The Challenge
A retail company considered moving from Microsoft 365 to Google Workspaces due to cost, cloud-based advantages. and better support for mobile work and document formats. However, it needed to ensure this was the right move, identify user-specific needs for remaining on Microsoft, and accurately measure productivity pre- and post-transition.
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The Solution
The company chose Scalable's Acumen for its detailed feature-level monitoring and ease of use. Acumen allowed analysis by team, role, and location, comparing platform performance effectively. Its business-focused dashboards presented clear metrics, enabling decision-makers to assess if the platform transition supported strategic goals without technical complexities.
The Results
Using Acumen, the company confirmed that transitioning to Google Workspace was suitable for parts of its workforce, starting with mobile-focused sales teams. Acumen provided a detailed baseline of current tool usage and monitored user experience post-migration. This staged approach ensures seamless transitions and minimizes business risk.
Challenge
This retail company has been considering a move from Microsoft 365 to Google Workspace for a while. Costs were a consideration, but it also felt that Google might be a better match for its business. It was attracted to the pure-cloud character of Google’s platform, which would make it suitable for the lightweight devices that are often more convenient for a mobile workforce.
The company was also attracted by Google’s interoperability that would make it easier to use specialist publishing tools and different document formats. An additional argument for the move was that the company regards itself as progressive and likes to give its employees as much choice as possible about the tools they use. Before undertaking the move, however, the company wanted to be sure that it was making the right decision. It also needed to identify whether some people would be better served by staying on Microsoft; if so, it would move only specific users or groups to the Google platform. The business also needed a way to measure and compare the “before” and “after” scenarios accurately. This would enable it to manage the transition to ensure that no one’s working experience or effectiveness would suffer during the process.
Solution
Out of various available workforce analytics products, the company opted for Scalable’s Acumen. The main reason was the high granularity offered: With Acumen, it’s possible to monitor the use not just of each product but also of each individual feature within a product. In addition, Acumen excels for ease of use. With it, the company is able to analyze what’s happening by team, role and location, and easily compare the two platforms’ performance in whatever dimension and at whatever level is required. Acumen also won out because of its strong business focus. Results are presented via dashboards and other business- friendly displays. Decision-makers can take in detailed metrics at a glance, with no need to get bogged down in technicalities. That means they can continuously assess whether the move to a new platform is furthering or inhibiting the business’s strategic objectives.
Results
By adopting Acumen, the company has been able to confirm that transitioning to Google is right for at least part of its workforce. It has built a robust case for migration, and is managing the migration against that business case. Initially, Acumen was used to gain an understanding of the usage of current tools. The company now knows not just who is using which features, and how often, but also which features are never used. This analysis has provided a baseline for planning and measuring the migration.
The company used Acumen’s analysis to select an initial subgroup of employees for whom the business case for migration was clear – salespeople who are highly mobile and make relatively light use of Productivity tools. This is a way to benefit from “low-hanging fruit” while also testing out the general migration approach before it is applied to other employee groups. The heaviest users will be migrated last, and in some cases will retain access to the Microsoft tools as well as the Google ones.
The company is now monitoring employees’ experience and effectiveness at a detailed level to confirm that that business case is being realized as each group is migrated. Acumen makes it easy to see that users are actually migrating as scheduled, and that when they do, they are experiencing like-for-like functionality and not losing value. Only when the company is satisfied with the results from one employee group’s migration will the next group move across. This minimizes the risk that moving will cause any damage to the business.
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