Google Apps Migration for Businesses

Whether you are migrating from Lotus Notes, Exchange, or Groupwise, the transition is safe and secure so that no data will be lost. As every detail will be discussed with you beforehand, you can be sure that all account information and user info will be backed up during the actual data migrating process.

To help make this process even easier, there is a tool especially geared toward Groupwise, Exchange, and Scalix called Cloud Google Migrator that can also migrate information from both primary and secondary domains. All contacts, unread emails, and even some settings are preserved and secure upon extraction, and on starting up Google Apps, users are prompted to customize their passwords. With this tool, there are also many customizable features for either the end user or administrator to configure so that they can have the best experience possible.

All supported migration platforms are as follows:
Novel Groupwise 6.5/7/8
Microsoft Exchange 2000
Microsoft Exchange 2003
Microsoft Exchange 2007
Scalix 11 or above
Google Apps

Google apps for business, or Google Apps Premier Edition, has a few extra utilities included to help business thrive. With the low $50 per user per year, each employee gets 25 GB for email storage which is 50 times more than the industry average. If needed, additional storage space can be bought at reasonable rates per user. For businesses on the go, Google Apps supports mobile access on most major devices as well as a 99.9% uptime so you will always be connected. If security is an issue Google Apps is sure to keep information safe and confidential, with Google quality security measures as well as Postini email archiving for monitoring. For any additional or customizable needs, administrators can create custom settings with API tools to meet any business requirements.

During initial planning, any specifics and considerations will be brought up by the project managers. This is to ensure that any problems that may arise can be dealt with accordingly and also to make the transition easier to handle. A plan will be produced that will analyze business concerns, transition timeline, and relevant details. Any business needs should be brought up at this time so that project handlers can give ideas on how to make your process or communications more efficient.

This phase includes the configuration of mail, calendars, and directories. During the transition, there will be mail, calendar, and directory coexistence so that employees can still utilize these processes at this time. What this means is that contacts will be shared and migrated while still retaining the ability to email, while calendars can still be utilized correctly with other members within the company. The project managers will give support if there are any hiccups at this time, though there should be a minimal amount of downtime and workflow will continue as normal.

One of the most important phases of the transition is the actual data migration. Gmail migration and contacts associated is one of the end goals for all users. As such, it can also be the most time consuming and resource heavy due to the importance of data to your business. Project managers will explain each step of the process to you as well as highlight all the options available to help your needs. Also, given the variety of different server/platform combinations and complexities, the amount of time and effort will also vary.

After everything is complete, your employees will be the ones to use the new platform and so various resources specific to your company's needs will be available. With proper end-user training your workforce will be able to perform better than ever, and the project managers should be able to offer webinars, in house training, e-classroom options for appropriate training. Additionally, Google admin tools can be helpful after training to fill in any confusing areas or to give employees a more user friendly interface for the platform.