Why is Spanning migrating from IMAP to Gmail API for backing up emails?

Gmail API offers enhanced security, is more efficient than IMAP, and also offers more flexibility. Additionally, Gmail API delivers greatly improved performance improvements over IMAP. Spanning introduced Gmail API-based backup and restore for new customers as a result of the feedback we received from customers, and now we are ready to offer Gmail API to all of our existing customers. No action is needed on your part - the migration to Gmail API will happen automatically.

Please note that you will NOT lose any backed up email data as a result of the migration from IMAP to Gmail API. Spanning will ensure that all of your backed-up emails that are deleted in Gmail are accessible to you after the migration is completed for users in your domain. When migration is in progress for a user in your domain, you will have limited access to their backed-up email. To make the process as transparent as possible, when you look at the user’s account in the Spanning app, we will notify you if the user is being migrated. 

The migration will only be for Gmail data and while you will have limited access to emails during migration you will be able to access Spanning, initiate on-demand backups, and run exports and restores for any data in Drive, Calendars, Contacts, and Sites. 

The amount of time it will take for migrating email data for all users in your domain will depend on the number of users in your domain and the number of emails they have.

We will be migrating all domains to Gmail API from IMAP over a period of time and will send out a notification to you at the email address provided for status notifications before the migration begins for your domain. 

Please email support@spanning.com if you have any additional questions.