Google Workspace Business Starter & possible move to M365 Business Standard

[britechguy]

Hello All. Before I even launch into this I can assure you that parts will be a muddle because that's where my mind is at the moment and I really have never dealt with Google Workspace at all.

I am working with a micro-business that has had virtually their entire IT world come together piecemeal over the course of 22 years. They use, and wish to continue to use, a "shop email address" that all employees can access, and I'll say it's currently allfolks@theirdomain.com. It looks like the domain name is currently actually owned by the individual (yes, separately) who owned the shop and who recently sold it. There should be no problem with the transfer of the domain (with GoDaddy as the domain name registrar) to wherever we want to ultimately place it. I do not yet know where it's hosted (maybe GoDaddy, maybe not - research is in progress).

They also use a separate plain old gmail address as well that is theirdomain@gmail.com (with, of course, no dot com after the theirdomain part).

The address that's allfolks@theirdomain.com appears to be associated with Google Workspace, and they appear to have an old subscription to Google Workspace Business Starter because it's $14/month (and Google now shows $7) and it has 60GB of Google Drive Storage (of which they use virtually none, and Google currently shows 30GB as coming with that service level).

I would really like to drop the Google Workspace subscription entirely and move them over to M365 Business Standard using allfolks@theirdomain.com as the Microsoft Account ID, but I have no idea of how I might extricate their existing email store from Google Workspace and get that address working under M365. I also have no idea whether it's a violation of Microsoft's terms of service to set up a single M365 account for collective use, even when collective is less than 10 people, and only in the context of the shop. They certainly don't need or want email addresses for employees individually.

It would be nice to have the desktop apps for Word, Excel, etc., on the two computers that are used in the store, as well as having all of their email administration under the M365 umbrella. I haven't yet figured out what I want to do as far as their domain name registrar, but I know I'd like to extricate them from GoDaddy and their latest registration cycle ends at the end of April.

Any assistance with "clearing my head" as far as the muddle of moving parts involved would be most appreciated.

 

[YeOldeStonecat]

I do have to rush out the door right now, but some options (each has pros and cons)...
*Configure a temp Outlook client to connect to their GMail...and export all of it to a local PST. Once domain is moved from Google tenant to Microsoft tenant...connect Outlook to the account in 365..and then import...PST.
*There are migration tools that do man in the middle migrations...pull from"source accounts"...push to "destination accounts".

As for the domain, you need to gain access to their DNS control panel.
Start the "add a domain wizard" in the 365 tenant..and it will have you create a little seed TXT record to prove you own the domain...take that record and add it under the DNS control panel...a minute later verify it with the 365 add a domain wizard...and then continue down the road with adding the DNS records. I like to prep this at least a few days before the cutover. I also like to dial down to the TTL of the MX and autodiscover records from the typically default 1 hour down to 15 minutes. BUT...do not change the MX, autodiscover, and SPF records...until you're ready to do the actual cutover.

Come migration night...you do your PST exports...any other data.
Remove domain from the GMail account.
Finish the DNS records that 365 tells you to do...tidy up the user accounts...configure Outlook...and then "import" the PST.

More details later...have to rush out the door.

 

[britechguy]

@YeOldeStonecat

Thanks for your preliminary thoughts.

I hope I will have more clarity after I manage to find out what's what as far as the domain name itself and where their website is actually hosted and who "owns" that (though the latter is not relevant to my prior questions focusing on email).

I have the sneaking suspicion that the prior business owner has put both the domain name and the hosting under his own accounts, which means those would need to be extricated, with the former being easier than the latter. The new owners also want to move from WIX for maintaining their website to Weebly (now part of Square - the same Square that does credit card processing).

 

[timeshifter]

If you want to move it to Microsoft I believe you'd be facing license violations by having 10 users log in to one email box. I believe that Google might have the same restrictions. Although I know of some users who have multiple people / computers all logged in to Google Workspace / Gmail on web browsers and have never had any pushback. Probably a violation there too. You probably want to get a handle on that first before doing anything else.

If you're migrating you can use Skykick to migrate the mailbox from one platform to the other. I think it would only be $10 for one mailbox. I've used them a bunch. They even have phone tech support if needed. Setting up the Google side is kinda a pain, but the mailbox to mailbox sync is worth it. Don't have to fool with all the PST stuff.

Finally, do you really need to move them right away, or at all. I prefer Microsoft for my clients, but I have a few on Google.

 

[thecomputerguy]

This mainly applies to larger migrations but I'd be tempted to just let MigrationWiz do this in the background even if it's just one account so it's not so manual and you can do other things. That and IMAP/PST's can get gross to work with. MigrationWiz excels especially if they use the calendar and/or have contacts.

Adding a domain to a M365 tenant is very easy with their Wizard.

You should technically create an account for each individual and give access the "shared" mailbox to each person. Pretty sure sharing a single account is against TOS not to mention a MFA nightmare.

Using said shared account to install Office apps across 1, 2, 5, 10+ computers would also be against TOS. You would need to utilize the M365 Business Apps license to allow for Office App installs without a Mailbox.

With that said I'd consider making that primary account a Business Premium license so you get access to the advanced threat policies inside the tenant and better control of MFA/Conditional Access.

If you are going to fix them then don't just shift them from one hodge podge to another. Fix them.

Hopefully they aren't cheap but it sounds like they don't have experience in pricing for what they SHOULD have been paying for all along which may present a challenge.

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[britechguy]

@timeshifter

Nothing has yet been "cast in stone" other than there is a very strong stated desire to dump WIX and go back to Weebly.

I may very well drop the whole concept of dumping Google Workspace for M365, and for some of the reasons you state. I have no compunction whatsoever about supporting an existing setup that may violate terms of service that I had no role whatsoever in bringing into existence. These exist out there in the millions, and it's not my job to be "the enforcer" for Google, Microsoft, or any other entity. But, if I am the one setting things up initially, I try to live within "the letter of the law."

I really can't imagine that companies like Google and Microsoft don't know that many micro businesses need and want a single email address for common use by "the shop." And if they don't, people are going to do it and never explicitly state that's what they're doing.

 

[britechguy]

not to mention a MFA nightmare.

Let's just drop this right now (and not because I don't understand what you're saying). I have many clients like this one that will never use MFA. It's just not gonna happen, and this is a case where it's not my place to force something the client does not want.

I don't have MFA on each and every account I have that supports it. But if you're a business that has run, for years, with an email address that "everyone uses" going beyond a password is just not happening because of the need for login by anyone, and sometimes at home. It is, in my opinion, a perfectly legitimate and longstanding way that many micro businesses have managed "shop email" for decades now.

 

[YeOldeStonecat]

Yeah in my rush...I didn't see (or digest)...that it's about 10x peeps that hope to just access the same mailbox.
Microsofts licensing is...."per user". Not "per mailbox"...but "per user", as in "per person".
Microsoft does have "shared mailboxes"..which is what we use for when multiple people check a common catch all mailbox like info@ for example. But each user would also need their own unique mailbox.

Also, 365 will activate on up to 5x concurrent computers per user. So you will run into a wall when trying to sign the 6th computer into that same email address as the prior 4.

Trying to think of an economical way around this...but...really tired no and can't come up with an idea yet...

 

[timeshifter]

Looks like each user could have a Kiosk mailbox license and access a shared mailbox. Kiosk mailboxes only have about 2GB of storage and are otherwise limited. But it might be a good fit for this situation.

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[trevm999]

Yeah, they could do everyone has accounts and they all access a shared mailbox, but it kind of sounds like some kind of ticketing system might be more appropriate?

 

[trevm999]

With that said I'd consider making that primary account a Business Premium license so you get access to the advanced threat policies inside the tenant and better control of MFA/Conditional Access.

You have to know what you're doing with this, because if you end up applying features to users that aren't licenced for those features, you're outside the terms of the license.

 

[thecomputerguy]

You have to know what you're doing with this, because if you end up applying features to users that aren't licenced for those features, you're outside the terms of the license.

Advanced threat policies should not be paywalled behind a license, these basic protection methods should be included in any tenant. With that said, I admit I am wrong but it's dumb.