Which one should you choose?
It's no surprise that when it comes to business productivity software, the first ones that come to mind are Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace but the real question is which one should you choose?
But first... what are these?
Microsoft 365 previously known as Office 365 and Google Workspace previously known as G Suite, are suites of productivity tools that allow businesses to have a unified suite for employees to perform business tasks in the cloud with the convenience of using a web browser. Some of their common features are:
- Availability across Windows, macOS, and Linux desktops
- Business email and shared calendars
- File management and online storage for shared collaboration among employees
- Corporate communication tools (messaging, video conferencing, and online meetings)
- Productivity apps for creating and collaborating on documents, spreadsheets, presentations, brainstorming, and more
Google Workspace
The key differences to consider when choosing which plan you want to go for depends on the amount of cloud storage, number of participants on a video conference call, security features, access to the Google Cloud search and Google's Appsheet tool.
Microsoft 365
It could be overwhelming to compare the pricing between Microsoft 365 tiers because it offers different pricing plans for home, business, enterprise, government, non-profit and education. It is also important to note that all plans require annual commitment. However, there is more flexibility on choosing which plan best suits your needs.
Depending on which subscription you choose, most Microsoft 365 plans offers installable versions of the Microsoft Office product suite for better productivity, features and work offline.
Both Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace are wonderful tools when it comes to online collaboration using their online apps. Everybody can see and make edits on real time instead of having to track changes and comparing different versions of the same file.
Microsoft 365 offers more functionalities on its apps but at the same time, it could be more complicated for employees to learn how to make the most use of its tools. On the other hand, Google Workspace is less feature packed but would not be a disadvantage if your business does not require those advanced features, plus it is easier for your employees to get familiarized with.
Using emails on different platforms
Be aware that when one choosing one over the other, one major downside that comes with it regardless of which one you choose, is that some platforms may only support one of them.
An example of this is Wix with their Bookings system. Currently, it is only possible to sync Wix Bookings to a Google Calendar and other alternatives like Microsoft Calendar are not supported -yet.