Migration Guide

How a Google Workspace migration works, step by step

A Google Workspace migration moves your email, calendars, contacts, and files from your old system to Google Workspace, with zero downtime. The short version: NeuGenity plans the move and you approve it, then builds your Workspace. The data copies in the background while your team keeps working. NeuGenity verifies everything lines up, switches email over on a weekend, and supports your team for 30 days afterward.

Your old email stays the live system the entire time, right up until the switch. Nothing is deleted from the source. Below is what each step actually involves. If you just want the price, you can run the cost calculator instead.

The seven steps

1

Discovery and assessment

The migration starts with a close look at what you have today. NeuGenity documents every user, mailbox size, shared drive, file store, and the third-party apps your team depends on. This shows how much data is moving and where the tricky parts are, before any of it becomes a surprise.

2

A migration plan you approve

NeuGenity writes a plan built around your business: the order accounts move in, the cutover timing, what your team needs to know, and how to roll back if anything looks wrong. You read it and approve it before anything moves. The deliverable is a written plan with a timeline, responsibilities, and a clear definition of done.

3

Google Workspace setup

NeuGenity builds your Google Workspace: user accounts, security settings, groups, organizational units, and the DNS records that will route email later. This happens quietly in the background while your current email keeps running normally.

4

The data copy

Next comes the copy. Email, calendars, contacts, and files move over while your team keeps working in the old system. Email is the slow part, so it starts early and runs in the background for as long as possible. NeuGenity watches progress and fixes errors as they come up.

5

Verify before the switch

Before anything switches, NeuGenity checks the copy against the source: item counts, file access, permissions, and calendars. The cutover does not happen until the data lines up. Your old system is still the live one this whole time.

6

Cutover and go-live

When the data checks out, NeuGenity updates your domain MX records so new email lands in Gmail, schedules it for a Friday evening or Saturday to keep it out of your work hours, then watches email flow for 24 to 48 hours to confirm everything is landing where it should.

7

Training and support

After go-live, NeuGenity trains your team on the everyday tools (Gmail, Drive, Calendar, Meet) and stays on for 30 days of support. You get direct access to Christopher for questions and cleanup, not a ticket queue.

Complete Data Migration Coverage

Everything that moves from your old system to Google Workspace.

Note: The data types listed below represent what can be migrated depending on your selected migration path. Not all data applies to every migration type. For example, in a Google-to-Google migration, SharePoint data is not applicable, while in a Microsoft 365-to-Google migration, SharePoint sites can be migrated to Google Shared Drives.

Email Migration

Messages & Content

  • All messages (sent, received, drafts)
  • Attachments (all types)
  • Metadata & timestamps
  • Read/unread status
  • Threading

Organization

  • Folder hierarchies → Labels
  • Custom structures
  • Rules and filters
  • Categories and tags
  • Archive preservation

Special Mailboxes

  • Shared mailboxes
  • Resource mailboxes
  • Distribution groups
  • Public folders → Shared Drives
  • Archive mailboxes

Calendars & Contacts

Calendar Data

  • All events (past/future)
  • Recurring patterns
  • Attendees & responses
  • Reminders & notifications
  • Sharing permissions

Contact Info

  • Personal contacts
  • Global Address List (GAL)
  • Contact groups
  • Custom fields
  • Contact photos

Files & Documents

Personal Files

  • OneDrive → Google Drive
  • My Documents
  • Desktop files
  • Versions & history
  • Folder structure

Shared Storage

  • SharePoint → Shared Drives
  • Team sites & libraries
  • Network drive mapping
  • Shared folder permissions
  • Team drive structure

Properties

  • Sharing permissions
  • File metadata
  • Creation dates
  • Ownership
  • Access controls

What NeuGenity needs from your side

Admin access to your current email and your domain DNS, a list of users, and a short window to approve the plan. That's it. The technical work is on NeuGenity, and you get an update at each step so there are no surprises on cutover weekend.

Common questions

It depends on how much data is moving, and email is the slow part, not files. A single 20 GB mailbox might finish in about a day, but two mailboxes of the same size can take very different amounts of time depending on what's inside them. A mailbox that's 200,000 small messages takes longer to copy than one that's 10,000 messages with larger attachments, because the count of items matters more than the raw size. The earlier the copy starts, the more of it runs in the background before cutover, so NeuGenity sets the timeline per project after reviewing your data.

No. Email keeps running the whole time. The only change you might notice is a brief DNS update at cutover, which NeuGenity schedules outside work hours.

No. Your original system stays untouched until you're happy with the result. NeuGenity verifies item counts and access before the switch, and nothing is deleted from the source during the move.

Admin access to your current email and your domain DNS, a list of users, and a short window to approve the plan. NeuGenity handles the rest.

Last updated: June 2026

Written by Christopher K. Samuels, Google Workspace Certified Administrator and Lead Technologist

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What happens after migration?

Most teams don't want to manage Google Workspace day-to-day after they move. Onboarding new hires, offboarding departures, policy enforcement, and Google Workspace break-fix support is ongoing work. Because NeuGenity builds your environment correctly during the migration, ongoing management can start right away.

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Page last updated: June 3, 2026