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Following a merger, Vitaly migrated 2,500 users from Microsoft 365 to Google Workspace.
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Devoteam managed the migration within a tight four-month deadline, including data transfer of 50TB, user training, and ongoing support.
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The successful migration resulted in a unified digital workplace, cost savings, and increased agility. The next step? Further AI optimisations.
Case Summary
The project involved migrating and change management for 2,500 users from Microsoft 365 to Google Workspace. This included transferring critical services like email, contacts, calendars, and documents previously stored in Microsoft 365.
Devoteam led the change management service, which included a plan with customised training, ongoing communication, and satisfaction surveys. This ensured a smooth transition and minimised disruption to daily operations.
About the Customer
Vitaly arised from the merger of Grupo Preving and Cualtis, two leading companies in occupational risk prevention and health. However, each company operated with different collaboration and productivity platforms: Grupo Preving used Google Workspace, while Cualtis worked with Microsoft 365. This significantly hindered communication and collaboration between the two organisations.
To optimise operations and improve efficiency, Vitaly decided to unify all employees under a single solution: Google Workspace. This process involved training over 2,500 users and migrating over 50 TB of information. Furthermore, the project had to be completed before March 2024, only a few months before its start, when the Microsoft contract expired, to avoid incurring additional costs for license renewal.
The Challenge
Devoteam’s proposed migration project presented several key challenges. The most critical was the tight four-month deadline to migrate 2,500 users and transfer 50 TB of data, a significant challenge due to the scale and complexity of the process.
Another major challenge common to these types of projects was ensuring the effortless adoption of Google Workspace by employees. The goal was to minimise any impact on their productivity and the organisation’s daily operations.
Migrating from Microsoft 365 to Google Workspace was not simply a matter of transferring data. It required meticulous planning, well-defined phased execution to avoid disruptions, a comprehensive approach to training, and effective communication with users. Aware of these challenges, Vitaly relied on the expertise of Devoteam, a certified Google Cloud partner, to ensure the project’s success.
The Goal
The main objective of the project was to complete the migration of 2,500 users from Microsoft 365 to Google Workspace, along with a change management plan. This process involved transferring data and tools but also ensuring that users effectively adopted the new platform without disrupting their daily productivity.
The solution
The project had two distinct lines of work: migration and change management. Both were present in four phases, according to the employee groups involved in each phase: Core IT and People, Early Adopters, Summoning, and Go Live.
Prior to the start of the migration, a calendar synchronisation was carried out between Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace, which facilitated the transition and avoided problems with overlapping events and meetings. In addition, a password synchroniser was implemented between Active Directory (AD) and Google Workspace, which allowed users to access Google services with the same credentials they previously used in their Microsoft environment, thus guaranteeing an easy and uninterrupted user experience.
In each of the first three phases, approximately 100 users were migrated. Constant communication and training were implemented so that employees were always informed about the progress of the project and prepared to use the new platform.
The final phase, Go Live, covered the migration of the remaining 2,000 users. To ensure a seamless transition, both before and after the change to Google Workspace, various training sessions were carried out on the suite, that helped minimise the possible impact on daily productivity.
After the Go Live phase, post-migration support was offered. Focusing on support and resolution of specific incidents, in addition to the incorporation of users who had not been included in the previous phases, thus ensuring that all employees were fully integrated into the new platform.
The methodology
Given the scale of the project and its impact on over 2,500 users, establishing detailed planning was essential. Each phase of the migration had to be executed precisely to avoid disruptions to daily work. The planning considered not only the technical aspects but also the need for clear and timely communication with users. They were informed in advance about the key dates and times of the migration, as well as the changes they would experience in their work environment.
It was also necessary to overcome challenges such as the dynamic adjustment of bandwidth used in the migration. During the user transfer, the servers consumed a large portion of the network resources, slowing down daily operations. To mitigate this, the process was adjusted by limiting bandwidth usage during working hours and accelerating the migration during nights and weekends. This allowed the migration to continue without affecting the organisation’s productivity.
The Result & Next steps:
Successfully migrated 2,500 users from Microsoft 365 to Google Workspace within a tight four-month deadline.
Ensured seamless adoption of Google Workspace by all employees with minimal disruption to productivity.
Achieved cost savings through license optimisation and increased efficiency by unifying Vitaly’s digital environment.
- Unification and agility: Consolidating management, communication, and collaboration into a single digital environment eliminated inefficiencies caused by using two separate platforms. This allowed Vitaly to optimise workflows and improve internal coordination.
- Economic savings: By consolidating the 2,500 users into a single tenant, Vitaly gained greater negotiating power with the provider, obtaining more competitive pricing on licenses.
“When you finish a project, at the end of the day what you do is analyse what things have been done well and what things can be improved, and this project has had many aspects to achieve success and one of them has been to choose a good partner, thank you Devoteam”.
Santiago Muñoz
National Deputy Director of Technology
Vitaly aims to maximise employee use of available digital tools, optimising their utilisation to improve day-to-day efficiency. Artificial intelligence (AI), with tools like Gemini, will play a key role in this process by providing tools with new capabilities. This will not only boost individual productivity but also enhance Vitaly’s overall productivity.