Abelian Holdings

Client Overview

A growing company running their entire operation through Google Workspace — email, file storage, collaboration, the works. The team was distributed, the environment was business-critical, and the security bar was high. When they decided to move to Microsoft 365, they needed it done right.

The Challenge

The decision had been made: migrate the entire organization off Google Workspace and onto Microsoft 365. In theory, a straightforward platform swap. In practice, a migration that needed to be executed with enterprise-grade rigor — accounts mapped correctly, data landing in the right place, logins working on day one, and the new environment locked down properly from the start.

The client couldn't afford two problems at once: a disruptive migration AND a poorly configured environment on the other side. Security couldn't be an afterthought. It needed to be built in.

What We Did

This wasn't a lift-and-shift. It was a precision operation — planned methodically, executed under pressure, and communicated clearly the entire way.

• Migration scoping & discovery: Audited the full Google Workspace environment — every account, shared drive, mailbox, and data dependency — to build a complete picture of what needed to move and how.
• Account & data mapping: Worked directly with the team to map every user, group, and data asset to its Microsoft 365 equivalent. Asked the right questions upfront — from experience, not guesswork — to prevent issues before they could surface.
• Scheduled, zero-downtime cutover: Planned and executed the migration on a schedule that protected operations. Data appeared where it was supposed to. Logins worked. Known risks were identified in advance and resolved before they could become incidents.
• Enterprise-grade security configuration: Set up the M365 environment to best-practice standards from day one — conditional access policies, MFA enforcement, admin role separation, and data loss prevention baselines. The new environment wasn't just migrated; it was hardened.
• Real-time communication & issue resolution: Stayed available throughout the process — day or night — working alongside the team, flagging anything that needed attention, and keeping stakeholders informed at every step.

Results

The organization moved from Google Workspace to Microsoft 365 without a single day of downtime and minimal disruption to operations. Data landed correctly. Accounts worked. And on the other side of the migration, the team had a properly configured, hardened M365 environment — not just moved, but built right.

"John is the first person I've hired on Upwork who works harder than I do. Day or night, rain or shine, John was there to manage and execute on a complex migration project under time pressure. He asked great questions and always followed through on his recommendations that were accepted. 10/10 would recommend." — Fred A., Abelian Holdings

Services Delivered