Do you prefer Google G Suite or Microsoft Office 365? What seems like an innocent question at first can quickly become complex. Both are productivity suites with cloud capabilities designed to help your business collaborate and grow. Of course, that doesn’t mean they’re nearly the same. Anyone who’s tried switching from Google Docs to Word or Vice Versa knows about the superficial differences between the two systems. Those differences are even more significant on the backend. That you started your business on G Suite doesn’t have to mean that you stay there as it grows. In fact, you might want to migrate to Office 365. Only thorough research can help you decide which of the two is a better solution for your needs. We’re here to help you get started on this research, with these 6 reasons to migrate from Google to Office 365.
- Enhanced Scalability as Your Business Grows
The inherent goal of most businesses is scalability. Put simply, you have to make sure that any software solution you implement can grow with your business as it does, not adding new complications but solving the same types of situations regardless of the numbers of users attached to the solution. That’s where Office 365 undeniably wins over G Suite. Scalability is built into the design, with centralized administration and security features that help you manage your entire workforce from a centralized station. That’s thanks to integration with Microsoft’s various other offerings, from Azure to Dynamics CRM. In addition, its Teams chat tool offers a valuable competitor to Slack that integrates seamlessly into Office apps, something with no direct equivalent on the Google side.
- Reduced Price Per User for Web App Use
Pricing is naturally a major factor for any company looking to optimize its collaboration and productivity suite. As your company and teams grow, even a $1 dollar/user/month difference can make a major impact on your budget that could be better spent elsewhere. Here, Google has pricing simplicity going for it. Only three tiers make it easy to see just where you stand. But that also brings with it a lack of flexibility; compare it to Microsoft’s multiple pricing tiers, and you begin to see the difference. With Office 365, you won’t be pigeonholed into a tier that doesn’t match your needs. Instead, you can find a price specifically designed for a company like yours. As an added bonus, that price difference in favor of Office only increases if you choose to use only web apps on the platform.
- Capabilities and Integration on Both Mobile and Desktop Apps
Speaking of web and desktop apps: Google G Suite is online only. If you want to use it, you better be connected to the internet. That brings with it the obvious advantage of remote work; collaboration is easy, natural, and intuitive. Still, the lack of desktop alternatives can become a significant hindrance. With Office 365, you get the best of both worlds. In its most recent iteration, Word, Excel, and other productivity apps are all available as desktop versions that seamlessly integrate with their cloud-based counterparts. Use them through the cloud of offline at a desktop computer, depending on the environment. You can even work offline in Outlook, setting up rules and procedures for sending emails as soon as you get back online.
- Better Security Against Phishing and Data Theft
As your company grows, data security becomes an increasingly vital concern. You cannot afford to suffer from significant data loss, simply due to phishing or other types of online theft. It might not be a good idea, then, to run your productivity suite through software that didn’t even disclose the breach the last time one of its major platforms was attacked. Compare that with Microsoft, which spends more than $1 billion annually to keep its data (and its customers’ data) safe. Microsoft’s anti-spam and anti-virus protections are built into Office 365, including natural data encryption that makes your files more difficult to crack. Meanwhile, its Advanced Threat Protection functionality protects data through a proactive approach that has no equivalent on the Google side.
- More Control for Administrators and IT Departments
One of the worst mistakes a growing business can make is failing to grow its accountability structure with the company itself. Indeed, an IT department that was well prepared for a 20-person workforce may suddenly be overwhelmed if it has to manage, administer, and stream the same processes for 100 members of the team. Productivity platforms should make that process easier, not more difficult. That’s what Office 365 strives for. Its Admin Center allows you to track functionality, build reports on anything from usage time to reliability, and manage your billing in a central spot. That control allows you to keep a tighter grip on your technology operations, including anything from various access levels to data protection
- Increased Privacy for Your Company and its Teams
The final change is a fundamental difference between Microsoft and Google. The latter has admitted that its business sustains on the data of its users. Those users, of course, are you and your business. It’s an entirely digital company, sustaining on that data to sell ads and further customize its offers. How comfortable are you as a cog in that machine? Now, compare that with the approach Microsoft takes. As it has for decades, it sustains on licenses, not on user data. Scaling those licenses allows the company to make sure that it doesn’t leverage user data to the degree Google does. That means your personal and company information is inherently more safe, private, and protected.
Ready to Migrate? Here’s What to Do Next
The six reasons, not to mention the user-friendliness and low barrier for new employees of Office 365, make it an ideal migration goal for current G Suite users. Of course, you still have to make sure that you can get that migration right. That means doing research on what the process might be, and how you can prepare for it. It also means finding a reliable partner who is well-versed in the technology and help your company move to the new system with little issue. Contact us to learn more about a potential partnership, and how we can help you migrate to Office 365.
Request a Quote
Published on: .
Sales@AgileIT.com