If you aren’t running a modern cloud based collaboration and email your teams are not working together as efficiently as they could.
1. Why switch from what you have today?
Change for the sake of change isn’t what we really need in 2020. There are many reasons a person or company might want to start using Google G Suite or Microsoft 365. Some of the more common reasons we hear are due to compliance and the ability to collaborate in real-time on documents and other files.
Both platforms work great when it comes to collaborative work, make sure you know what you need for your business to run efficiently before choosing one.
2. Where do you start? How to decide?
There are a few things you’ll want to consider before selecting which solution you will need.
The best thing to do, and what we recommend, is to setup and test both. In order to test Google Drive, Docs, and the other features of G Suite you can sign up for a personal Gmail and test for free.
For Microsoft 365 you can create a free account to test out Office Web Apps without it affecting your current office setup. Play around with the settings, permissions and see firsthand how these services will function for your business.
3. DIY or hire the experts?
During this period, you may also want to consider how much time you will have to complete the switch and how much work you want to do yourself versus having a team who handles migration and setup of both assist you.
Are you on a timeline? If so, I would also recommend having a cushion period before your deadline to iron out any issues or settings.
4. Migrating data is about more than email.
The next thing to consider is your critical business data saved on laptops, desktops, file servers, and in email boxes. Where does your business store data? Bigger businesses may have a company server that they store all of their information on, however, a smaller business might have everything saved locally on their computer. Taking an inventory of where your data is, how much data you have, and who has permission (access) to this data is necessary before moving or migrating any information.
This is also a great time to do some clean up! Do you actually need all of this information? Delete or move data that is not related to your business or is no longer relevant. You will also want to start re-organizing your data in a way that makes sense to you and your employees. Whether that is splitting information by departments (HR, Accounting, Legal, etc) or time (2017, 2016, 2017, etc). Make sure to organize your data in a way that makes finding information easier.
After your data is organized, where do you plan to store this information? Both G Suite and Microsoft 365 have cloud storage solutions (Google Drive and OneDrive) but there are different ways to access this information. Will you want to keep everything online or will you want to sync this information down to your computer? A big thing to consider is your computer, hard drive space, and the amount of data you have.
5. Training is required to truly benefit.
Change is hard and so is adopting new techniques. G Suite and Microsoft 365 are both user friendly but it will take some time to get accustomed to how each works. Once your new solution is in place, you will want to meet with your team and show them how everything functions.
Closing and related content
Remember, we are always here to help! If you have any questions about these products feel free to contact our team. If you’re ready to get started today Modern Managed IT provides free migrations and setup for all of our supported software-as-a-service solutions.
Keep reading: Ready, Set, Migrate: Transitioning to Microsoft Office 365 with Modern Managed IT, How do I Protect My Data on Google Drive?
