You are leaving Gmail or Google Workspace but your destination is OVH mail (MX Plan, shared hosting mailboxes, Email Pro or Hosted Exchange) rather than Infomaniak. That path stacks Google-specific behaviour—labels, the [Gmail] namespace, volume and authentication—with OVH’s own limits and DNS workflows. InfoSwitch delivers these projects under the UEswitch line: they take longer to engineer and are priced noticeably higher than our standard Infomaniak migrations.
Data outside the EU → European hosting
Google processes messages and metadata in a global chain; moving to OVH is often part of bringing mailbox data closer to European infrastructure (OVH hosting in France). We document the baseline (residency, subprocessors, admin access) to support your records of processing and DPO conversations.
What makes Google “special” on export
Google mail is usually reachable over IMAP, yet the mapping between labels and IMAP folders is not obvious: All Mail, multi-label messages and the [Gmail] tree can surprise an OVH import if folder mapping is not planned upfront.
- Workspace vs consumer Gmail — Domain mailboxes sit under Google Workspace admin policies; @gmail.com accounts bring different guardrails (2FA, app passwords, restricted “less secure apps”).
- Calendars & contacts — This page focuses on mail. Google Calendar (CalDAV) and address books can be scoped as a separate workstream—we define boundaries in the audit.
- Large messages & attachments — Per-message limits differ on the OVH target SKU; we anticipate copy failures and “oversize” items early.
OVH as a target: what changes for the project
OVH sells several email families. The choice drives the dominant protocol (classic IMAP/POP vs Exchange on Hosted Exchange), quotas, and how Outlook, Thunderbird or Apple Mail will be re-provisioned after cutover.
| Topic | UEswitch focus |
|---|---|
| Mailbox size | We compare real Google IMAP usage (folders + All Mail) with OVH quotas to avoid midnight “mailbox full” incidents. |
| Spam & filtering | Google-side rules do not teleport: we rebuild an equivalent policy on the new platform. |
| Aliases & forwards | Recreated in the OVH manager and tested before MX cutover. |
InfoSwitch method: Google → OVH
IMAP audit & inventory
We measure mailbox count, per-folder volume, shared/delegated access, and client usage (desktop, mobile-only, OAuth).
OVH provisioning & folder plan
Account creation, target tree, technical migration accounts, send/receive smoke tests.
Initial sync & delta passes
IMAP → IMAP copy (or adapted tooling) with iterative passes to shrink the final catch-up window.
MX cutover & coexistence
TTL reduction, MX records pointed to OVH, SPF/DKIM/DMARC checks to protect deliverability.
Desktop & mobile reconfiguration
Outlook / Apple Mail / Thunderbird profiles and validation of signatures and local address books.
Typical risks (and how we handle them)
Duplicates after migration — Often tied to misunderstanding Google’s All Mail role. We validate pilot mailboxes before scaling.
Authentication — Workspace frequently requires OAuth or app passwords for IMAP; we secure secrets and document revocation after the project.
Deliverability — Platform changes without SPF/DKIM/DMARC updates can push legitimate mail to spam; DNS work always includes header checks.
UEswitch pricing
Cross-provider work (Google ↔ OVH) needs more engineering, testing and project coordination than our standard Infomaniak migrations. The Infomaniak-oriented packages shown on our public pricing pages do not apply as-is: we quote bespoke UEswitch fees, typically materially higher than an equivalent Infomaniak-bound migration, scaled to mailbox count, data volume and business criticality.
Third-party brands
Google, Gmail, Google Workspace and OVHcloud are trademarks of their respective owners. InfoSwitch is not an authorised reseller or agent of those companies; we provide consulting and migration engineering for your projects.
UEswitch quote
Share volume and constraints: we reply with an indicative timeline and budget range.