As cloud computing becomes an increasingly popular choice for business users, it can easily be difficult to know which software is the best for your business. As with any type of innovation, there are a number of different options available on the market for anyone who is looking to make a move into the cloud, and two of the main competitors in this arena are Microsoft Office 365 and Google Docs.
Both backed by massive corporations, and both designed to work specifically with businesses, these two major players offer a whole host of benefits to anyone who chooses to use them – but at the end of the day you need to work out which is best suited to your business. It’s hard to say that one is better than the other, as both are designed to meet the needs of a range of different businesses – and the one that suits you best will most likely be very business specific.
Here are some key features and disadvantages of each to let you make up your own mind.
Microsoft Office 365
Advantages
- Familiarity – many of us have grown up using the Microsoft Office suite and are therefore familiar with many of its popular programs (Microsoft Word, PowerPoint, Excel etc…) so no further learning is required
- Ease of use – easy to set up and easy to use,Office 365 requires very little installation time and doesn’t require any additional hardware. It can be downloaded straight from the cloud and you can be ready to go in a matter of minutes
- Technical support – Microsoft provides 24/7 technical support to its Office 365 users, ensuring that you constantly have a helping hand on the other end of the phone – thus helping to decrease any down-time for your business.
Disadvantages
- Customisation – Office 365 doesn’t have the same scope as Google to customise their applications to suit a clients’ need which can be a disadvantage if the Office suite doesn’t directly meet the needs of the client
- Office 365 does require installation on your computer, whereas Google Docs runs in the cloud. The addition of software and add-ons can potentially cause software conflicts, making it slightly harder to set up than its Google counterpart.
Google Docs
Advantages
- Back-up – in general when you use Google Docs you are saving your information onto their servers, so even if your computer crashes or has a problem, you will still be able to retain your information
- Sharing – Google Docs allows you to easily share your documents with friends and co-workers. This means that a number of people can access one document at the same time, allowing for increased efficiency
- Price – although many other companies charge for this type of service, Google Docs is entirely free and allows you to perform a wide range of tasks that you would have to otherwise pay for.
Disadvantages
- Lack of control – if you are a business which relies heavily on business then you won’t like the idea of your information being stored on an external server which could potentially be accessed by someone else
- Google access – by storing your information on Google you are potentially allowing the company access to your important information. This means that Google Search could find information about you – such as where you work and what industry you are in – in addition to being able to find your email address and other information.