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.
Try Google Workspace for Free
As of February 9th, 2023, you can try Google Workspace for free. Google gives you 14 days to try out their office suite of apps. For more information on signing up for a free trial, see the Google Workspace site.
Microsoft also offers a free trial period to try out Office365. Currently you can try out Office for free for a full month. For more info and limitations on the trial, see the Microsoft Office365 page.
Office vs. Workspace
Does WS hold up against Office? Microsoft basically invented the office suite and everything since has been inspired by it. We are going look at each app to compare how Google holds up against the reigning champ.
Excel versus Sheets
Microsoft Excel changed they way we did business in the nineties. This app is king of the office apps when you ask us. Excel wrote the book on what spreadsheets program could be. With significantly more templates, charts, and so much more. The sophistication of the features in Excel is what sets it apart. The one area where Sheets does hold the upper hand is in collaboration. If there are several people working on a project together, it is much easier to do so in Workspace version of spreadsheets. Sheets is a very good program but has a ways to go to catch up to the king.
Word versus Docs
Word is going to win in this head to head but not by as much as it did with Excel. Different Apps but same story. Word just has more features and those features are again more advanced than in Google Docs. Templates are much more readily available for the amicrosoft product increasing the amount of things you can do with it.
While collaborating on a spreadsheet may jot often make sense, word document collaboration is much more common. Going over a report, adjusting an article, or just editing is made so easy on Google. Word wins but it is a lot closer.
Slides or Powerpoint
Slides is an interesting product from the standpoint of collaboration. This head to head to head goes strictly to what are your company goals. If multiple people are creating presentations together then go with Google Slides. If you presentations are mostly solo then stick with Microsoft. Both do well for each but are focused differently. We are calling this a draw.
GMail or Outlook
Outlook or GMail is the question that comes up quite a bit in this conversation. For those who use Outlook on a daily basis, there's no question here. Outlook has been a great office program for a very long time. The way it operates is still rooted in how it operated thirty years ago. That being said, we are taking GMail. GMail organizes mail in a way that no other program did before. The simple mail program is straight forward and does everything you need to operate your company. A lot of people use GMail at home but not at work. That means there are many people who are already familiar with how GMail works. GMail features also match what Outlook does. Here the winner is GMail.
Meet (Chat and Spaces) V Teams
Google Meet isn't the best video based meeting software. It is very simple and lacks features. Microsoft Teams at the same time is the lowest rated app on our lists. Zoom is much better than these two and it really isn't close. Teams just doesn't do it for us. For other companies, it works perfectly. There just too many glitches for us. Now add in Google Chat and Spaces and Workspace runs away with this category.
Drive and OneDrive
Office365 provides more initial storage per plan. While that isn't the program, it is important to point out. OneDrive works from the device to the cloud while Drive is solely cloud based just like the rest of the suite. Workspace does allow for the option to work offline so as long as that is set up losing the internet won't be an issue. This one is close but we will lean to Drive because we feel it is much easier to find your files than on OneDrive.
Process for converting from MS Office to Google Workspace
What does it take to move from Office365 to Google Workspace? There are lots of things to consider. First and foremost is what is your goal. If you want to work in a cloud based app, that is simplified for ease of use than Workspace may be for you.
Next consider what are you currently using for storage and how is it organized in your current business. Do you have shared files? Where are they saved? If you are an established business, moving all of your files to Google Workspace or anywhere else can be a big process with lots to consider. What structure do you want you files in? It's important to consider these items before migrating over. Having a shared drive is a great way to save time and money by reducing the amount of time it takes to access resources. If you are unsure of which way to go, 930Tech can help you establish a best practices for a shared file storage network. Moving files is usually the slowest and longest part of the process. We have experience with moving thousands of files to Google Workspace with minimal down time.
Are you going to continue to use your current email provider or move everything to GMail? This can be a rather slow process to based off of how big your organization is and how far back emails go in your company. Email can also go down for up to one day when going through set up. Typically your email will be down for less than 1 hour if planned ahead.
What new Workspace features are you looking forward to using? This question is critical to ensure set up and training are both done correctly for your company to maximize all the features you pay for. If you want to use Google Vault to record meetings or sales calls, you want to be sure the right people have access and are trained on what to do.
How much training will your company need? Different companies move at different speeds. Your company may not need much assistance in hitting the ground running. Or you could need a bit more help. Not only does 930Tech provide training but also video how tos.
When do you want to go live? Working with 930Tech, we can help you determine a realistic timeline to go live. We test all features to minimize any down time or issues. The process can move faster than you might think.
Want Google Workspace?
Do you want to move your company to a more collaborative product? 930Tech can help you move to Google Workspace with minimum downtime. We have helped numerous companies move from Office and other office based software to Google. Have questions that we didn't answer here?
Contact Us About Google Workspace
