How to Migrate Data Between Google Cloud 

In this article, we are going to discuss techniques to migrate data between Google Cloud, i.e., Google Workspace. We will demonstrate the use & working of Google Workspace Data Migration Service (DMS) for email migration and efficient utility for complete data migration between accounts at same or different domains. 

Due to certain scenarios or events in  an organization, the requirement of data migration arises, such scenarios are as follows: 

• Changes in organization structure – Splitting into multiple Sub organization
• Acquisition of another organization
• Leaving of an employee
• Data Security 

What is Google Workspace Data Migration Service & How to Use It? 

The Data Migration Service (DMS) is an in-build application in Google Workspace to migrate data between Google cloud accounts, as well as migrate data to Google Cloud from on-premises or other cloud applications. Here, we are going to explain the steps for migration between Google Cloud users. 

But, before understanding the working of Google Workspace Data Migration Service, you should know its functions & limitations first: 

• Migrates only emails between Google Workspace accounts
• No more support for contacts and calendar migration between Google Cloud
• Doesn’t support Drive data migration. 
• Requires user id and passwords of all users for migration
• Doesn’t require Admin permission of source admin to migrate user data to another domain – It is a security vulnerability of DMS
• Provides options to migrate data from a certain date to the current date. 
• Option to exclude/include send and deleted items
• Feature to migrate data of particular folder
• Different options for single/multiple user account data migration

Steps to Migrate Data Between Google Cloud using DMS: 

1. To access the DMS, login into destination Google Workspace admin Center (if source and destination are different domains)

2. From the Admin Center, select the “Data Migration” tab and then use the “SET UP DATA MIGRATION” link to open the DMS panel.

3. In the DMS wizard, select the source as “Google Workspace” to migrate data between Google Clouds. Once, this option is selected, all the other fields get disabled and default migration settings will apply.

4. In the next window, select the “Start Date” to migrate data from the selected date to the current date. And, you can enable/disable the option to migrate data of certain folders such as:

• Sent Items
• Deleted Items
• Custom Folder

5. Click on the Select User option to open Migration Panel and set migration settings:

• Add User: This option should only be used to migrate single account data. Here, you need to provide source credentials and destination user Id. 
• Bulk Upload: To perform data migration for multiple accounts, use this option. It allows importing a CSV file containing a mapped list of source and destination accounts. Create the CSV file according to the rules mentioned in the panel. 

6. Finally, click on the “Start Migration” button to begin data migration between Google Clouds.

7. Preview the live status of migration from the DMS panel and once the process is completed, go to More option >> Save Report & Exit the migration wizard.

Using the above steps, the task for “Email” migration is completed. Now, if you want to migrate other user data such as calendars, contacts, and documents, then other techniques need to be used. 

• Calendar & Contact Migration: To migrate calendar and contacts data, Admin/User need to login into each source user account and download the items. Once done, login into the destination account to upload the data. 
• Documents (Drive) Migration: To migrate documents, In the Admin panel, you can select the option to Share Document and all the documents & files will be accessed by the destination account. Or, you can do the same process as for contacts and calendars. 

How to Migrate Complete Data Between Google Cloud In One Go? 

If you find the Google Workspace data migration service too complex and time taking (which it is), then you can take help from Google Workspace Migration Tool from SysTools. As this application takes all the burden from Admin and provides a feature-rich as well as a smoother migration experience. 

Following are the benefits and features of this automated tool: 

1. Complete data migration – Emails, Contacts, Calendar, and Document
2. Migrates Document permissions from source to destination. 
3. Doesn’t require each User account password or Admin password for migration
4. Concurrent migration feature to migrate mailboxes in batches.
5. Multiple in-built options for mapping source and destination user accounts
6. Shows live preview of migration
7. Validate migration settings at each step to migrate all items without failure
8. Retry Failed and Re-Run Full migration options to migrate failed and skipped items
9. Unlimited delta passes to migrate newly arrived data in source – Activates after completion of migration once.
10. Downloads migration report of two types: Summary & Detailed.

Steps to migrate complete data between Google clouds: 

1. Go to the official website to download the tool for Windows or Linux OS.

2. Launch the tool and go to Activate tab to fill in details for activation.

3. Once activated, go to the Setup tab and select the Source and Destination as Google Workspace.

4. Scroll down to the workload section to select the items to migrate between Google Clouds.

5. In the source section, fill details of Admin and Project. To know about project details click on the “project settings” link in the tool. Once all fields are set, click on Validate button for the authentication.

6. Similarly, in the destination tab, provide details of destination Admin and Validate.

7. Go to the User tab to select mapping options:

• Fetch Users: It automatically fetches the user accounts in the source Google Cloud and generates the list in the tool window, while the destination field remains empty for mapping. 
• Import Users: This feature allows to import a CSV file containing a list of mapped source and destination accounts. 

8. Finally, validate the accounts and click on the Start Migration button to begin the process.

9.Preview the live status of the migration in the tool window. And, once the process finishes download the report using the “Download Report” feature. 

That’s it! Using just these steps Admin can migrate complete data of multiple user accounts. And, if new data arrives in the source account during migration, use the “Delta Migration” feature to migrate those data. 

Conclusion

In this article, we have discussed the two easiest ways to migrate data between Google Cloud. If you just want to migrate emails then you can use DMS. However, for complete data migration use the automated solution.