Email and file migration without a single day when nothing works
We move your business to Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace. With domain authentication, tidy permissions and a rollback plan in case something goes wrong.
When it's worth tackling
If you recognise two or three of these signs, a free IT review will show you where to start.
- Business email runs on web hosting and regularly lands in recipients' spam.
- Staff use personal accounts for work because it's more convenient.
- Files sit on desktops and on one network drive everyone can access.
- When someone leaves, their access to everything can't be removed quickly.
- Remote work means emailing documents to yourself.
- There's no two-factor authentication because the hosting doesn't support it.
- The business pays for mailboxes, but nobody knows how many there are or who they belong to.
What we do as part of this service.
- 1
Choosing the platform
Comparing Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace against your processes, not our preferences. What decides it is what your people work in and what your industry software needs to integrate with.
- 2
Domain set-up and email authentication
MX, SPF, DKIM and DMARC records. Skip this part and you end up with email in spam and people impersonating your domain.
- 3
Mailbox migration
Moving email, calendars and contacts with the folder structure intact. The migration happens in stages, so there's never a day without email.
- 4
File migration and drive structure
Moving documents while tidying up the structure and setting permissions. Shared drives belong to the business, not to whoever created the folder.
- 5
Two-factor authentication and policies
Enforcing a second factor, conditional access rules and data loss prevention policies. Rolled out in stages so work isn't blocked.
- 6
Collaboration
Setting up teams, channels and shared calendars to match your structure, not the vendor's defaults.
- 7
Team training
Four hours of hands-on practice: where files live, how to collaborate on a document, how the second factor works and what to do with a suspicious message.
- 8
Two weeks of support after go-live
The period when all the questions nobody asked during training come up. Included in the implementation price.
What you get in writing.
Configuration documentation
Domain records, a list of accounts with roles, shared drive structure and the security policies applied.
Migration plan with rollback points
A schedule of stages, the criteria for moving on and how to return to the previous state if something doesn't work. Without this, a migration is a gamble.
Migration verification report
A comparison of message and file counts before and after migration, confirming nothing was lost along the way.
Staff guide
A few pages on what has changed and where to find things now, with screenshots from your own environment, not the vendor's materials.
Who is responsible for what.
Messy files moved to the cloud are still messy, just somewhere new. We can help tidy up the structure, but deciding what's still needed is up to you.
On the NexaIT side
- configuring the cloud environment, accounts and permissions
- setting up domain records and email authentication
- migrating email, calendars, contacts and files
- verifying the migration is complete, with a comparison report
- configuring two-factor authentication and security policies
- team training and support for the first two weeks
- configuration documentation, handed over as your property
On your side
- choosing the platform and licence plan
- buying user licences, a recurring cost paid to the vendor
- access to the domain control panel, or the domain provider's agreement to change records
- describing your organisational structure and who should see which data
- tidying files before migration, or deciding to move them as they are
- staff taking part in training and agreeing to use a second factor
- naming someone to create and block accounts after go-live, if this isn't covered by a subscription
What this service doesn't include.
Clear scope boundaries are part of a good contract. We talk about them before you sign, not when the first invoice arrives.
We can order licences on your behalf if you prefer, and take over day-to-day account administration as part of managed support. But we don't hide licence costs in the implementation price.
- user licences, a recurring cost paid to the vendor that rises year on year
- recovering emails deleted before the migration started
- migrating from systems whose vendor provides no way to export data
- migrating industry software databases, which is a separate project
- the cost of the domain and its renewal
- email archiving required by industry regulations, which needs a separate solution
- ongoing account administration after go-live, if you don't have a managed IT package
When it's a good fit, and when it isn't
It makes sense if
- Email runs on web hosting and has deliverability problems.
- The team works in several locations and needs shared documents.
- You want two-factor authentication your current set-up doesn't support.
- Staff turnover means access needs removing quickly.
We don't recommend it if
- Data can't leave your infrastructure for contractual reasons. Then we talk about an on-premises solution.
- Your internet connection is unreliable and work can't depend on the cloud.
- You're looking for the cheapest email. Web hosting can be cheaper, just without these features.
- The business doesn't want to introduce a second factor. In that case migration solves only part of the problem.
What affects the price
- the number of users and mailboxes to migrate
- the amount of data in mailboxes and on drives, which determines migration time
- the source system and whether data can be exported from it in a standard format
- the number of shared drives and the complexity of permissions
- whether conditional access rules and data loss prevention policies are needed
- the number of integrations with industry software
- the scope of training and the number of groups to train separately
Questions before you decide.
Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace?
If your team works in Excel on complex files and your industry software integrates with Outlook, Microsoft 365 will be more practical. If work is mainly browser-based and you value simple administration, Google Workspace usually wins. We're not a partner of either vendor, so we advise based on how you work, not on a partner programme.
Will email stop working during the migration?
It shouldn't. We migrate in stages: first we copy data while the old mailbox keeps working, then switch the domain records, and finally sync any messages that arrived in the meantime. For a few hours after the switch, messages may arrive in both places, which is normal. We schedule the switch outside working hours.
What happens to our old email?
It's moved across along with its folders. We also recommend keeping the old environment for a few weeks after migration as a reference before shutting it down. That usually costs one month of hosting, and it's worth it.
Do we need ongoing support afterwards?
No. The implementation is a self-contained project, and afterwards you have a working environment and documentation. Ongoing administration of accounts, permissions and policies is part of our managed IT packages, if you'd rather not do it yourselves.
Related
Free · 60 minutes online · no obligation
An IT review, not a sales call.
- You talk to an engineerOnline, by video call. Not with a salesperson. We don't install or change anything.
- We check 8 areasBackups, access, network, email, server, licences, protection and KSeF readiness.
- You get a scorecardThree priorities on one page, emailed after the meeting. Yours to use however you like.
We don't use a contact form. We answer the phone and reply to emails.