At Suitebriar, we specialize in helping small businesses improve collaboration and efficiency across their organization by switching to G Suite.
But if you have questions about making the transition from your legacy system to G Suite, you aren't alone.
We polled our Small Business Sales Team to compile a list of the top questions they receive from small and medium-sized businesses researching a migration to G Suite from a legacy platform. Here at Suitebriar, we have helped hundreds of Small Business clients successfully migrate to and adopt G Suite and we are here to help you determine if G Suite is the right fit for your business.
If you’re looking for ways to help your employees be more productive or if you’re searching for ways you can reduce IT costs in the new year, G Suite is the best fit!
We hope that sharing these frequently asked questions (and our answers) will help remove any doubt that switching to G Suite is the best choice for you and your business.
Top 10 Questions Our Sales Team Receives About G Suite
Click on a frequently asked question about switching to G Suite to jump to our answer:
- I would like to transition from Office 365. How much does G Suite cost?
- How long does a migration to G Suite take?
- How long does it take for employees to get comfortable with editor tools after using Microsoft for years?
- How much does it cost to migrate?
- Will I be able to continue to use Outlook, Mac mail, Apple mail, etc.?
- Can I have more than one Admin?
- What’s the benefits of Gmail over Outlook? Differentiators?
- Will all of my data (email history, calendar contacts) be migrated from my legacy system to G Suite?
- Can I use real-time collaboration on Microsoft files?
- What happens when I need to add or remove licenses?
I would like to transition from Office 365. How much does G Suite cost?
G Suite offers three licensing plans to fit the needs of your business. G Suite Basic is $6 per user per month and is the least expensive option. G Suite Business is $12 per user per year and includes unlimited storage, Cloud Search & eDiscovery and auditing. G Suite Enterprise is $25 per user per month offering advanced controls including Cloud Identity Premium & Security center. Pricing incentives may be available.
Not sure what plan is right for your business? Speak with a Suitebriar Google Cloud specialist to determine which option fits your 2020 business objectives.
"Our first-year savings for our Office licensing was well over $100,000, if not $150,000. Right off the bat, we were able to save that money." Joshua Wold, IT Manager
West Liberty Foods
How long does a migration to G Suite take?
- Short answer: It depends on how much data you need to migrate from your legacy system to G Suite.
- Long answer: The Suitebriar team has achieved a Google Cloud Specialization in Work Transformation which means we have a tried and true process for successfully deploying G Suite. A signature piece of that process is working with clients upfront, to understand how their business works, what their goals are and how company culture interacts with technology. During this conversation, referred to as a Scoping discussion, your Google Cloud Specialist will dig into your business environment, develop a roadmap to successful migration complete with timeline and budget.
How long does it take for employees to get comfortable with editor tools after using Microsoft for years?
To ensure your organization remains productive during the migration from Microsoft to G Suite we always recommend clients purchasing Change Management as a part of your roadmap to support a successful and smooth transition. Our Change Management representatives are certified G Suite experts and will teach users how to get the most out of the tools and how to recreate their Microsoft process in G Suite, often in a more effective way.
Because G Suite tools are intuitive and already familiar to many, we typically find that about 80% of employees can easily start using features to create, collaboration and be productive within the first two weeks of adoption.
"Because it [G Suite] is so easy to use people transitioned seamlessly and were excited to begin collaborating once they saw the potential." Michel Lemieux, Director of IT |
How much does it cost to migrate?
Similar to question two, there is a short answer and a long answer here.
- Short Answer: It depends on the needs of your business as each transition is unique. It may sound cliche but it’s true!
- Long Answer: After your initial Discovery Call with your Google Cloud Specialist, ie the call where we both decide if we want to work together to learn more about the process, we schedule a Technical Scoping Call to dig into your technology landscape, review the goals of your business and discuss your company culture. The output of that meeting includes a roadmap to a successful, smooth transition along with a quote for both cost to migrate and timeline for completion.
Will I be able to continue to use Outlook, Mac mail, Apple mail, etc.?
Yes. We can provide instructions and guidance for those that prefer to use other mail clients, however, there are many advantages to using the Gmail web interface as it ties in with other G Suite tools closely to improve productivity. For example, Quick Access in Drive saves users on average 50% of the time they would typically spend searching for files because it surfaces materials based on calendar invites, prior behavior and a host of other factors so your employees can do real work.
Can I have more than one Admin?
Yes, in fact, we always suggest that each organization has at least two admins.
What’s the benefits of Gmail over Outlook? Differentiators?
G Suite is a pure cloud solution that offers many benefits over other solutions. With its consistent user experience, easy to operate, consistent SLA, and cost-effectiveness, it's the solution to carry your business into the future.
G Suite helps foster a culture of collaboration through intelligent features like Cloud Search, Quick Access, snooze in Gmail and many more that increase user productivity to the tune of $23.6M gained in employee productivity according to the Forrester Total Economic Impact of G Suite analysis.
Be sure to check out our G Suite vs Office 365 Buying Guide for more info.
Will all of my data (email history, calendar contacts) be migrated from my legacy system to G Suite?
The answer to this question depends on the legacy platform. Most migrations include the ability to transition all mail history, calendar, and contacts.
Rules from Outlook can not be migrated but they can be easily recreated in Gmail with fewer clicks to boot!
Your Google Cloud Specialist & Deployment Engineer will discuss this more in-depth during your Technical Scoping Call.
"A technology roll out at this scale can be a big pain. This was a kitten. It was one of the smoothest technology implementations in my 20-year career thanks to Suitebriar." Jack Miller, Chief Technical Officer |
Can I use real-time collaboration on Microsoft files?
Yes, the process is a bit different but it can be accomplished and our Customer Success team can walk you through the steps. You can learn more about how this works here.
What happens when I need to add or remove licenses?
While you can easily add more licenses at any time using our Customer Portal however, you are only able to reduce your licenses count at renewal. Additional licenses are added on a prorated basis so that all licenses renew at the same time and you only pay for the time used.
The good news is that if someone leaves your company, you don’t need to purchase a new license when you hire their replacement. You can simply set up your new user with the license you have available. Check out our webinar to learn the best practices for off-loading and recycling user accounts.
