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G Suite vs. Office 365: Which is the Better Productivity Suite for Your Business?

IT preferences can feel like religion. Mac vs PC. Linux vs Windows, iOS vs Android. The same holds true with cloud services. The historical presence of MS Office in our daily work lives makes moving to G Suite feel more like a radical shift than moving to Microsoft Office 365. And while there is something to be said for familiarity, the way we’ve always done things is not necessary the best way to do them, or the way we should be doing them in the future.

G Suite vs. Office 365

Our work environments are changing from structure and hierarchy to collaboration and teams.

The productivity tools we pick should foster and support the way your team wants to work rather than forcing your team into structures and processes that can stifle innovation, initiative, and productivity.

Both Microsoft Office 365 and G Suite give you the tools to help your team collaborate and thrive. The approaches, however, differ.

The Microsoft Office 365 Angle

For about two years, Microsoft has focused on “cloud first; mobile first” as its strategy and mantra. The evolution of Office 365 and Azure demonstrate Microsoft’s commitment and enthusiasm for the collaboration economy.

But Microsoft is about rapid evolution, not revolution. Microsoft understand that you have legacy systems and data — from MS Office documents to line-of-business systems — that you cannot replace all at once.  One of the strengths of Office 365 is the ability to integrate the service with existing servers, applications, and data. In doing so, new capabilities work not only with cloud-based infrastructure systems and data, but with your existing IT systems and services.

Microsoft’s cloud-first strategy is clearly to expand the capability of Office 365, but let you access your on-premise systems and data. Case in point: Power BI.  Power BI is a user-driven data analytics tool in Office 365 that is not part of the MS Office suite.  Power BI lets you connect and include data from Excel, SQL Server, Dynamics, and hundreds of other sources — on premise and in the cloud.

The Google G Suite Angle

Google has always been cloud-first — some might say cloud-only — in its strategy.  Yes, G Suite integrates with your local Windows network and with your desktop MS Office suite. But the real power of G Suite is the innate design around collaboration and peer connectivity. Every app — and nearly every feature — supports real time collaboration.  The apps within G Suite are designed to be efficient and “lighter weight” than other productivity suites, focusing on the functionality used by 80-90% of users and relying on third party solutions for the rest.

G Suite assumes, if not expects, you to use third party applications and solutions to build out your capabilities. Google focuses on integration with third parties as much, if not more, than adding major apps and functionality to G Suite. Need a CRM system? Take your pick from dozens of solutions ranging from major players like Salesforce.com and Prosperworks to niche and vertical market solutions like Bullhorn. Need a task management solution? Hive, Smartsheets, and many others are ripe for the picking.

Google’s cloud platform strategy is clearly to provide a core productivity platform and to empower organizations to pick “best fit” and “best of breed” cloud (SaaS) solutions to fill broader needs and provide line of business functionality.

Other Considerations With the Culture Clash of Office 365 vs. G Suite

Even with a Cloud-First strategy, Microsoft focuses on including and providing a broad range of apps and solution within the Windows/Office365/Azure ecosystem. Yes, Microsoft fosters relationships and integrates with other cloud solutions and apps. Microsoft also integrates with legacy, on-premise systems. Google’s culture is more “all in cloud”. Yes, you can integrate MS Office.  Yes, you can connect to on-premise systems. But your productivity suite will work best when you integrate with third party SaaS solutions.

Which solution — Office 365 and G Suite — is right for you depends on where you are and where you want to go as an organization. The decision is as much about culture, line of business apps, mobility, and other factors as it is about Outlook vs Gmail.  When deciding which cloud, look forward and measure your decision against goals, objectives, and the long term strategy for your business as well as your IT.

 


For more discussion of factors to consider when deciding which cloud is best for your business, check out our recent eBook, Picking Your Productivity Cloud.

Picking the Right Productivity Cloud: Look Beyond Familiarity and Cost

News from Cumulus GlobalWestborough, MA — It is no longer a matter of “if”, but “when” small and midsize businesses will move to the cloud. For most SMBs, the first decision they make will be on which productivity cloud to use– MS Office 365 or Google G Suite. As noted in Cumulus Global’s most recent eBook, Picking Your Productivity Cloud, SMBs are wise to consider more than familiarity and cost when making this decision.

“SMBs that rely on inertia and simply go with the cloud ecosystem that is most familiar often find themselves hitting roadblocks or underutilizing the service over time,” note Cumulus Global CEO Allen Falcon. “Picking the right cloud for email and productivity tools becomes the foundation of your cloud ecosystem. A broader perspective is needed.”

Picking Your Productivity Cloud looks at six critical factors to consider when choosing between Microsoft Office 365 and Google G Suite.  Beyond cost, the eBook discusses the impact of other IT systems and applications, company culture, and business goals. The ebook is available for free in our Resource Center Library.

G Suite Business Upgrade Promo

G SuiteEvery once in awhile, we have a unique opportunity to offer substantial savings on cloud services.  To celebrate the rebranding of Google Apps as G Suite, we are authorized to offer small and midsize businesses significant discounts if they upgrade from G Suite Basic (Google Apps for Work) to G Suite Premium (Google Apps Unlimited).

2 Great Promotions

Learn more ...

Learn more …

18 Months for the price of 12, a 33% savings*

To qualify for this promotion, you must …

  • Be a current customer running G Suite Basic with between 10 and 99 user accounts
  • Be on our annual prepaid or monthly flex plans
  • Upgrade before December 12, 2016
  • Contact us and let us know you want the savings

15 Months for the price of 12, a 20% savings

To qualify for this promotion, you must …

  • Be a current customer running G Suite Basic with 100 or more user accounts
  • Be on the monthly flex plan
  • Upgrade before December 20, 2016
  • Contact us and let us know you want the savings

Why G Suite Business?

  • Unlimited Gmail and Drive Storage
  • Email Archiving, eDiscovery, DLP for simple legal compliance
  • Advanced reports and admin alerts for better usage visibility
  • “Org” unit controls to adjust access and sharing rights by department
  • THE platform for new features, such as Team Drives and AI/machine learning enabled services

 

Interested? Contact us for info and a quote.

 


*Important Details: The 18 for 12 promotion ends on December 12, 2016; and we need to complete your upgrade by December 15, 2016.  The 15 for 12 promotion ends on December 20, 2016; and we need to complete your upgrade by December 31, 2016.  Monthly Flex Plan customers will see a discounted monthly invoice; Annual Plan customers will see an prorated charge and a credit for the unused portion of your current term.

 

G Suite: Advancing Beyond Google Apps

G SuiteFor the third time in three years, Google has rebranded its business solutions. As we scramble to update our websites and marketing materials, we can reflect on the change and what it means for our customers and those considering Google Cloud and G Suite solutions.

More than a Reflection of Rapid Change

On the surface, the rebranding of Google for Work as Google Cloud and the renaming of Google Apps for Work to G Suite reflect the rapidly changing cloud computing market. Looking deeper, however, the change reflects some fundamental shifts. G Suite is not just a “for work” platform. Over the past two years, Google has consolidated education, nonprofit, and government environments onto a single platform with their business customers. A single G Suite infrastructure now meets the rigorous security and operational requirements of each market.

The change also reflects a shift from infrastructure and apps to a focus on improving how we work and innovate to build stronger businesses and organizations. The emphasis is no longer on the technical features and functions, but how your organization can work better for better results. This focus will extend beyond the core G Suite applications to include third party applications that integrate with the G Suite and Google Cloud platforms.

New Name; Same Services? Not Really!

Within the marketing flurry is the message that Google Cloud and G Suite are new names for the same great services. This may be the case for now, but looking forward, you can already see two significant trends.

AI Integration: In the G Suite Announcement, Google mentioned intelligent applications and provided a link to a second post titled: G Suite: Intelligent Tools for Teams. Take note: Google intends to embed Artificial Intelligence into the G Suite apps and tools in order to provide a more intuitive, productive, customized experience.

A New Baseline: Google Apps for Work is now G Suite BasicGoogle Apps Unlimited is now G Suite Business. This change is as subtle as it is powerful. Where GAU was positioned as an upgrade to the GAFW service, G Suite Business is clearly positioned as the default option, with G Suite Basic positioned as a lower-cost, less functional alternative.

We can predict that we will see more features and capabilities appear in G Suite Business than we do in G Suite Basic (this differentiation is already visible with additional reporting and APIs). This differentiation will lead to a more robust ecosystem with G Suite Business.  Third party applications that integrate with G Suite, with access to a richer interface, will offer more capabilities when running with G Suite Business.  In short, G Suite Business will offer the greater value to most small and midsize organizations.

Looking Forward

Expect to see more announcements about intelligent features being added to G Suite applications. Expect more opportunities to integrate business processes and applications with G Suite — from CRM and customer service to custom line of business applications and systems. Expect G Suite Business to provide greater value as it will further enable application, system, and data integration. Expect new possibilities and opportunities.


Might G Suite Business be right for you? Contact us for a free, no-obligation Cloud Advisor Session.


 

Google Cloud and G Suite

G SuiteNew Names, Same Great Solutions

At this point, every Google For Work customer has likely received an email from Google with the big announcement:

Google for Work is now Google Cloud

Google Apps is now G Suite

Why the change?

Google’s has greatly expanded the range of cloud-based business services over the past few years, and the ways in which businesses are using Google’s cloud portfolio continues to change and evolve. Google Cloud better reflects how all of Google’s business cloud services are part of a single, integrated ecosystem. Changing Google Apps to G Suite, better represents the range of services that lets you communicate, store, collaborate, and manage your business. G Suite has grown beyond “Gmail and tools for business”.

What does it mean?

Your Google Cloud services, including G Suite, do not change. You will continue to use the same email, file, and collaboration services you know and love. You still have the features, security, accessibility, and ease-of-use you expect.

We will spend the next several days updating our website and marketing materials and remembering to use the new names.

What does the future hold?

Looking forward, we encourage you to explore more ways to take advantage of G Suite‘s capabilities and to watch for new applications, features, and functions. Google’s commitment to expanding the platform and ecosystem is greater than ever. If you want to explore new use cases or to further your digital transformation, please contact us for a free Cloud Advisor consulting session.