Forum Discussion
Anyone made the switch from Google Apps to Office 365?
Hi Jason
Thanks for the reply. Have you undertaken migrations in a diverse organisation such as a University?
We're thinking it will be quite a hard sell to convince users that the long term vision (a more open, collaborative and productive work environment delivered through a Digital Workplace) is worth the short term disruption.
Luke,
I currently work for a University that is discussing moving from GAFE to Office 365. I would be interested in hearing more on how you are trying to convince your University this is would be a positive move for them, and worth the time to make the switch.
This is something that we are currently discussing at our university, and below are three areas I like to focus on: Productivity and Collaboration for our users, control given to our, and the overall improvement to security.
Users:
Many of my users are very familiar with working with Office Documents and continue to work from our on-premises file server. They want to continue to use Office documents and do not like converting their documents to Google Docs, and do not like the fact they have to Download a document, work on it, save it, and then re-upload it when working with Google Drive. Many users are not aware that Office 365 will come with Office Online, so they will still be able to use the Office Product they are familiar with and the collaborative tools that the Google Suite is so widely known for. There are many other beneficial Applications that I believe my users would benefit from, including: Planner, Teams, Skype for Business, Video, and OneNote.
Admin:
If we make the switch, we will have the benefit of using all of the Admin Consoles that Microsoft provides (SharePoint, Exchange, Skype for Business, OneDrive, etc.) as well as the integration with PowerShell. We are also using Windows 10 and Configuration Manager - which will all integrate nicely together.
Security:
One huge benefit, in my eyes, to moving to Office 365 is the Identity Management that accompanies Azure Active Directory. Also knowing that our data is encrypted rest and in transit. Finally the integration with EM + S once we have our Office 365 successfully implemented, which would benefit the University by giving Identity and access management, Identity-driven security, Information Protection (RMS), and Managed mobile productivity.
I would be interested in hearing what others have focused on to sell Office 365 to their organizations or universities,
Robyn
I work with Luke at University of Bristol. We are making the switch from Google Apps to 365, with strong support from our university senior team. Productivity and collaboration are strong motivations.
For us, its not about moving from Google Apps to Microsoft 365, it is about moving from several different tools from different suppliers (Google apps, Confluence wikis, 2 different intranet CMSes, sympa mailing lists) into a single integrated suite, with single search and groups management across them.
It is also an opportunity to think about and improve the university's culture of information management, and give people best practice advice on how to use the tools better.
Hi Nick,
Are you doing the migration yourself as in internal university IT staff or you have hired a company to do the assessment and migration?
What are you using for Google sites migration?
Get the Fast Track Center support. They will do the migration if you meet the minimum requirement to be eligible for their support.
