A Smooth Google-to-Google Data Migration for Post House Creative

In early 2023, Post House Creative acquired advertising and public relations agency lookthinkmake (LTM). Both companies were already using Google Workspace (formerly G Suite), and their IT leadership sought to improve collaboration and security hygiene by integrating their environments. This would require a Google-to-Google data migration. Their Google representative introduced them to HiView, who would serve as their Google Cloud Partner.

The challenge

This migration project was somewhat unique in that some members of the LTM team already had an additional Google Workspace account in the destination environment. This required some extra user mapping on HiView’s part.

Additionally, the affected users were asked not to edit the documents stored in the destination account for a period of about two weeks because they would soon be replaced by the source document versions.

The approach

HiView’s Technical Lead began by mapping out the source and destination accounts while provisioning new accounts for users as needed. Next, the consultant exported a list of all Shared Drives to be migrated. The migration tool was then installed and configured within a VM (virtual machine) to ensure a swift migration. An environmental scan was run to estimate the total time needed for the migration.

Finally, it was time to migrate. The first migration phase ran smoothly, followed by the domain swap, and then the second and final migration phase was executed. After this, users accessed their accounts without issue.

During the migration process, users received three communications: A migration announcement, a cutover reminder, and a welcome message detailing post-migration tasks.

The results

• 22 users migrated
• 15 minutes of downtime occurred after hours
• 3 communications sent to end users