5mailboxes
Two to three working days
Often a founder, a few staff and a shared inbox. Cutover on an evening, everyone signed in the next morning.
Google Workspace migration service
Move to Google Workspace without losing a message.
From Microsoft 365, Exchange, IMAP, cPanel or Zoho. We move mail, calendars, contacts and files while your team keeps working, switch the MX in a window you choose, and close only when the counts match on both sides.
What gets migrated
Everything that survives the trip, named up front.
Every source keeps some things and drops others. We tell you the losses before we start, not after, so nobody discovers a missing rule on Monday morning.
| From | Calendar and contacts | Files | Known losses | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Microsoft 365, Exchange Online | Full history, folders become labels, shared mailboxes become delegated accounts or groups | Calendars with recurrences and attendees, contacts, distribution lists become Google Groups | OneDrive to Drive, SharePoint sites to shared drives, permissions mapped by user | Outlook client rules, calendar delegations, Teams chat history. Named in the plan. |
| Exchange on-premises | Full history over EWS, public folders to shared drives or groups | Calendars and contacts, resource mailboxes become Calendar resources | File server to Drive, in stages if the volume is large | Mailbox rules, server transport rules, which we rebuild by hand where they still matter |
| IMAP, cPanel, shared hosting | Full history over IMAP, folder tree preserved as labels | Usually only what lived in a local client, exported and imported per user | Not applicable, or an FTP or SFTP pull into Drive | Webmail filters and autoresponders, which we recreate in Gmail |
| Zoho Mail | Full history over IMAP, labels preserved | Calendars and contacts exported and imported per user | Zoho WorkDrive to Drive | Zoho-specific filters and signatures, recreated in Gmail |
| Google Workspace to Google Workspace | Full history, labels intact, for a merger, a split or a domain change | Calendars, contacts, groups and resources | Drive and shared drives with ownership transferred | Third-party app authorizations, re-granted by each user |
Migrations use Google's own tooling where it fits (Google Workspace Migrate, the data migration service) and specialist tools where it does not. The tool is chosen after discovery, not before.
The cutover, in the order that keeps mail flowing.
The order matters more than the tool. Most failed migrations we are called to rescue did the steps below in a different sequence.
Inventory and losses
Every mailbox, alias, group, shared mailbox, calendar resource and integration that sends mail, with the sizes. The losses table above becomes your specific list.
Identity first
Users, aliases and groups created in Workspace and 2-step verification decided before any data moves, so nobody signs in for the first time on cutover day.
Authentication before the switch
The Workspace DKIM key and SPF include are published while the old sender stays authorized. Receivers already trust the new platform before it sends its first message.
Seed migration
Historical mail, calendars and files copy in the background over days, while people keep working in the old system. Nothing changes for them yet.
Lower the TTL, then the MX hour
MX TTL goes down days ahead. In the window you choose we point MX at Google with dual delivery on, so a message that lands on either side still reaches its mailbox.
Delta sync and reconciliation
Whatever arrived at the old host in the last hours is synced. Then we compare message and file counts per mailbox on both sides and hand you the sheet.
Hand-off
DMARC moved forward once the reports show only Google sending as your domain, the old system kept read-only for a set period, and a one-page runbook for the next admin.
Timeline and pricing
How long it takes, and how the price is set.
Typical calendar time from kickoff to reconciled hand-off. Seeding runs in the background, so the disruption to your team is the cutover window plus a short sign-in session.
25mailboxes
About one week
Groups, shared mailboxes and a file share come into play. One seeding pass, one weekend or evening cutover, one day of follow-up.
100mailboxes
Two to three weeks
Seeded in waves by department, with a pilot group first. The MX change still happens once, in one window.
- Fixed price per migration. After the discovery call you get one number for the whole job, based on mailbox count, sources and file volume. It does not change unless the scope does.
- Licences are separate and yours. You buy Google Workspace directly, on the plan that fits. We advise on the tier, we do not resell it.
- What is included. Planning, data migration, DNS and authentication, the cutover window, reconciliation, a sign-in session for your team and thirty days of questions afterwards.
How we scope, quote and invoice is explained on how we work.
After the move: the week that decides whether it sticks.
A migration is judged by the month after it. These are the things we leave in place so the new platform is safer than the old one, not just newer.
- SPF, DKIM and DMARC on the new platform. Gmail and Outlook receivers see aligned authentication from day one. Old senders are retired from SPF once they are truly silent.
- 2-step verification and admin roles. Enforced for everyone, security keys for admins, and more than one super admin so a lost phone is not an outage.
- Sharing and retention defaults. External sharing rules, shared drive structure and retention set on purpose, not left at the defaults.
- Offboarding that works. The joiner and leaver steps documented so the next departure does not leave a mailbox open.
Reverse migrations
Leaving Google Workspace? Same method, opposite direction.
Sometimes the business gets acquired, the parent company standardizes on Microsoft 365, or a compliance requirement points the other way. We run those too, and we do not argue with the decision.
- Workspace to Microsoft 365. Mail, calendars, contacts, Drive to OneDrive and SharePoint, groups to distribution lists or Microsoft 365 groups.
- Workspace to Workspace. Tenant consolidation after an acquisition, or a clean split when a division becomes its own company.
- Authentication carried across. DKIM keys for the new platform published before the switch, DMARC kept at its current policy so nothing legitimate is rejected during the overlap.
Questions we get before every migration
The honest answers.
Will we lose email during the move?
No. Mail keeps arriving at the old system until MX points at Google, dual delivery covers the switch, and a delta sync picks up the last hours. We reconcile counts per mailbox before we close.
Do people need to do anything?
Sign in once, set up 2-step verification, and attend a short session. Their mail, folders and calendar are already there when they do.
What about the old system?
We keep it read-only for a period you choose, usually a month, then help you cancel it. Nothing is deleted on the source during the migration.
Can we migrate in stages?
Yes, by department or office, with mail routing between the two platforms in the meantime. It costs a little more coordination and buys a lot of calm.
Do you also fix deliverability?
It is part of every migration. The new platform goes live with SPF, DKIM and DMARC aligned, and we watch the reports for the following weeks. Our email deliverability service continues from there if you want it.
Are you a Google reseller?
No. Guanacos Tech is an independent consultancy with Google-certified engineers. You buy the licences, we do the work, and we answer to you.
Tell us what you are on today. We will tell you what the move looks like.
Thirty minutes, free. Bring the mailbox count and the current provider and you leave with a timeline, the known losses and a fixed price.