Microsoft’s Office 365 vs. Google Apps for Business: Introduction

Microsoft’s Office 365 vs. Google Apps: Introduction

This blog and the following ones will be about Microsoft’s Office 365 and Google’s Google Apps. Throughout this blog series I will be discussing the pros and cons, similarities, and differences between Office 365 and Google Apps. Hopefully by the end of this blog series all of your questions about Office 365 and Google Apps will be answered.

describe the image One of the ways businesses and business people are able to stay ahead of the curve is by using cloud computing. The biggest advantage of using cloud computing is its ability to keep information accurate and current. Today people from all different parts of the world are connected more than ever before regardless of the, sometimes great, time differences. This relates to the business world where globalization is becoming more and more commonplace.

Now this leads to the question of how companies are able to stay ahead of the game and provide all their employees with the most accurate and up-to-date information. Well the answer is cloud computing but more specifically a cloud based document sharing and editing platform. Being able to edit work, share documents, work on projects remotely, and have multiple people working on the same project simultaneously are what companies need to be successful. Since cloud technology and cloud computing are relatively new there aren’t too many companies that offer a collaboration workspace like the one mentioned above. However, there are two companies that offer these services: Google and Microsoft Both have either developed software or applications that provide users the abovementioned collaboration features.

Microsoft’s program is called Office 365 which is basically “Office on the Go”, meaning Office programs are no longer confined to one desktop or laptop. Office 365 is available for anyone to use, it doesn’t matter if it’s for personal or for business use. Microsoft knows that everyone has different computing (technology) needs whether it’s for work, school, personal, etc. and it’s important that those needs are being met. With this in mind Microsoft has created two categories for Office 365 and then further broken them down into segments. The two categories are home and business which are further broken down in sub-categories and segments.

The business category for Office 365 is fragmented into two sections, small midsize business and enterprise with each having their own respected segments. Both categories have three different plan options based on the size and needs of a business. For small midsize businesses the three different plans are:

1) Office 365 Small Business
- Price: $5.00 user/month, $60 annual commitment
- Users: up to 25
- Features:
  - Business class-email
  - Online conferencing
  - Public website
  - File sharing
  - Office Online
2) Office 365 Small Business Premium
- Price: $12.50 user/month, $150 annual commitment
- Users: up to 25
- Features:
  - Business class-email
  - Online Conferencing
  - Public website
  - File sharing
  - Office Online
  - Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, OneNote, Access, Publisher, and Lync
3) Office 365 Midsize Business
- Price: $15.00 user/month, annual commitment
- Users: up to 300 users
- Features:
  - Business class-email
  - Online Conferencing
  - Public website
  - File sharing
  - Office Online
  - Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, OneNote, Access, Publisher, and Lync
  - Active Directory Integration
  - Self-service Business Intelligence

Google Drive is different from Microsoft’s Office 365 because it’s made up of free web-based apps, which makes it extremely accessible for anyone to use. Google Drive is made up of
various apps: Docs, Sheets, Slides, Quickoffice, Keep, Forms, Drawings, Apps Script, and Fusion Tables. All of the abovementioned apps are free and can be used from your desktop, or tablet, or smart phone (Android or iPhone). Google Drive is versatile, in the sense, that anyone can use it—students, businesspeople, teachers, etc.—and can be used by any type of business in any industry. Businesses that are in the tech or event planning industries would be able to use Google Drives and would be both equally satisfied. Google Drive is a cost effective way to increase productivity and improve internal communication.

Now you may be thinking that “This is great but Google Drive doesn’t meet all of the needs my company has” and I want you to stop that train of thought. Google has made another paid option available for companies with a larger workforce and workload. Google Apps for Business is great for companies with a workforce greater than ten people. Google Apps for Business is broken into two different plans: