I’ve been a Google Apps customer since 2008 but I recently decided to switch from Google Apps for Business to Microsofts’ Office 365 Small business edition. It took weeks for me decide if this was the right thing to do because I had been familiar with Googles interface and wasn’t quite sure if I wanted to learn a lot of new software and memorize new website address. But, after switching, the majority of the small annoying problems that I had with Google seem to have disappeared. Below are the reasons why you should switch.
Reason # 1: Better User Interface
Hey i’m a Tech Guy and if its one thing all tech people are taught in introductory programming class is that software should be visually appealing to the eye. Microsoft beats Google here. Office 365 has a very minimalistic design and is very responsive. I’ve found that Google Docs becomes really slow after having about five pages worth of information.
Reason # 2: Immediate access to advanced editing features
Cloud computing has now become the norm. Microsoft beats Google here when it comes to editing documents/spreadsheets/powerpoints etc when you need to add advanced customizations. Just click the option to open a document in the desktop version of the Office program you are currently working in. The best part about this is that it stores the file in your Skydrive Pro account and once you are done editing the file in the desktop version, it saves an updated copy directly In your skdyrive store. That eliminates the need for downloading and then re uploading.
Reason # 3: No conversion is needed any longer
This was the most annoying issue with Google Apps for Business. It was annoying having to save a document to a Microsoft Office compatible format, make edits In Microsoft office, save, and then re upload the file back to Google Apps and prey that the advanced edits I made was not lost in the conversion process. This was very unproductive and an unnecessary step. Installing GDrive partially eliminated the issue but the other part of the problem that remained is that it would still be in the Microsoft office Format and not converted back to the original Google Apps format. Why is this a problem? Because if I would have kept it in the Microsoft Office format, what would be the point of using Google Apps for Business in the first place? I could just use Office 365…
Reason # 4: More convenience to students/professors/clients I work with
Most businesses and schools still use Microsoft Office 2010. Since I am currently a student (at the time this entry was written) I found it very difficult to get my professors and a few students to make the switch to Google Apps for document collaboration. Believe it or not, Yahoo and Hotmail (now officially called Outlook) Is currently what most students use as their email address and don’t have a google account. (Technically they do if they have an android phone) The problem is that they didn’t want to have a few documents stored in Google, and some on their hard drive and they were willing to stick with what they are currently familiar with (Microsoft Office).
Reason # 5: The full suite of Microsoft Office is now affordable!
At $9.99 per month, most people can have the full suite of Office 2013! Before you make any comparisons, keep in mind that the desktop version of Microsoft Office 2013 has more features than Google Apps for Business and this I am aware. But now, people can use Skydrive in combination with Office 2013 with their personal Hotmail/Outlook accounts as well as Office Web Apps. So, you get a double win. You get basic Microsoft Office Web Apps as well as advanced editing features of the desktop version of Microsoft Office 2013. It’s a double win!
Tech Guy Chris