Moving from Google Workspace to Microsoft 365
I’ve had the job of managing a handful of data migrations from Google Workspace, Google’s business email/storage/etc. platform, into Microsoft 365. It’s a straightforward process at its core, but after looking into doing it for my own personal domain, there is a lot more room for nuance if you’ve deeply embedded yourself in their products. A few things that I’ve discovered include:
If you’ve ever used the ‘Sign in with Google’ button to sign into a third-party website, the accounts on those third-party websites will be lost. I did find an admin page for viewing Google account connections, so at least I know what will need to be recreated.
I have my Google Fi subscription tied to my Google Workspace account and moving it to a free gmail account will result in the deletion of all text messages. They can be backed up or exported using third-party tools, but that isn’t ideal. They also force you to pay off any financed phones before the Fi account can be transferred.
This ties into my first point, but my Google Workspace account is currently set as the primary on my Pixel phone. I expect removing it to open a can of worms related to sign-ins for apps. So, I’ll probably be forced to sign into everything again, or create new sign-ins for apps that I signed into using my Google Workspace account that will no longer exist.
I haven’t found much recourse for these issues outside of addressing them individually, and I have accepted that decoupling myself from the service is going to cause some problems in the short term. My current weening strategy is to create new sign-ins for apps/services that need them, then set my @gmail.com account as the primary on my phone. If things are fine after a month, I’ll proceed with moving Google Fi out of Google Workspace, remove licenses from accounts, and then maintain the Google Workspace account for 3-6 months in case I need to re-activate for whatever reason.It's also worth noting that I’d consider this a fringe scenario. Most business accounts aren’t going to be tied into someone’s identity this heavily, and most individuals are using free Google accounts for their personal data. The best advice I can give here is that if you find yourself in a funny mood after $1 Mystery Beer Night with friends seven years ago, have yourself a glass of water before you decide to buy that cosmetic domain and use it to create your new email address on Google’s premium platform.