Google Workspace Installation
Have you been an Office company and wondered if Google Workspace was an option? If so you may want to consider simplifying and moving into the Google space. Google is a simple office productivity suite of applications that can do pretty much anything Microsoft's Office can.
Will my Office365 files work with Google Workspace?
Your Office365 will mostly work with Google Workspace. Most files convert directly over with immediate access. Other files like Power Point (.ppt) and PDF File (.pdf) sometimes struggle to pull accurately over. Most of the time this isn't case unless the file is an older file.
Both Microsoft Office / Office365 work relatively well with Google Workspace. Both sides issues that show up are mostly relative to moving files from one software to the other. Neither have regular file errors on a consistent basis. The file problem is more related to where the file originated from.
Nonetheless there will be issues if you are converting from one system to the next. When that occurs, your best is to save the file in the most up to date extension. Typically in MS Office / 365 this is .x file extensions (.xlsx, .docx, .pptx).
Is Google Workspace cheaper than Office365?
Is Google Workspace any cheaper than Microsoft's Office365? There are a number of ways to buy Office365 so we are going to compare the most apples to apples items.
The business basic package is $6 per month. This package includes the web and mobile versions of the app. You can chat, call, meet up to 300 attendees. 1 TB of storage in the cloud per user account. The basic package includes business class email and standard security. Standard support is also a part of this level package. Microsoft Excel, Word, PowerPoint, Teams, Outlook, and OneDrive are all included.
The Google Workspace equivalent offers similar features at $6 a month per user. Google calls this plan the Google Business Starter Plan. This plan includes gmail, up to 100 participants in Google Meet, security and management controls, and standard support. With the Starter Plan, each user gets 30 GB of storage with Drive. Chat which is a great collaborative app, is almost unmet on Office. Google Calendar, Google Sheets, and Google Docs are all a part of the Starter Plan.
Microsoft's next step up is the Business Standard Plan. For $12.50 per user per month, this plan could be yours. You get everything get mentioned in the basic package above. On top of that, the desktop version of the application is available along with the mobile versions. These apps have some additional features that the mobile apps do not. The Publisher and Access programs are part of the Standard Business Plan.
Google's mid range plan is the Business Standard Plan. This option is $12 per user per month. The Standard Plan give a you everything the Starter Plan has plus some bonuses. On Google Meetings you can now have an additional 50 guests which brings the total to 150 max per meeting. You can also use noise reduction in Google Meet. Another big option that isn't available on the lower plan is the ability to record Google Meet meetings. The Google Drive storage is greatly increased up to 2 TB per user. Google Calendar adds the ability to set up Appointment Booking Pages.
Office365 Business Premium Plan is next at $22 per user. All of the apps in the Business Basic and Business Standard Plans are included. Additionally, InTune is featured. Advanced security for your account is one of the top features in the premium plan. Cyber threat protection is one of the pieces.
Google matches with their own premium plan which is called Google Workspace Business Plus. In this group, you'll receive everything from Starter and Standard to begin. Drive user storage is again significantly grows to 5 TB per user. With Plus, you are going to receive enhanced security and management controls including Google Vault which is Google's storage app for the entire business. It allows you retain, search, and export users' data. This includes Drive files and Messaging. I'm Google Meet you can now invite up to 500 users per meeting. All of this will run you $18 per month per user as of February 2023.
Overall comparing plans doesn't line up exactly. For our purposes though Google Workspace is cheaper in the upper level plan but basically equal on the lower and mid range plans. Office is slightly higher and probably because of the familiarity everyone has with MS Office over the past 30 years.