Migration guide · From Google Workspace
Migrate from Google Workspace to SIAX Email
Google Workspace is a suite, and an email migration to us is not a suite migration. That needs to be said first, before anyone starts calculating the license savings: we move email, calendar and contacts. Google Docs, Sheets, Slides, Drive, Meet, Chat and Forms don't come along, and we have no equivalent product.
For organizations that in practice use Workspace as mail and calendar — and there are more of those than you'd think — the math is simple. You're paying for a whole suite per user and using a third of it. Our mailboxes cost 19 kr each per month, speak IMAP, SMTP, CalDAV and CardDAV, and all storage sits in the EU.
For organizations that actually live in Docs, the conclusion is different: move the mail, keep a smaller number of Workspace licenses, and accept a smaller saving. Both paths are reasonable. The one that isn't reasonable is moving first and discovering the Drive question afterward.
Time required
Two to four hours of active work for around ten mailboxes, plus whatever time imapsync needs in the background — often a day or more for old archives. For 50 users and up: expect a working week of calendar time, most of it wait time, client configuration and support questions rather than technical work.
Downtime
No incoming mail needs to be lost if the order is right: mailboxes first, MX last. After the MX switch there's a tail of a few hours where senders with cached DNS still deliver to Google — which is why the Workspace account should stay in place and a final delta sync should run. Calendar is more sensitive: invitations sent mid-switch can end up in the wrong system, so schedule the cutover for an evening or weekend.
How to do it
- 1
Make an honest scope decision first
Our email service is email, calendar and contacts over IMAP, SMTP, CalDAV and CardDAV. Docs, Sheets, Slides, Drive, Meet, Chat and Forms have no equivalent with us. Find out how many documents have actually been edited in the last 90 days and how much Meet gets used before you go further. If the answer is a lot, this is a partial migration, not a Workspace shutdown.
- 2
Decide how files and meetings will be handled
That's a separate decision and it should be made before the move, not after. Common paths: keep a handful of Workspace licenses for people who live in Docs, self-host Nextcloud with Collabora on a VPS from 59 kr/mo, or buy a separate European suite. Our object storage is file storage, not a co-editing tool — don't confuse the two.
- 3
Set up mailboxes, aliases and groups
Create one mailbox per user (19 kr/mailbox per month) and map out all aliases. Google Groups used as distribution lists need to be rebuilt as lists or aliases — they don't come along automatically. Same goes for delegated access and send-as permissions, which are more common than people remember.
- 4
Prepare DNS and email authentication
Set SPF, DKIM and DMARC for the new sending path and verify them before MX switches. Lower the MX record's TTL to 300 seconds at least a day before the switch so the cutover goes fast. If the domain is hosted with us (.se from 99 kr/year) we handle the records; if it stays with your registrar, you get a ready-made list to paste in.
- 5
Run the first imapsync pass while Workspace is still live
imapsync copies mail without touching the Google side, so it can run in the background for days without disturbing anyone. Authentication requires OAuth or an app password with two-factor enabled; for many mailboxes a service account with domain-wide delegation is easier, and that requires super admin in Google Admin. Exclude [Gmail]/All Mail, Important and Starred, or the same messages get copied multiple times.
- 6
Move calendar and contacts, and configure the clients
Export calendars as ICS and contacts as vCard, per user or via Takeout, and import over CalDAV and CardDAV. Test on a pilot user in every client environment you have — iOS, Android, Thunderbird, the web client — before rolling out broadly. Recurring meetings with Meet links need to be rebooked, since the links die with the account.
- 7
Switch MX, run a delta sync and decommission in a controlled way
Switch the MX record, turn off the Gmail service for users in Google Admin so both systems aren't receiving mail at once, and run one final imapsync pass for whatever landed at Google during the tail. Keep the Workspace account for at least 30 days as a read-only fallback and take a full Takeout export before you cancel. Only then end the subscription.
What's actually tricky
- Docs, Sheets, Slides, Drive, Meet, Chat and Forms don't come along. There's no conversion, no partial import, and no equivalent service with us. It's the single most common reason a Workspace migration stalls halfway — settle that question before the move.
- Login with Google is the hidden dependency chain. Every external service where someone on the team signs in with their Google account stops working once the account is closed: Slack, Figma, Notion, the invoicing system, cloud consoles. Inventory them and switch login method before you cancel anything.
- Gmail labels aren't folders. A message with three labels becomes three copies over IMAP, and [Gmail]/All Mail contains everything once more. Without the right exclusions in imapsync, an 8 GB archive suddenly becomes 25 GB.
- Outlook for Windows has no built-in support for CalDAV or CardDAV. If the organization is built on Outlook you either need to switch clients (Thunderbird, eM Client) or accept that calendar gets handled in the web client. That decision should be made in the pilot phase, not discovered the day after cutover.
- Deliverability needs to be watched for a few weeks. The domain's reputation follows the domain, but the sending path is new — SPF, DKIM and DMARC need to be right from day one, and larger sends should be ramped up gradually. Monitoring (49 kr/mo, free up to ten checks) on MX and DMARC reports is cheap insurance.
Cost example
Fifteen users on Business Standard runs about 130-160 kr per user per month, roughly 2,000-2,400 kr/mo. Google changes both price and packaging regularly, so check the current price list. Fifteen mailboxes with us cost 15 × 19 = 285 kr/mo. The comparison isn't clean: the Workspace price includes Docs, Drive and Meet. Add a replacement — Nextcloud with Collabora on a VPS for 59 kr, 200 GB of object storage for 50 kr and backup for 38 kr — and the total lands around 430 kr/mo. Still roughly a fifth, but you've gained a service to run and that cost needs to be counted in.
Frequently asked questions
- Do Google Docs and Drive come along?
- No. We move email, calendar and contacts. Documents, spreadsheets, presentations, Drive files, Meet and Chat stay with Google, and we have no equivalent product. It's not a limitation we work around in a migration — it's a precondition you need to plan for.
- Can we just move email and keep Workspace for Docs?
- Yes, and it's a common solution. MX points to us, the Google accounts stay for Drive and Docs, and you turn off the Gmail service per user in Google Admin. You'll still be paying for Workspace, so the saving is smaller — but you get EU residency for the mail, which is often what's actually driving the question.
- What replaces Google Meet?
- Not us — we don't sell a video service. Common paths are self-hosted Jitsi on a VPS or a European provider bought separately. Factor that cost into the calculation instead of assuming it disappears.
- Which email clients work?
- Anything that speaks IMAP and SMTP: Apple Mail, Thunderbird, iOS, Android and Outlook for email. Calendar and contacts go over CalDAV and CardDAV, which Apple and Thunderbird handle well while Outlook for Windows lacks built-in support. Test your actual client mix in the pilot phase.
- Do you have ISO 27001 or SOC 2?
- No, neither ISO 27001, SOC 2 nor PCI-DSS. What we can show is GDPR compliance, data processing agreements, storage within the EU with no transfer to third countries, and open source all the way through so you can audit what's running. If your customer or procurement process has a certification requirement, you should know that now.
- How do we get out again?
- Same way out as in. The mail sits in IMAP and can be synced down with imapsync to any provider, the calendar exports as ICS and contacts as vCard. No proprietary formats and no export fees.