Office 365 vs. Gsuite – what is the best option for your business?

There are all kinds of productivity apps on the market these days. Two of the best were created by Google and Microsoft. Both Google's Gsuite and Microsoft's Office 365 offer communication and file storage tools alongside office tools.

But when comparing both, several differences are evident. Which is best for a fast-growing company?

Feature comparison

Some differences are easy to notice. Although both offer cloud-based services, only Office 365 allows desktop operation. The first question for any fast-growing company is: Is this important? While Microsoft can handle hybrid situations, Gsuite resides in the cloud. The Cloud can be very important for rapidly expanding companies.

But many organizations are not comfortable with the notion of putting all their eggs in one bag – so a hybrid model, where models are split between an in-house application and the cloud, is important. If this is the case, Microsoft wins in this area. In fact, Office 356 currently allows you to obtain the desktop version in conjunction with the cloud model. This is great for companies that are growing quickly; the more options, the better. Office 365 can be used offline on a desktop or online.

Direct comparison:

In terms of offerings, 365 and Gsuite are very close. But an important difference is that Google products are free for individual use. But for professional applications, both have a usage agreement for their products.

How much does Gsuite and Office 365 cost

Payment for these services works monthly, per user.

In Google GSuite

From 5 to 25 euros per user per month.

In Microsoft Office 365

From 5 to 12.50 per user per month.

There are differences between prices for small/medium plans and companies. However, the biggest difference is in storage space. The basic level of GSuite has a limit of 30GB. The good news is that documents created in the application suite do not count towards your storage limit. However, emails count.

For the base plan, Microsoft wins with 1 terabyte of space.

Another problem with Google is its email functions. Gmail does not allow users to send group emails, which is impractical. The truth is that Outlook, like Word and Excel, dominates the market when it comes to this function. There are many more Outlook applications running than Gmail, and Office productivity has dominated the market for decades. A major issue to be aware of with Google is that their email products don't work well with Outlook calendaring.

Another important thing to keep in mind when comparing the price of Office 365 with GSuite is that Microsoft has a more complicated structure. However, there are many more options for building a suite of services for rapidly growing businesses; This flexibility and ability to scale is a big advantage.

Funcionalidade

GSuite is an excellent mix of simple and low-cost services for small businesses. But no one beats Microsoft when it comes to the number of functions in each application. There's no doubt that Excel destroys Google Sheets when it comes to dealing with complex numbers and data visualization. Google docs simply cannot have the graphic layers and publishing features present in Word. Furthermore, PowerPoint is the most used presentation software on the planet; most users have been using it for decades.

This should not exclude GSuite. In fact, it is even possible to open Microsoft Office documents from Google Docs or save GSuite files in any Microsoft format.

However, when comparing 365 to GSuite, it is important to consider the functions and objectives of the company in question. Something important is knowing all the contact points on a relationship management platform. That's why Microsoft has Dynamics, a CRM designed to handle sales, customer relations, marketing or any other service that requires contact with customers.

Many companies in aggressive growth mode want enterprise-grade resource planning software as it is a more sophisticated way to track productivity and profitability. Microsoft has a solution that delivers analytics and tracking in a familiar Microsoft format.

Speaking of familiarity, Microsoft programs all have a familiar look and feel, along with interoperability that makes integration easier. For growing companies, this can be important as it can decrease training time and increase ease of use.

Recommendation

A comparison of the two platforms should always be carried out before subscribing to any service. For small businesses, GSuite may have enough features to help them expand without feeling the limitations caused by a limited number of features.

But when purchasing a set of production programs, consider the learning curve for employees who may be more accustomed to the Microsoft standard, even though Gsuite's apps are identical to Microsoft's, as is the case with Google Documents. .

Perhaps most importantly, consider not where your company is now – but where you want it to be in five years. Would increased cloud space or the analytical power of an ERP platform help your organization reach the next level? Would Google inhibit your goals, forcing you to move to something more complex like Microsoft tools?

It is for these reasons that we recommend Gsuite for companies looking to grow.