What should happen in the first 30 days after a migration?
The first 30 days should move from fixing problems to building habits. The data is in Google Workspace, but your team is still learning where things are. Small issues, such as a missing signature or a phone that will not sync, are normal in the first days. Your goal is to catch them quickly, answer them consistently, and keep anyone from drifting back to the old system.
We include 14 days of support after a managed migration, which covers the period when most questions come in.
Keep one place for reports, such as a shared form or a single help address, and review it daily in the first week. Patterns show up fast. If three people ask the same question, answer it for everyone in a short note instead of one at a time. Keep the old system available, but read-only where you can, so people check it for missing items without working in it.
What should you check in the first week?
In the first week, check that mail, calendars, and devices work for every user. Use this list:
- Confirm the delta migration finished and recent messages appear in Gmail.
- Send test messages to and from outside addresses.
- Check that shared mailboxes and Google Groups deliver to the right people.
- Help everyone set up Gmail and Calendar on their phones. Our guide to setting up Gmail and Google Calendar on phones walks through it.
- Update scanners, printers, and apps that send email through the old server.
- Collect reports of anything missing in one place.
Send the first-week check-in from your employee communication plan so people know where to report problems.
How do you help people settle in during weeks two and three?
You help people settle in by running short, practical training and rebuilding what did not migrate. By now people have real questions, which makes training more useful than it would have been before the switch. Focus on daily tasks: finding mail with search and labels, scheduling meetings, sharing files from Drive, and joining Meet calls.
This is also when to rebuild mail filters, signatures, and delegate access, and to recreate recurring meetings that still carry old meeting links. Watch for people saving files back to old locations out of habit. Our support and training options cover this stage.
Which security settings should you turn on early?
Turn on 2-Step Verification and email authentication early, before habits settle. Roll out 2-Step Verification with a short enrollment window and clear instructions. Our guide to rolling out 2-Step Verification explains how to do it without flooding your help desk.
Confirm SPF, DKIM, and DMARC are in place for your domain, as covered in our guide to SPF, DKIM, and DMARC. Review Drive sharing defaults and admin roles too. Fewer admins and sensible sharing defaults are easier to set now than to change later.
When can you shut down the old system?
You can shut down the old system once the delta pass is complete, users confirm nothing is missing, and every device and app has moved. Set a specific date, tell your team, and keep to it. Before you cancel, export anything you are required to keep under your records policy. If you are leaving Microsoft, our guide on when to cancel Microsoft 365 covers timing and what to save. For the full project view, see how to plan a Google Workspace migration.
Next step
Our managed migration plans and process include post-migration support, and our support and training page covers help beyond the first weeks.
Frequently asked questions
What does the included post-migration support cover?
After a managed migration, we include 14 days of support for issues related to the move, such as missing items, mail flow questions, and device setup. Ongoing help and training beyond that window are available through our support and training options.
Should we keep a backup of the old mailboxes?
Keep what your records policy or regulations require, and confirm that with whoever owns compliance in your organization. A common step is to export final copies of mailboxes before canceling the old system, because once the old licenses end, that data may no longer be available.
