What are the Real Differences Between G Suite and Office 365?

When considering services for your business functions, it’s very likely that Microsoft 365 (formerly Office 365) and Google G Suite are examined. At face value, these services are strikingly similar. They both offer three tiers of services at relatively similar prices, and when comparing one tier of one service to the same tier of the other, the packages look similar as well. So how are you to decide between two incredibly similar services?

Each offers a relatively large amount of cloud storage, a way to share files and collaboratively edit them in a web browser, and most importantly, powerful email and calendar platforms. The key deciding factor to keep in mind is that these services differ in how they tend to serve certain types of businesses better than others. For instance, Microsoft 365 is typically better for larger corporate businesses or businesses that focus on a more office-oriented operation, whereas GSuite tends to work better when a business has many workers in the field, or workers who are otherwise mobile.

In an office environment in which employees work at the same computer and desk every day, Microsoft 365 is the best option. Exchange, Microsoft’s email platform, is arguably more powerful than Gmail and it attaches perfectly to Outlook, which (along with the other Microsoft Office software) is included in the higher tiers of Microsoft 365. The downside to Microsoft 365 is that Google has it beat when it comes to mobile apps and use on multiple devices.

Everything in G Suite is available once the user signs into their account in the web browser. People can access their email, calendar, documents, and word processor very easily and at full functionality. Gmail and Google calendar are also incredibly easy to set up on a mobile device and integrate seamlessly with the native mail and calendar app on all modern smartphones. The main downside to Gmail is that it requires an Outlook plugin to function similarly to a Microsoft 365 account, and there are limitations with the plugin that make it less than ideal in fringe situations.

Reportedly, Google’s calendar is also more flexible and easier to work with when managing teams of workers that all need to see the same schedule. The permissions are more intuitive, the events are easier to read and understand quickly, and events can be searched for more easily.

One major thing that Microsoft 365 has that Google does not is Microsoft Teams. Google has text and video chat capabilities, but they are much less full-featured than Teams. Next to Teams, the most comparable service is Slack, which would be an additional expense for those using Google G Suite. That being said, Slack is more flexible and powerful than Teams and has great integration with Google’s services.

Generally speaking, determining which services to use for your business largely depends on the workflow of your company. If, after reading this you are still unsure if your business is using the best platform for the situation, Grundig IT is glad to help. Contact us at 925.528.9081, or email tom@grundigit.com.