1. Discover before you migrate
Inventory mailboxes, shared drives, applications, domains and devices. Identify who owns each system and which workflows depend on it. Confirm retention needs and access from outside the UK. Record the business owner who can approve each move.
2. Design the destination
Choose the workplace platform around your work, licensing needs and management requirements. Microsoft 365, Google Workspace and Zoho Workplace each require a scoped configuration. Decide account naming, administrator roles, sharing rules, multi-factor authentication and device policies before adding users.
3. Pilot a representative group
Include people who use shared mailboxes, mobile devices and complex files. Test permissions, calendar behaviour, sign-in and recovery. Agree acceptance criteria and a rollback route. Tell the pilot group how to report problems.
4. Cut over and support
Schedule the change, back up the source, document DNS changes and verify email delivery. Keep a support window and an incident owner. Confirm migrated access, train users and obtain business sign-off before retiring the old environment.
Your implementation record
Keep an inventory, access matrix, migration plan, test results, rollback procedure and support handover. Cloud licences and consumption sit outside the ICT labour estimate.
Official reading
Prepared for operational planning · Reviewed 7 November 2026. Check official guidance for changes and requirements that apply to your circumstances. Checklist progress stays on this page until you leave or reload.