G Suite vs Office 365: Which Is Right for Your Business?
Leading the pack in the industry of work cloud office suites in technology is Microsoft’s Office 365 and Google’s G Suite. With similar offerings, they have storage, applications and a variety of productivity tools but most importantly, they share the goal of allowing people within a business to connect with one another seamlessly.
When it comes to choosing which suite to go with, it’s a close call and depends entirely on the specific needs of your business. There are some considerations companies must consider – budget, tech skills, team size, and more.
Here are some of the fundamentals of each suite that may help make the decision-making process easier:
The Basics
G Suite: Includes Docs for word processing, Sheets for spreadsheets, Slides for presentations and Forms for surveys.
Additionally, communication has never been simpler. You’ve got Gmail which is ideal for emailing. Google Hangouts facilitates video chatting while Google Calendar helps with organizing and coordinating appointments and meetings.
Then there’s Google Drive – the cloud storage app for G Suite that provides secure file backups for all the aforementioned apps!
Office 365: Includes the familiar Microsoft programs with an option to access them on your Exchange browser and collaborate on documents.
With Office 365, you have access to Word for word processing, PowerPoint for presentations and Excel for spreadsheets.
For communication purposes, Outlook for email has a built-in calendar while Exchange Online allows businesses to work smarter by offering offline email access.
Another bonus feature is Flow, which conveniently breaks down tasks and allows employees to cross actions off a list in an interactive way. The Teams element allows for video chat, meetings and conference calls. This is especially helpful when your business uses tablets like the collection of Surface devices by Microsoft. They have powerful back-facing and front-facing cameras perfect for video chatting.
SharePoint is a unique application that lets employees share documents and communicate in a common, shared online space. If staff members are using a Microsoft Surface tablet, they can mark up documents or share pertinent drawings using their Surface Pen.
And to store it all in one secure place? OneDrive is the cloud storage app for Office 365 that brings it all together.
Accessibility
G Suite is entirely cloud-based meaning users are required to be online to get down to business.
Office 365 on the other hand, offers both online and offline services. Programs like Word, PowerPoint and Excel are available to for you to take work on-the-go without needing Internet access. The portability of Microsoft Surface tablets combined with the unlimited access of Office 365 makes for a powerful duo.
Storage
G Suite offers two plans for purchase: basic and business. With the basic plan, your business will get 30 GB of storage. With the business plan, if you purchase more than 5 user accounts your business will get unlimited storage. If less than 5 user accounts are purchased, each user is relegated 1 TB of storage.
With the variety of plans available for purchase with Office it’s easier than ever to find one that’s specifically tailored for your business. A lot of them come with 1 TB storage and an unlimited number of users while the pricier options offer unlimited storage with unlimited users as well.
Where do you fall?
G Suite is a very user-friendly work cloud suite whereas Office 365 is more complex but offers more features that can help teams collaborate productively. In the end it all depends on the specific needs of your business!
To learn more about Microsoft’s Portfolio of Products and Services – Check out Ingram Micro’s Microsoft Showcase Site or contact the Channel Account Representative Tony Tu at Tony.Tu@ingrammicro.com