“The Onix project management team kept all streams on track, ensuring the project was completed on schedule and on budget.”
A Go Live is a very exciting time as it marks a major milestone in an organization’s history. It echoes the conclusion of a deployment or an implementation of Google Workspace. It signals a new beginning — and the official “big bang” for change within an organization.
It also signals the evolution of people working more productively, efficiently and collaboratively in the cloud as a company, and it showcases that company’s accomplishment of leading the way in the technological market.
In more transparent terms, Go Live is the day chosen by the project team for their entire company to move from their legacy email system to G Suite. Go Live is typically preceded by a pilot consisting of selected users coupled with the project team. This group of people move to Google Workspace as part of the early adopter phase.
Onix had the pleasure of working with one such client, Manitoulin, whose Go Live was described by the client project team as a “non-event,” a huge compliment and testimony to the team’s preparation to ensure that the Go Live was an overwhelming success.
Embracing Google Workspace
The deployment journey began in Toronto at the Google offices where the client and the Onix project teams met in person for the first time. From there, each team worked diligently to meet all major milestones, ensuring that budget, scope and timeline criteria were met. The first major hurdle that Onix and Manitoulin Group overcame was releasing the official announcement that the organization was, in fact, Going Google.
This news was released by the company CFO. The reaction from end users was extremely positive, and a huge success. The organization was prepared for and looked forward to moving from their Lotus Notes legacy mail system onto a platform that is more innovative, collaborative and interactive. From that point on, change management efforts regarding communications within the organization were frequent, concise and transparent. This was appreciated by the end users since changes were occurring quickly.
As Go Live approached, three months after the change was announced, excitement surged as the organization looked forward to using the new toolset. The change was managed effectively; the end users felt ready to move forward. The implementation teams began at 8:00 a.m. in multiple locations, remaining on standby for any technical issues that may have occurred as well as for any questions posed by the end users. However as anticipated, the day was very quiet at all locations, with minimal end-user issues. The deployment was extremely successful.
Logistics of Success
The success of this implementation stemmed from the Onix team’s ability to be prescriptive with the client about what works best for change management initiatives, as well as how this change is best achieved technically from their specific legacy system. The Onix project management team kept all streams on track, ensuring the project was completed on schedule and on budget. Any scope changes were managed so that timelines were not affected. The project manager kept the client continually updated about progress, and ensured that communication between team members was prioritized and addressed.
Likewise, the project was also highly successful; the client project team knew their business and organization thoroughly, allowing the Onix team to prescribe what was best for them. They trusted the Onix team to do whatever was optimal for their organization. Trusting their instincts, the client team added additional in-person training sessions across multiple locations. They understood the importance of change management initiatives throughout this process.
