If your company is not using a productivity software suite then you are not running an office as productive as it should be. There are so many versions out there that it can make your head spin. The two big players are, of course, Microsoft and Google. There are hundreds of others, but since these two have been doing things for a while it makes sense to focus on them.
Which one is going to be better for your team and productivity? It all depends as there are a lot of factors to consider. In this article, we will go over some areas and put them head to head so you can decide for yourself which is going to work best for your situation.
They look similar
There are some basics that both of these programs have that may make them seem identical. In essence, they both offer word processing, spreadsheets and presentations with slides. The way these programs work are also very similar so if you were to switch from one to another there will be a learning curve but nothing that would take too long to learn.
Two other similarities are that they have email and a real time communication platform for conferencing. Google has Meet and Microsoft has Teams. Once again, the way that these work are very similar so it would simply be a matter of getting used to the layout and the flow of how they operate.
The major differences lie in how they are connected as Google Workspace operates in the cloud and offers easy connectivity across many different platforms. Where Microsoft 365 has an advantage is how much more robust it is for offline working. When a user has a less stable internet connection there is a better flow for working offline than you would get with Google Workspace.
Microsoft 365 also gets the nod as far as the amount of storage that comes with all levels of plans with 1TB of data available. Google starts out with 30GB on their basic plan but does go unlimited for the higher-end ones. If you are looking at a basic plan then you get more bang for the buck with 365. For larger storage demands Google is your best bet.
Security
These days, the security of whatever platform should rank fairly high on your list of priorities. Since a data breach can be costly in terms of money spent to fix, lost revenue, and manpower it is important to make sure you pick one with the right level of security built in.
Both of these platforms are on somewhat equal footing and have many advantages over the newer players on the market right now. They are both very efficient and robust. It is probably a slight advantage toward Microsoft for security as they have been working in the field for much longer than Google has and have a lot of proprietary methods of security that they’ve developed.
