Google or Microsoft: Who Do You Trust With Your Business Productivity Cloud Applications?

By Dan Baldwin

As more and more businesses try to set up their employees to work from anywhere using any endpoint - desktop computer, laptop computer or smart phone - the need to have business productivity applications (email, document sharing, collaboration, etc.) hosted "in the cloud" becomes a more pressing IT need.

But which of the two "800 pound gorillas" in the business applications world (Microsoft and Google) are you going to trust and give your money to?

Most business tech pundits are fairly sure that Microsoft will win the war in the long run, especially with medium to large businesses that already have a substantial investment in Microsoft software licenses.

Many of the same pundits though give the nod to Google for smaller businesses, start-up businesses and other businesses that want to "do business" as opposed to create and maintain an expansive in-house IT infrastructure.

In many ways this Google versus Microsoft argument mirrors the "hosted VoIP" cloud-based business phone system versus the in-house equipment-based business phone system argument in philosophy.

Some businesses want the freedom of the modern "unified communications" or UC applications they can get from the new hosted VoIP phone systems while other businesses want the "imagined security" of sticking with a name they've trusted for years like NEC, Mitel, Siemens, Toshiba, etc.

 

How Does a Business Owner Decide?  
Do you pursue freedom or avoid fear?

Basically it comes down to "avoidance of fear" or "pursuit of freedom".  Every technology salesperson on the planet knows that the easiest way to sell an expensive brand name is to lead with "FUD" which stands for "fear, uncertainty and doubt".

Past tech giants IBM and AT&T were masters at controlling their customers into continued high cost purchases by peddling fear of new competitors.  "No one ever got fired for buying IBM..."

At the bottom of this post you can watch a humorous video supposedly created by Microsoft that was shown to Microsoft partners at a Microsoft sales convention last month. 

The video is a bit misleading as it compares Microsoft 365, a business application to Gmail, a consumer application. The business version of Gmail, Google Apps, does not serve ads unless the business owner wants ads served.

 

Do Some Reseach and Then Call Us for Advice

Clearly there are businesses happy with Google Apps and other businesses happy with Office 365 (and Microsoft BPOS "Business Productivity Online Suite", the predecessor to Microsoft 365). There are also many businesses that have switched from Microsoft to Google and vice-versa. But what's right for your company?

If you ask the IT consultant that sells you all your Microsoft licenses then you'll likely be told that only "crazy people" run their businesses using Google. If you ask owners of new or fast growing businesses you'll likely find peers that love Google and are glad to finally be free of Microsoft's software license tyranny. 

We've done a bit a research for you already by finding the most balanced "Google Apps vs. Microsoft 365" articles recently published on the web. 

Click on them and then give us a call. We'll share with you what our other clients are doing and then introduce you to business productivity cloud solution partners that we trust with our own clients.  We work with and recommend both Microsoft and non-Microsoft professionals.

In any event we look forward to helping you achieve the workplace productivity enhancements that the cloud is both promising and delivering.  Give us a call at 951-251-5155.

 

Microsoft 365 vs. Google Apps Articles Worth Reading 

Google Apps vs. Microsoft BPOS/365  This article is published by a third competitor  

Microsoft_Office_365_vs._Google_Apps_for_Business_Cloud_Showdown 

Office_365_vs._Google_Docs_Showdown_(Feature_by_feature)

Office_365_- Not_for_Smaller_Businesses

 

Funny Microsoft 365 vs. Gmail/Google Apps Video

This "Microsoft video" seems to have first appeared on this blog.

 

Looking for a Southern California based, vendor neutral business communications technology service expert that can help you out with your multi-location telecom or data network problems?

Click here to learn about how we might be able to fix your problem for free, then contact me directly at 951-251-5155 or [email protected]. 

BaldwinTel helps multi-location businesses across the United States but specializes Southern California especially San Diego County, Orange County, Los Angeles County, Riverside County and San Bernardino County.

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