Is Google Workspace or Microsoft 365 better?

The modern office is no longer confined to a traditional workspace. Today, work happens everywhere, but mostly at home. Parents of young children know this well: they’re acutely aware of the time spent on their phones checking email and answering Slack messages after hours and on weekends.

It’s this invasion of personal time and space in a remote-first world that makes seamless collaboration one of the key priorities for businesses in the 2020s. It is, after all, how companies keep a happy workforce.

You might think cloud productivity is mainly a requirement for the C-suite. In fact, over 70% of frontline workers say more technology would help them do their jobs better (source).

So let’s find out which of the world’s two leading cloud productivity services will help your team collaborate without snags and clock more productive hours, whether they’re in a conventional office, on their couch or on the front line.

Google Workspace vs Microsoft 365: an honest comparison

Our first draft of this article had a good old comparison chart, pitting Google’s entry-level plan against Microsoft’s on features like storage and cost. These are important considerations, but a decision maker shouldn’t put their money behind a plan’s features alone.

Compared like for like, Google’s and Microsoft’s plans are much of a muchness, so you won’t find that nitty-gritty in this article. (If you’d like that information, you’ll find it on our Google Workspace pricing page.)

Instead, we’re going to compare the ethos of the two services. It’s the same approach we follow when advising new clients.

As a Google Cloud Partner, we’re biased towards Google, and this comparison leans in Google’s favour. That’s only because we believe it’s the best option for 99% of the SMBs that knock on our door. Here’s why.

Easy deployment: the future is cloud-based apps

Both Google Workspace and Microsoft have cloud-based apps. However, Google is cloud-only, while Microsoft maintains conventional heavy apps that need installation, personalisation, updates and antivirus software.

Google’s apps simply need an internet connection, and each user’s up-to-date data is available on all their devices. Updates happen in the background without you even noticing, and data is kept secure with an architecturally superior browser-based approach.

Easy onboarding: known, loved and consistent

If we’re to believe the stereotypes, Generation X prefers desktop apps, having joined the workforce in Microsoft’s heyday, while Generation Y (Millennials), who joined the workforce as Google became a household name, use Google products every single day.

Businesses planning for the future would be well advised to choose a service that most of the current workforce already uses and knows (3 billion people, to be exact), as this makes onboarding that much easier.

Attract the best talent: you’re as strong as your weakest link

People want to work for companies that are innovative and provide flexible productivity tools. To back this up, another survey (source, page 4) found that 82% of Google Workspace switchers said their team became more innovative after switching, compared with 47% of Microsoft users.

Also consider that nearly 170 million students use Google Workspace worldwide.

Return on investment: more collaboration and productivity

Real-time teamwork increases productivity and, ultimately, ROI. In the same survey quoted above, close to 70% of Google switchers from large businesses said their company’s revenue increased after switching, compared with 28% of Microsoft switchers.

Real-time teamwork is where Google Workspace hangs its hat. Users get up-to-the-minute access to their team’s shared data on all their devices. Microsoft is less effective at this, so its users are generally more desk-bound.

With Google Workspace, your team can collaborate from anywhere, at any time, regardless of workflows, working hours or time zones.

And because your team’s digital workplace goes wherever they go, it’s much easier to turn otherwise dead time into productive hours. According to the same report, 65 to 83% of Google Workspace users are likely to work from their phone, compared with 40 to 59% of Microsoft users.

The verdict: is Google Workspace or Microsoft 365 better?

Neither is better outright. Choosing one or the other means taking the size, type and culture of your business into account, as well as these factors:

• Collaboration style: if real-time teamwork on any device is important (with data always in sync), Google Workspace might be a better fit.
• Distribution of employees: if your workforce relies on asynchronous workflows, whether because of a mix of onsite and offsite team members or staff in different time zones, Google Workspace comes out on top.
• Desktop vs web preference: if most of your employees prefer traditional desktop applications, Microsoft 365 might be the way to go. If you want to keep a low-tech footprint, Google Workspace is your best bet thanks to its browser-based nature.

In a nutshell, Google Workspace is ideal for SMBs that see themselves as innovators, prioritise real-time collaboration and are comfortable with web-based apps.

Microsoft 365 is better suited to enterprises that need powerful desktop applications and have traditional workflows, working hours and working habits.

Can Google Workspace and Microsoft 365 work together?

Yes.

Many new prospects ask us whether the two services are compatible. In reality, few businesses have a workforce made up solely of Gen X or Gen Y, and these businesses understandably (and admirably) want to accommodate everyone’s preferences.

Google Workspace is compatible with more than 100 file types and integrates with many tools, including Adobe, Atlassian, Autodesk, Box, DocuSign, Dropbox, Salesforce, Slack and Zoom. There’s virtually no barrier to using the two platforms side by side, at least as a start.

By offering both, you can appeal to all types of users. And because people who switch from Microsoft to Google see a big uptick in collaboration and productivity, your teams may default to Google Workspace on their own, without IT forcing everyone to move. That’s a real competitive advantage for your organisation.