<p>I was a long-time customer of Google Apps for Business. I used it for larryseltzer.com, which I use for both business and personal reasons. Back when I switched from conventional hosting and POP/SMTP email to Google Apps, it was a great deal -- you could get all the basic features for free. This included Gmail, Google Calendar, Google Sites and Google Docs, and it was all searchable using Google's top-notch engine.</p><p>A lot has changed since then. Google Apps has gotten better, although not markedly so. The competition, which is Microsoft, has not stood still. In fact, Microsoft's cloud product, Office 365, is clearly more powerful and sophisticated than Google Apps for business needs, especially large businesses.</p><p>I recently laid out the case for leaving Google Apps for Office 365. Here, I'm sharing the lessons I learned while making that migration.</p><p>Migrating my five users -- three real ones and a couple of test ones -- took about five days. The first day was consumed with standard and necessary things such as migrating DNS servers; the second involved working around an obscure bug I encountered. Most of the rest of the time was spent migrating email, contacts and calendars.</p><p><a href="http://www.informationweek.com/cloud-computing/software/google-apps-to-microsoft-office-365-10-l/240154989">Keep reading...</a></p><p>Read also:</p><p><a href="http://talkincloud.com/saas-software-service/google-apps-scores-over-microsoft-office-365-nara-cbc-wins">Google Apps Scores Over Microsoft Office 365 with NARA, CBC Wins</a> (Talkin' Cloud)</p><p><a href="http://www.sfgate.com/technology/businessinsider/article/Apple-Is-Hiring-Up-For-Its-Microsoft-Office-4514449.php">Apple Is Hiring Up For Its Microsoft Office Killer (AAPL, MSFT)</a> (San Francisco Chronicle)</p><p><a href="http://www.networkworld.com/community/blog/comedian-rob-schneider-stars-google-docs-microsoft-office-365-videos">Comedian Rob Schneider stars as Google Docs in Microsoft Office 365 videos</a> (Network World (blog))</p><p>Explore: <a href="http://news.google.com/news/more?ncl=dCztXgiBADzpzQM9XksVe9ge2xNoM&ned=us">89 additional articles.</a></p>