Iconic Fashion Brand Billy Reid Moves to G Suite (Google Workspace)

The story of the Billy Reid Clothing Brand begins in Amite, Louisiana, where Billy grew in his mother’s clothing store, located in an old farmhouse from the 1920s. Since 1998, Billy has cultivated his brand of men’s and women’s clothing around the mantra “American luxury, built to last.”

The challenge

With a distributed and growing workforce, Billy Reid Management seeks to ensure the company can continue growing without compromising authenticity. The key is keeping everyone across the business on the same page and attuned to the latest brand developments. When it came time to upgrade their workplace technology, management began looking into Google’s G Suite for workplace email and collaboration. However, the goal was to go beyond a simple email platform switch, and instead drive meaningful change in how employees work across the business. Google brought in HiView Solutions, a Google Cloud Partner, to help Billy Reid Management plan for their business transformation journey. 

The approach

The HiView Team assisted with Change Management Planning, Technical Planning, and Intranet Design, ensuring best practices were followed throughout the G Suite rollout. On the day of the “Global Go-live,” a HiView G Suite trainer went onsite to ensure all employees had their questions answered and were aware of helpful tips for staying organized, such as utilizing Chrome Profiles. A onsite classroom-style training session was delivered, building upon the “G Suite Fundamentals” course delivered a week prior. By the end of the day, all employees felt comfortable working in G Suite, and some employees started outlining how they plan to use G Suite Applications as part of their standard business processes. Two widely mentioned features: “A killer mobile experience and ability to edit docs in real-time”. 

The results

With a transition to G Suite complete, Billy Reid has transitioned to longer-term adoption and workplace transformation efforts. These include a rollout of Slack for company communication, ensuring employees understand how to use the Slack plugin with Google Drive. Another initiative is moving remaining company files from the on-premise server over to Google G Suite, which will be done in-house by Billy Reid IT. Collectively, these efforts by the Billy Reid team help ensure the company is building for the future.