Email Migration Challenges
Resultant worked closely with the state of Iowa, OCIO, and agency stakeholders to validate the State’s business, technical and security requirements, successfully mapping functionality from Exchange and GroupWise to Google Workspace (formerly G Suite) We deployed Google Workspace in six transition phases per the State’s requirements targeting distinct groups of users. Resultant leveraged several migration tools to accomplish the highly complex task of migrating data from two distinct email platforms Exchange and GroupWise, across multiple versions of each messaging system, as well as the State’s SEV archive system.
The use of multiple migration tools presented unique challenges and data migration errors that were previously unknown and had to be solutioned by Resultant.
- The Google Apps Migration for Microsoft Exchange (GAMME) tool could only be run at certain times and separately from the GroupWise migration effort.
- The CloudMigrator tool which we used to migrate Exchange Public Folders could not be run at the same time as GAMME because it resulted in unintended and duplicate migrations of user data.
- The TransVault tool used to migrate SEV data had to be leveraged after all the email, calendar and contact data were successfully migrated using the other tools.
Resultant performed extensive data migration testing to identify all the migration scenarios, potential outcomes, unintended consequences, and develop solutions to these unique problems.
Training and Change Management
The challenge of developing a comprehensive training program and change management strategy for users who were operating on different email systems, with different versions of user interfaces forced Resultant to be innovative in our approach. We designed a comprehensive training and change management plan that empowered users to embrace the change and proactively informed them of any potential migration issues.
- We created side-by-side Compare & Contrast one-pagers that depicted before and after functionality (e.g. here is how you create an email in Outlook or GroupWise, and here is how you create an email in Google Workspace).
- We leveraged a “what’s in it for me” strategy with the State’s users and described the benefits they would achieve by moving to Google Workspace. This custom approach to preparing and training users who were not technology savvy created excitement, gave them confidence in the new system, and successfully prepared them for the coming change.
- As part of our “no user left behind” strategy, Resultant delivered onsite and virtual instructor-led training (VILT) on each application together with role-based training for executives, executive assistants, IT administrators, help-desk staff, and general users. Resultant provided additional power user training to the State’s Google Guides who formed the peer-to-peer network within the state.
Cloud Directory Integration
Resultant installed and configured Google Cloud Directory Sync (GCDS) in the State’s environment to enable users to be unidirectionally synchronized from the State’s multiple Active Directory (AD) sources into Google Workspace for seamless provisioning and deprovisioning. Resultant designed and deployed an application integration strategy to allow applications and appliances to send and receive an email in Google Workspace. We worked with the State to update their SMTP relay system and served in an advisory role when the State leverage Google’s APIs to build custom application integration points.
SEV Data Integrity Project
Lastly, Resultant migrated the state’s SEV data which consisted of over 132,808,075 messages for Active Users; 105,085,287 messages for Inactive Users; and 402,000,000 messages in the state’s Journal Archive.
