Office 365 vs. G Suite: Which is Right for Your Business?

You’re going out of town this weekend and have room for only one extra pair of shoes – do you bring your hiking boots or running shoes? Both are great options, but what is better for you depends on your context and particular needs.

In the same way, Office 365 and Google Suite are both great options for consolidating file storage and file-sharing, and which one fits your business will depend on your needs. Since it’s much more challenging to change file storage platforms than it is shoes, you should choose a file management system that is likely to fit your needs now and in the future.

Here are the critical factors to know about Office 365 and Google Suite for your business.

O365 v GSuite: What Business Owners Need to Know

• How many users do we have now?

• By what amount do we anticipate our team to grow?

• Does our file sharing support CaaS capabilities?

• What protections are in place for file restoration and protection?

• How much storage does each user get?

• Can we change any of this as we grow?

These are all questions that business owners need to ask themselves and their file management platform when deciding where files live.

Storage and Sharing

There are many ways to slice sharing and permissions, and these file sharing platforms do not skimp! If your business has a very strict hierarchy and inflexible permissions–I’m looking at you, mid-sized and larger corporations–Office 365 is your option. If ease of document sharing is your bag–for instance, smaller, agile businesses or those using a Content as a Service model or software companies–Google Suite might better fit your needs.

• O365:Drive-based sharing permissions: Microsoft gives businesses many options for file location based on permissions and sharing needs, which are:

• One Drive

• Office365 Team site

• Office 365 Team subsite

• Office 365 site collections

• GSuite: File-based sharing permissions: Google gives unlimited storage (with a GSuite Enterprise subscription) and simple web-based sharing by adjusting permissions on the document or sending a shareable link.

Per-User Pricing

Both Google Suite and Office 365 have per-user pricing models shown as monthly payments, which allows businesses to manage the subscription based on the needs of their growing teams.

• O 365 (Annual subscriptions)

• Business Essentials: $5 per user/month (includes business email and OneDrive, but not Office applications)

• Business: $8.25 per user/month (no business email, but adds Office applications and cloud file storage in OneDrive)

• Business Premium: $12.50 per user/month (includes business email, OneDrive, and Office applications)

• GSuite:

• Basic: $5 per user/month (30 GB of storage, business email, documents, spreadsheets, and presentations)

• Business: $10 per user/month (unlimited storage and archiving, business email, documents, spreadsheets, and presentations)

• Enterprise: $25 per user/month (unlimited storage, business email, documents, spreadsheets, and presentations, plus advanced controls)

Backing Up Data

Whether you go with the more structured route of Office 365 or the agile capabilities Google Suite provides, you need to backup your critical information. Backupify ensures that your data is secure in the case of:

• Ransomware in SaaS apps

• Phishing emails

• Employees who leave with access to files (or, worse, no one else had access to the data) or accidentally delete critical files

These scenarios are more common than we would all like to think. With Backupify, your business will also have advanced search capabilities through your data, in case of litigation or other need for quickly-accessible information.

This is only an overview of Office 365 and Google Suite, so do your digging before you decide which file management platform fits. Whichever one you choose, protect relevant documents against ransomware and accidental deletion with Backupify’s file protection.