Thinking about moving from Google Workspace to Microsoft 365? You’re not alone. Across Wirral, Liverpool, Chester, and the wider North West, countless businesses are unlocking growth and security by migrating to Microsoft’s enterprise-grade platform.
But migration isn’t simply about transferring emails or files—it’s a strategic upgrade that can radically transform your operations. At Hilt Digital Solutions, we’ve mastered migrations that help businesses achieve undeniable results: increased productivity, advanced security, and enterprise-level management at no additional cost.
Why Move to Microsoft 365?
Microsoft 365 isn’t just software; it’s a growth engine for your business. Your team already knows and loves tools like Outlook, Word, Excel, and PowerPoint. Microsoft 365 leverages that familiarity, dramatically reducing training and downtime. Plus, with advanced features like Microsoft 365 Copilot—a powerful AI assistant embedded directly in Office apps—your productivity gains will be significant and immediate.
For businesses serious about their growth, we specifically recommend Microsoft 365 Business Premium. Why? Because it provides essential enterprise-level tools and unmatched security at no extra cost:
- Seamless Collaboration: Enhance teamwork with tools like Teams, SharePoint, and OneDrive.
- Endpoint Management (Intune): Centralize and automate device management.
- Data Loss Protection (DLP): Proactively safeguard sensitive information.
- Advanced Threat Protection: Keep your business safe from sophisticated cyber-attacks.
- Conditional Access Policies: Secure your systems without burdening your team.
Transitioning from Google’s free or basic tier to Microsoft 365 Business Premium is not just an upgrade—it’s a decisive step towards building an enterprise-ready, modern workplace.
Discovery Phase: Your Secret Weapon for Success
One critical aspect of a successful migration is the discovery phase—a deep dive we recommend (and charge for) to understand exactly where your business stands. It goes beyond simply auditing emails and documents; we thoroughly assess:
- Data & Mail Requirements: What precisely needs moving, archiving, or deleting.
- Endpoint Status: Ensuring all devices meet minimum requirements (like Windows 11) for optimal performance.
- Endpoint Management via Intune: How we can leverage Intune to automate patching, streamline updates, and simplify ongoing device management.
- Entra ID Management: Properly configuring Microsoft Entra ID for secure access management and user control.
Without this in-depth discovery phase, you’re flying blind. Not knowing the status of your endpoints or leaving unmanaged, delinquent data scattered across mailboxes can be catastrophic. If sensitive customer information slips through the cracks, the reputational and financial damage to your business could be immense. The discovery phase ensures your migration is precise, secure, and fully compliant.
Clean-Up Before You Scale-Up
Migration isn’t just transferring data—it’s a prime opportunity for strategic decluttering. Before migration, we help you identify and manage:
- Old mailboxes from former staff.
- Outdated or duplicate files.
- Unnecessary data occupying valuable resources.
This clean-up means a faster migration, lower costs, and immediate productivity improvements post-transition.
Pilot Migration: Validate Before Scaling
Testing with a pilot group ensures a smooth, stress-free transition. This strategic move helps catch potential disruptions early, minimizing risk for the full rollout. Feedback from this phase ensures the main migration is flawless.
Executing Your Migration
Migrating your email services also requires technical attention, including external DNS management, configuring SPF, DKIM, and DMARC records to maintain email security and deliverability, and ensuring smooth mailflows.
Proper setup of Microsoft Exchange Online Protection (EOP) is essential to safeguard your communication channels from spam, phishing, and malware threats. These tasks are complex and mission-critical, demanding expertise to avoid downtime or disruption to your vital business communications.
When the groundwork is complete, the migration itself is handled with precision:
- Emails, contacts, and calendars.
- Google Drive data transitioning seamlessly into OneDrive and SharePoint.
- Migrating all user settings and profiles for a consistent user experience.
We typically perform migrations outside regular working hours to ensure zero disruption, clearly communicating progress to your team every step of the way.
Immediate Post-Migration Impact
Our support doesn’t stop once data moves. We offer robust onboarding:
- Quick-start training sessions.
- Easy-to-follow guides.
- Reliable helpdesk support.
Our goal is simple—your team should immediately benefit from Microsoft 365’s full capabilities.
Investment vs. Cost
We understand some businesses hesitate at the £17/user/month licensing plus migration project costs. Here’s the truth: this investment isn’t just about new software—it’s about fundamentally improving your business’s capability and resilience. You’re investing in your business’s future, its efficiency, its security, and its scalability. Microsoft 365 Business Premium is your leverage for achieving next-level growth.
When you consider the risk and cost of downtime, data breaches, unmanaged endpoints, and inefficient workflows, the cost of Microsoft 365 becomes undeniably worth it. Investing in this strategic upgrade today ensures your business remains competitive, secure, and positioned for growth tomorrow.
Ready to Make the Move?
Migrating to Microsoft 365 isn’t just a technical project; it’s a strategic move with clear, undeniable business outcomes. At Hilt Digital Solutions, we make this transition seamless, secure, and highly beneficial for businesses in Wirral, Liverpool, Chester, and beyond.
Ready to start? Let’s connect today and ensure your migration delivers measurable, undeniable business impact.