Google Apps vs Office 365 for Small Business: Which One is Better?
Google Apps and Office 365 both are productivity suites for business users. These applications will allow to create spreadsheets, documents, and presentations and collaborate with team members as doing so; also they offer video conferencing functionality and cloud storage. Thus, if you are planning to go for a new productivity suite, then go through this blog, and understand Google Apps vs Office 365 for small business i.e., which one is more suitable for business. Also, this blog will let users explore many advanced features of both Google Apps and Office 365 email application in a better way. Let’s consider the following scenario to understand the situation more clearly:
“I have been using Google Apps email application for a very long time. Due to some security reasons, my company has allowed me to install another application. I felt to install MS Office 365, but I am not aware of its features. Can someone please explain me the difference between Google Apps and Office 365. Kindly revert back as soon as possible.”
Google Apps vs Office 365 for Small Business : Major Differences
Many organizations are using web-based services to achieve their business goals. Both Google Apps and Office 365 are the most popular collaboration suites among themselves. Have a look:
- MS Office 365 File & Email Storage
In every organization, the large amount of storage space is the basic necessity. Data is generated in a large amount by a company or a person on a regular basis. Thus, you need more storage capacity to save crucial data. Now, when it comes to storage space of Office 365 and Google Apps, there are lots of differences. Office 365 Business essentials provide 1 Tb storage space per user, on the other hand, Google Apps basic plan gives only 30 GB of storage space.
- Office 365 Offers Easy-to-Use Interface
As compared to other cloud-based products, Office 365 is already familiar with Microsoft software. Due to this reason, the Office 365 application can be very attractive for a Windows-centric organization who wants to migrate in Office 365 from Google Apps. Furthermore, Microsoft has kept applications between on-premises and Office 365 very efficiently. The features of the Office suite of business application are most similar in the cloud as full installation on-premises. In addition, Office 365 business productivity app is more feature-rich than Google Apps.
- Capability of Accessing Offline Files
Both MS Office 365 and Google Apps applications support offline files. Even though, Microsoft provides a smooth and easy solution to implement as compared to Google Apps. To work with Google Apps offline docs, users have to make use of Google Chrome and after that, they can install the Google Docs offline extension. It will allow users to work with Google Apps offline files. After the connectivity restoration, each file is synchronized back to the cloud. Google Apps vs Office 365 for small business, which to choose? Still confused?
- Pricing of Both Email Clients
Price is probably the biggest factor when purchasing any online business software and the prices of both Google and Microsoft are extremely competitive. Moreover, Google renders a three-tiered pricing option for business users; Basic, Enterprise or Business. Whereas MS Office 365 also provides three pricing options: Business Essentials, Business and Business Premium for medium and small businesses. Microsoft also provides a range of enterprise packages that offers mailbox size different and storage.
- Security Features of Google Apps vs Office 365
Security is the major concern for small businesses during the usage of cloud-based applications. Although when it comes to Google Apps and Office 365 both have different types of security measures. Google Apps is integrated on top of Google’s cloud infrastructure and also use the same security level utilized by Google itself. This involves the automatic detection of abnormal activity, phishing attempts, and any other hacking attempts. You can use 2-factor authentication and enforce it for all users. Whereas Office 365 lets you to enable multiple factor authentication for every user’s password. It can also use Microsoft’s spam, virus, and malware detection tools to scan all emails, attachments, and documents.
Google Apps vs Microsoft Office 365 – Which One is Better?
Google Apps and Office 365 both are becoming the best cloud productivity suites. These two applications can enable your business to collaborate, save files online and easily to share with others. Both email clients are free to work from anywhere using multiple devices.
We believe Google Apps would be a better choice for all “small business” owners. It is more convenient to use, their mobile apps and web apps are the best, and you might already use most popular apps like Gmail, Photos, Calendar, Google Docs, and much more. Although if the business scales, they might opt for Office 365 as it is more scalable and vast, hence ideal for large businesses.
On the other hand, Office 365 is more effective for enterprise businesses where each employee works from the office using Windows PC. Their desktop-based apps are great, especially if you are in the Windows ecosystem.
Note: To migrate G Suite to Office 365, you can use an advanced utility, Google Apps to Office 365 migration tool. With this software, you can move the whole data from Google Apps in just one go.
Bottom Line
In this write, up, we have discussed the major differences of both email clients, i.e., Google Apps and Office 365. After comparing Google Apps vs Office 365 for small businesses, we can easily find out which one is better. Additionally, in many organizations, the choice depends entirely upon the business needs, strategies and direction.