group of migrated colleagues work seamlessly with the non-migrated ones or will there be any problems? 

5. Should we take something into consideration if we have both accounts (managed and unmanaged) during the migration period? How would the file sharing process look like?

6. What problems could arise during the migration period, that we can nip in the bud right now?

Sorry for the long post and thank you very much!

[KAM]

@thatonealma to be honest, I normally do about 16 hours of work with clients to plan migrations because of many of the questions you have asked above.  There are no simple answers.  So I won't sugar coat that it's unusual that you are being put in this role.  Here's some input on your questions:

Re: 1. Other than the actual migration, I would look into a training program to get people ready for the change as well as a champions program to identify test users who can then help others after the full onboarding

Re: 2. Would need to know more details about your current work flow to recommend / advise.

Re: 3. Depends on the amount of data, the number of users, the source, and the tool(s) you are using.

Re: 4. Yes, a test group of migrated colleagues can work relatively seamlessly with non-migrated users but see #2.

Re: 5: If you mean managed as in Google Workspace and unmanaged as in gmail, then yes, I would definitely work to use Shared Drives as soon as possible and train all users on that.

Re: 6: The biggest problem that we see is a failure to plan and set expectations. You're doing a good job looking to build that now!

HTH, KAM

[thatonealma]

Hello!

Thank you for taking the time and replying to my questions. 

1. Yes, thank you. I thought that we needed training programs but my question would be what exactly should we explain in these programs. How would you actually determine which users are fit to help other users? I don't think that in our case it would be wise to have just the IT department do the test migration. 

2. Right now, we have two cases: unmanaged user accounts with Gmail + domain aliases, and domain only. During the migration, do they still work with their old accounts, or should we do a user account transfer from the get-go, or what would be the right approach? My main issue is that I want every user to still be able to work with their files, to be able to access and to share them but how exactly does that work?? 

3. We are a company with around 50 people right now. I saw in a video tutorial that it could take up to 3 months. Is that about right?

4. I would need to know how that works. What happens with the shared files? 

5. Yes, that's what I mean, thank you.

6. I am trying but I still need more knowledge before acting. Having a scope and considering the possible "disaster" scenarios is my main focus right now. 

[christiannewman]

The most important question:

6. Depending on your organization's needs (every organization is different), source platform(s), what data you have and where, there are countless watchpoints you should consider. Invariably, the answers to questions #1-5 are all it depends. I recommend working with a Google Cloud Partner who can guide you through this process and help you create a migration plan that will ensure maximum engagement/empowerment of your team members, with minimal disruption to your day-to-day business. A thoughtful, well-planned approach will ensure optimal adoption, and therefore, return on your investment in Google Workspace.

[thatonealma]

Hello!

Thank you very much for your answer.

The thing is, it's been established long ago that we will do the migration by ourselves. This is why we are trying to know what could go wrong before it happens and how we could mitigate or already eliminate problems. 

[KAM · Accepted solution]

@thatonealma  These are Google's guidelines for migration: https://support.google.com/a/answer/6251069?hl=en&fl=1  Also, this is an older technical guidelines but it has phases and the ideas I was talking about with building champions: https://static.googleusercontent.com/media/www.google.com/en//support/enterprise/static/gapps/docs/a...

This is the basics of how I start setting out technical plan.  For me and a 50 user system, I would likely try and get ducks in a row to do this over a long weekend or holiday such as a maintenance window from Dec 30 to Jan 2.

Training users would be about making sure they are ready for the upcoming change.  Identifying champions would be people who can help you scale and test the upcoming changes.

-KAM

[thatonealma]

Thank you!

The technical document gave me a clearer view on things.