Google Apps Technical Transition Guide For Business, Education, and Government - Manual (Page 10)

10 Google Apps Technical Transition Guide
Each phase is usually four weeks long, although this varies somewhat with the size of
your company and the specifics of your legacy system. The transition is usually
complete within 90 days.
During each of the three phases, you configure more Google Apps features, migrate
more data from your legacy system, and move more of your users to Google Apps.
The Core IT phase
Only members of your IT team begin using Google Apps during the Core IT phase.
This gives your IT team the opportunity to familiarize themselves with Google Apps
and plan the next two phases. Your IT team begins receiving their mail in Google
Apps, but no migration of legacy data occurs.
During this phase, change management coordinators send out communications to
inform the company of your upcoming transition. They also select 5 to 10 percent of
your employees to serve as Google Apps early adopters for the next phase. Your
users don’t experience any changes to their workflow yet.
The Early Adopters phase
5 to 10 percent of your company begins using Google Apps during the Early Adopters
phase. These early adopters are a cross section of your company that includes
representatives of as many roles and office locations as possible. You begin migrating
data from your legacy system, including user accounts, mail, and calendar data,
during this phase.
The purpose of this phase is for you to perform a full Google Apps transition for a
comparatively small number of users, as a proof of concept. The Early Adopters
phase is not a watered-down test drive; with the exception of a few services that you
don’t enable until the final phase, the Google Apps experience for your early adopters
is complete.
Change management coordinators begin sending out user documentation and
running training sessions during this phase. You should familiarize as many
employees as possible with Google Apps before the Global Go Live phase.
The Global Go Live phase
By the end of the Global Go Live phase, your entire company is living on Google
Apps. The primary task during this phase is to troubleshoot issues that arise while the
rest of your users acclimate to their new workflow. To help ease the transition, your IT
team holds open office hours, and your early adopters can serve as Google Guides,
answering basic questions from their peers and directing more advanced questions to
your IT team.