Google Apps or Microsoft Office 365, the battle rages on. Google has the upper hand today, with millions of businesses, government agencies and educational institutions as clients. But Microsoft, which has owned the desktop for decades, isn’t giving up without a fight.
The latest volley from Microsoft was an unusual one. The Redmond company recently lowered prices of its Office 365 product by up to 20 percent, putting its cost more in line with Google Apps. Microsoft says the price cut is a result of “economies of scale” but the reality is that they are getting their butts kicked by Google Apps. Office 365, IMHO, is a better product so getting the pricing in line with Google will only benefit them.
The real question though is, Who cares? Will the price cut inspire more companies to move to the cloud? I doubt it, but it will take business away from Google Apps. According to the Cloud Alliance for Google Apps, cost savings were not the main factor driving companies to the cloud. In fact, only 19 percent of Google Apps admins said their decision to go with Google was driven by the platform’s price.
So if the deciding factor isn’t price, what is it?
Collaboration
In the same Cloud Alliance survey, it was revealed that 30 percent of respondents made the move to Google Apps to focus on collaboration. Companies today have employees spread out all over the country and sometimes even the world. They’re looking for ways to help their employees communicate seamlessly with one another.
Organizations are looking for a cloud messaging and collaboration platform that allows users to share documents and collaborate with multiple users in real time. Real time collaboration features are a must to eliminate time consuming back and forth and doubling up on the same tasks.
Furthermore, a worthwhile platform will give users the ability to communicate with one another through several different means — chat, voice calling and video. Google Apps wins here. I think Google+ Hangouts are a game changer and are likely to be a sticking point for the platform. Hangouts allow for video-conferencing, screen sharing, chat and virtual collaboration.
Security
In addition to seeking table-stakes security requirements like SSAE 16, FISMA and ISO 27001 certifications, CIOs and IT managers also need a way to monitor and control the sharing of sensitive company files that are stored in the cloud.
With Google’s robust APIs for collaboration tools like Docs, Sites and Calendars, a strong consortium of integrated security products have come to market over the past year. Third-party applications that monitor asset sharing, correct sharing violations, prohibit external sharing and audit inboxes help to secure and regulate the domain.
CIOs also look for platforms with two-factor authentication, which when enabled by a domain administrator require all users to login to their email accounts using two means of identification. This feature, commonplace in on-premise messaging platforms, provides added security and protects against employee negligence to a certain degree.
As the cloud matures, more and more businesses are realizing that large cloud-messaging providers are better suited to provide overall security at scale than individual organizations. And as cloud providers continue to invest in security tools and features and third-parties expand their offerings, companies will be moving to the cloud for added security, not in spite of it.
Integration
Lastly, organizations are looking for messaging platforms that integrate deeply with third-party products. Google Apps, for instance, has been integrated to over 500 complementary software tools. Microsoft Office 365 has put it’s emphasis on integration with the most popular office products in the world, Microsoft Office – Word, Excel, Powerpoint, Publisher and of course, Outlook.
While Microsoft’s bold price cuts definitely won’t hurt their business, they may not help either. Though price is always a factor, collaboration, security and the availability of integrated applications take precedence over cost. So price aside, your decision is between Google Apps that integrate better with 3rd partys, or Microsoft Office that integrates seamlessly with your Existing Office products installed on your computer.