When Photobox and Dutch online photo product company Albelli merged, they became what is now known as Storio Group. The merger of the two companies is the largest ever in the European photo product industry, creating a clear European leader with an exciting future ahead. As part of the merger, the two companies needed to choose the best storage option for the new organization and consolidate data into a single platform, and switching to Movebot from another migration tool mid-project made this former challenge a breeze.
Going Google: Bringing Storio Group users onto the same platform
Part of any challenge of merging two companies is assessing the synergies and differences between systems and cultures of the two organizations you’re trying to bring together. Albelli was a Microsoft house that relied heavily on the Office 365 suite, whereas Google was at the core of Photobox’s culture. The challenge was to decide which of the two infrastructures the newly merged company would use, and then work out the technical process of migrating data from one platform to another.
“Changing tooling in the middle of a migration project comes with its challenges and risks. With careful planning and testing to mitigate these, the new tool (Movebot) proved to be a success, increasing the migration speed, and it was a matter of weeks until the data was transferred into the new environment. This shaved off months on the revised deadlines, and the migrations were now running seamlessly.”
With any merger, changing IT platforms is complex, especially for end–users because it requires a significant time investment in training and change management. The main driver behind this decision was the collaborative culture that Google Workspace enables. Ultimately, it was decided that Google Workspace’s flexible features, and emphasis on innovation and ease of use, is better suited for their needs.
The main driver behind this decision was the collaborative culture that Google Workspace enables. Ultimately, it was decided that Google Workspace’s flexible features, and emphasis on innovation and ease of use, is better suited for their needs.
Overcoming the technical process of migrating data from one platform to another
Before the migrations began, Storio Group underwent a discovery workshop with Netpremacy to understand the scale and detail required to migrate the data of approximately 625 Albelli users into the existing Photobox Workspace environment.
The workshop uncovered 959 mailboxes (Users & Shared Mailboxes), 625 My Drive’s and 60 SharePoint site data that needed to be transferred, totalling 22.5TB of data.
As with many migrations of this scale, challenges arose that needed to be resolved. When migrating the SharePoint data, the initial migration tool was running behind schedule, meaning it would impact the migration deadline.
Despite things not going to plan, Storio Group felt supported by Netpremacy throughout the project. Netpremacy’s Project and Tech teams provided daily updates for two weeks and tried troubleshooting and fixing the issues before switching migration tools to Movebot.
Changing tooling in the middle of a migration project comes with its challenges and risks. With careful planning and testing to mitigate these, the new tool (Movebot) proved to be a success, increasing the migration speed, and it was a matter of weeks until the data was transferred into the new environment. This shaved off months on the revised deadlines, and the migrations were now running seamlessly.
“Netpremacy ensured we were kept up to date for the entire process, and there was never a feeling of them just sitting on their hands and hoping it would sort itself out. Communication was back and forth constantly, and it felt very reassuring to know that they were actively engaging with us to find a solution.” - Sam Meader, Group Enterprise Applications Manager at Storio Group.
Supporting end-users, preparing them for change and empowering them to succeed
The main objective for the Storio Group IT team during the migration was to minimize disruption to end-users and ensure they were supported throughout the project. Netpremacy advised that a staggered ‘go-live’ approach would work best for the business, allowing them to focus more on particular business areas and ensuring that support and troubleshooting was available throughout the process.
Netpremacy’s Change Management and Training teams worked closely with Storio’s end-users to help guarantee Workspace success from day one. There is often resistance from users who are so used to the tools they have used in their professional careers, sometimes for many years. But the communications and training resources were well received, with one end-user commenting:
“Yesterday I followed Netpremacy’s Google training, and this helped me a lot! I sometimes have issues with “changes”, especially if it concerns systems. But Netpremacy made it so clear for me!! So thank you so much!” - Storio Group Employee
“The training and change team were great to work with, and they were constantly echoing positive vibes and trying to get everyone on board. This was great to see, and helped make users feel comfortable with the change.” - Sam Meader, Group Enterprise Applications Manager at Storio Group.
The decision to migrate onto Google Workspace was a great success. Since the migrations, teams have come together, collaboration has improved dramatically, and everyone has united under the same platform to make its collaborative culture accessible for all.
The result
By migrating Albelli’s user data using the Movebot tooling into Photobox’s existing Google Workspace environment, Storio Group have successfully:
Built a unified Google-centric workforce – The features in Google Workspace have significantly increased collaboration amongst once disparate teams, with colleagues accepting and embracing the change and benefiting from the functionality and features that Workspace provides.
Improved IT resource efficiency – Everyone now uses a single platform for communication and collaboration, so the IT teams can save valuable time with centralized, seamless management of a single system.
Boosted enthusiasm across the organization – With the help of Netpremacy’s Change Management & Training teams, they have increased employee engagement with Workspace, something that has been well-received across the business.
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