Smooth, secure migrations to the cloud, planned and delivered with no data loss and minimal disruption.
Migrations go wrong when they're rushed or under-planned, lost data, downtime and frustrated staff. Done right, they're barely noticeable.
As a Microsoft Cloud Solution Provider, WhizzIT plans and delivers migrations to Microsoft 365, Azure and Google Workspace carefully, with data integrity and continuity built in.
Back to Managed Cloud ServicesWhat's included
For around 50 users, budget roughly seven days of actual configuration work from us. Here is where that time goes.
Before anything moves we find out what actually exists. How much mail and how many files, who owns the shared mailboxes nobody admits to using, which applications sign in with the old system, what state the devices are in. This is also where most nasty surprises get caught, while they are still cheap.
We set up the new tenant properly, with security baselines, multi-factor authentication and licensing sorted from the start rather than retrofitted later. Then a small pilot group moves first. It is far better to find the awkward bits with four willing people than with all fifty at once.
Mail and files copy across in the background over several days while everyone carries on working in the old system. The switch itself is the short part, scheduled deliberately for a quiet window, followed by a few days of us being close by while people find the things only real use uncovers.
Seven days is the configuration effort, not the calendar. A 50 user move typically spans two to three weeks end to end, because the bulk copy runs in the background and the pilot needs a few days of real use before the rest follow.
Moving mailboxes is the easy bit. Almost every migration that goes badly goes badly for the same handful of reasons, and none of them are the mail.
Shared mailboxes, distribution lists and meeting rooms get forgotten because no single person owns them, then reappear the morning after cutover when nobody can book anything.
Permissions on shared folders are assumed to carry over neatly and rarely do, so somebody either loses access to a folder they need or quietly gains access to one they should not have. Third party applications that authenticate against the old system stop working until each one is reconnected, and the list of them is always longer than anyone expects.
Everyone remembers the laptops. Half the workforce has mail on a phone that nobody has recorded anywhere, and if that is not handled they spend cutover morning locked out and irritated. Old licences are the last one, still quietly billing months later because nobody cancelled them.
It just has to be written down beforehand and worked through, which is precisely what the discovery stage is for.
Caught during discovery
Google to Microsoft 365 has its own quirks, and they are worth knowing before you start rather than after. Google Docs, Sheets and Slides are not Office files. They convert on the way across, and anything with heavy formatting or a script behind it needs checking rather than assuming. Gmail labels are not folders either. A message can carry three labels at once, a folder structure cannot hold that idea, so decisions have to be made about what the mailbox looks like afterwards.
Shared Drives map onto SharePoint and Teams, which is usually an improvement, but it is a genuine restructure rather than a copy and paste. Calendar resources such as meeting rooms need rebuilding.
Any app that people sign into with their Google account has to be pointed at Microsoft instead, and that includes the ones nobody mentioned in the kick off meeting.
Ixia Clinical came across from Google Workspace to Microsoft 365 with ten users and more than a terabyte of email and files, without disruption to clinical work.
Independently assessed against the UK government-backed scheme, so our security fundamentals are verified rather than simply claimed. We help clients certify too.
How Cyber Essentials helps you
A direct partnership with Microsoft. We license, deploy and support Microsoft 365 and Azure for you, with escalation straight to Microsoft when it is needed.
Our Microsoft cloud servicesCyber Essentials is a UK government scheme run by the National Cyber Security Centre, delivered by IASME. You can verify what the certification covers at source.
No rigid packages and no surprises. We price around your team, systems and goals, then give you a clear quote.
Matthew Temple, Director · see all 15 reviewsBilly provides a superb service; responsive, attentive and very knowledgeable about IT.
We assess your environment and plan a migration that fits your business.
We move your data and services securely, with integrity checks throughout.
We support your team through go-live and beyond, so nothing gets left behind.
We hold partner status with the vendors behind the tools we deploy, so your licensing, support and escalation come direct from the source rather than through a reseller chain.
Book a free consultation and we'll tailor it to your business.