Google Workspace Transformation
How Harris Tapper Went From Scattered to Scalable in 1.5 Weeks
COMPANY
Harris Tapper
Industry
Fashion & Retail
Service
Systems Optimisation
Scenario
Harris Tapper is a growing fashion brand with ambitions to scale. But behind the scenes, their internal systems told a different story.
Like many founder-led businesses, they had built their tech stack organically over the years. A shared Gmail account here, a personal Google Drive there, Microsoft Exchange for email, iCal for calendars. Nobody had ever sat down and made it all work together. It just grew.
By the time they came to Qwento, the cracks were showing.
"It just feels messy across all of these things."
Harris Tapper, pre-engagement
Calendar invites weren't showing up. Replies weren't responding. Files were scattered across six different Google accounts owned by a mix of current staff, former employees and a shared team account that nobody was quite sure who managed. Sensitive financial documents sat alongside general company files with no clear access controls. Junior staff could see things they shouldn't. And when someone left the business, their files went with them.
With new hires on the horizon and growth accelerating, Harris Tapper needed a foundation that could actually support the business they were building, not the one they started with.
Challenges
The problem in plain terms
Area | The Reality |
|---|---|
Running on Microsoft Exchange with no clear ownership or DNS best practices | |
Calendars | Device-based iCal with unreliable syncing, staff couldn't see each other's availability |
Logins | A mix of shared Gmail accounts and personal unmanaged accounts, no individual accountability |
Files | Spread across six Google accounts including two former employees with no way to access them |
Permissions | No role-based access, sensitive documents weren't protected |
Security | No password manager, no central admin control |
Process
This details the step-by-step approach to deliver project outcomes, including research, planning, implementation, and team handover.
Discovery First
Before touching a single setting, we sat down with the Harris Tapper team to understand the real pain points, not just the technical ones. Using Asana for full project visibility, we mapped the existing setup, identified risks and dependencies, and designed a target architecture before a single change was made.
Google Workspace Implementation
We migrated Harris Tapper from Microsoft Exchange and a fragmented collection of personal Google accounts onto a single, unified Google Workspace under harristapper.com. Every staff member received their own individual account. No more shared logins, no more generic Gmail addresses.
Gmail, Google Calendar and Google Drive were configured from scratch with proper DNS setup including SPF, DKIM and DMARC.
5-Year Email History Migration
Five years of email history was migrated from Microsoft Exchange to Gmail for all staff. 99.9% of emails and calendar events from the last five years were successfully imported with no disruption to the business.
Google Drive Consolidation
Harris Tapper's files were scattered across six Google accounts, including two former employees whose accounts were inaccessible. We consolidated everything into a unified Google Workspace Shared Drive structure with role-based permissions, ensuring the right people see the right files and sensitive information stays protected.
Shared Drive | Access |
|---|---|
Company Operations | All staff |
Sales & Showroom | All staff |
Marketing | All staff |
Design & Production | All staff |
Operations HO | Directors & Operations Manager |
Finance Admin | Directors & Accounts |
Directors | Directors only |
Shared Calendars and Company-Wide Comms
Two shared calendars were set up with edit access for the whole team, giving real-time visibility into availability and upcoming events for the first time.
A company-wide group email (all@harristapper.com) was configured so anyone can reach the entire team instantly without maintaining a manual distribution list.
1Password for the Whole Team
All eight staff members were onboarded onto 1Password with two-factor authentication set up for every critical account. 2FA codes now live in 1Password alongside login credentials, so founders aren't chasing former employees for verification codes and the team is protected against cyber threats with strong, unique passwords across the board.
Handover and Team Adoption
Migration is only half the job. The other half is making sure the team actually uses it.
We ran on-site and remote handover sessions for all staff, answering questions in plain English, troubleshooting issues within one business day and staying reachable across the team throughout the transition. Every team member could reach out directly, making company-wide adoption smooth and low-stress.
We also delivered clear internal documentation covering Google Workspace best practices, how to add new team members, shared calendar etiquette and 1Password setup, so Harris Tapper has full ownership of their systems going forward without relying on us for every small change.
As part of our recommendations, we also suggested adopting Google Chat for internal and external comms, moving away from personal WhatsApp and keeping work conversations within the Google Workspace ecosystem.
Results
In 1.5 weeks, Harris Tapper went from a scattered, organically grown tech stack to a consolidated, secure and scalable system built to support their next phase of growth.
Before | After |
|---|---|
Shared logins and personal accounts | Individual accounts for all 8 staff |
Unreliable iCal syncing | Real-time calendar visibility across the team |
Files across 6 unmanaged accounts | Unified Google Shared Drive with role-based access |
No password manager or 2FA | 1Password and 2FA across all critical accounts |
5 years of email in Microsoft Exchange | Full email history migrated to Gmail |
No access controls on sensitive files | Restricted Shared Drives by role |
No offboarding process | Admin-controlled accounts with instant access removal |
No internal documentation | Clear guides for ongoing management |
The goal was to make it feel the opposite. Clean, clear and confidence-inspiring. A system the whole team could actually use, that the founders didn't have to think about, and that would grow with the business rather than hold it back.
What This Unlocks for Harris Tapper
With the foundation now in place, Harris Tapper can:
Onboard new staff in minutes: Not days of account setup and permission requests
Offboard leavers instantly: Access revoked centrally, files stay with the business
Scale without IT anxiety: The system is built to grow with the team
Work from anywhere: Everything lives in Google's cloud, accessible on any device
Stay secure: 2FA, strong passwords and admin oversight across every account
Testimonial
"Before working with Sam, our systems had grown organically over the years and it was starting to show. Calendars weren't syncing, files were scattered across multiple accounts and we had no real visibility or control over who had access to what. It was holding us back.
Sam came in, asked all the right questions and took complete ownership of the process. What could have been a stressful, disruptive migration was handled seamlessly with minimal interruption to the team and clear communication every step of the way. We're now on a single, unified system that the whole team actually uses. Calendars work. Files are where they should be. Everyone has their own secure login. It genuinely feels like we've stepped into a different era of running the business. If you're a growing business still running on a makeshift tech setup, I can't recommend Sam from Qwento enough. It's one of the best investments we've made."
Lauren Tapper, Co-founder, Harris Tapper