Migrate Google Mail to Office 365

Read our updated overview of Google to Office 365 Migrations. Wanting to migrate Google Mail to Office 365 is understandable. It is also a critical process. Microsoft Office has more functionality than Google Apps because they have their own cloud service for email, productivity and file sharing. Download our in-depth Guide to migrating from GSuite to Office 365 Migrating from an on-premises Exchange to Office 365 is one thing; migrating between clouds is another. Manual migration and the migration wizard in Office 365 for email are two options for doing this.  Manual migration is performed in-house or by a third-party consultant such as Agile IT who has a proven record of successful Office 365 migrations. The wizard in Office 365 is useful for small migrations (but not large migrations) and does not include contact or calendar migration. Here are some considerations you’ll have to make when migrating Google mail to Office 365:

1. Manual migration

A manual migration might require some modification such as upping the connection limits in Office 365 to an Internet Message Access Protocol (IMAP) server. The Gmail connection limit is 15 connections.  This will in turn shorten your DNS time to live setting on an MX record. You will want to begin to create your new mailboxes in Office 365 by creating them in bulk with a CSV file. You should assign licenses to each mailbox user for Office 365 as well. An Agile IT consultant can help you through all these steps if it sounds like more time and complexity than you are willing to put into the migration.

2. Partnering with a cloud migration specialist

As a certified Microsoft partner, Agile IT has a proven track record of helping companies with multiple migrations. The manual method can quickly become complex and time consuming for midsize to large enterprises. Agile IT will not only migrate emails and mailboxes, but they can also migrate all contacts and calendars seamlessly. Several organizations want to migrate from Gmail to Office 365 because of the added functionality. After email migration, it may be time to migrate an entire data center to the Cloud. The good news is that Agile IT will be there when you are ready. Whether you are using Google Apps and still have on-premises solutions, Agile IT can migrate everything to Office 365.

3. Preparing to migrate Google Mail to Office 365

Before you jump into a migration, you need to notify all your users that they will have to create an app password to access their account. All end users need to be aware of the migration ahead of time so they can begin to clean out their inbox, backup calendars, etc. Those who use Google Apps can turn a 2-step verification on so they can connect to Office 365.

4. Preparing your domain

You will need to verify to Office 365 that you are the domain owner for accessing Google Apps. If you don’t wish to use a custom domain, you can also use the company name.onmicrosoft.com because this domain is included by default with an Office 365 subscription. During the setup of Office 365, a setup wizard can provide some help with a TXT record that needs to be added to a domain host server.

5. Adding users to Office 365

Once you have verified that you own your domain, you can add users individually or in groups. When adding users, you are also adding licenses. Each mailbox on Office 365 must be assigned before email can be migrated to it. Each user must have a license that includes an Exchange Online plan to use the mailbox.

6. Creating your list of mailboxes from Gmail to migrate

In this step, you need to create a migration file that contains the list of Gmail mailboxes to be migrated. The simplest way to create this file is through Excel. When creating a migration file, you will need to know the password of every Gmail mailbox to be migrated. You may need to assign temporary passwords during the migration to a default password that each user will have to change after their new Office 365 mailbox is set up.

7. Connecting Office 365 to Gmail

For a successful migration, Office 365 has to connect and communicate with Gmail. Office 365 uses a migration endpoint to accomplish this. This step involves the settings to create the connection to migrate mailboxes. This can be performed through the Exchange Admin Center. Finally, a migration batch can be used to migrate multiple groups of Gmail mailboxes concurrently. It is good practice to test a migration batch with a few mailboxes to test the success. Whether you need help verifying domains or complete guidance from A to Z, Agile IT can help migrate your Google mail to Office 365. As cloud specialists, we’ve successfully migrated millions of mailboxes to Office 365. Learn more about our AgileAscend migration process, or request a quote today!