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Listen up Google, the Elephant in the Room is What Microsoft Offers

  • Artigo

 

Thank you, Kanwal. I couldn't have said it better.

Today I'm passing on insights from Microsoft MVP, Kanwal Khipple, on his move from Google Apps to Office 365: "Here's a list of what I want, above and beyond what I need, to be productive: Ability to synchronize calendar & contact details without purchasing additional software; Ability to view and update the documents I create on my desktop; Ability for my Windows Phone to work seamlessly; Ability to communicate with others via IM, audio and video without using a 3rd party service; Ability to conduct meetings with a group of people (PowerPoint and whiteboard); Ability to create separate work spaces for me and my wife on different projects."

The Elephant in the Room.
"Surprisingly enough, I wasn't the only one looking to have this synergy between all the different services… Listen up Google, the Elephant in the Room that you've been ignoring is what Microsoft offers Office 365 – Office Professional Plus, Exchange Online, SharePoint Online, Lync Online and Office Web Apps."

Google Apps: No Internet, no go.
Google Apps didn't fulfill Kanwal's need to "view and update the docs I create on my desktop." There is no desktop component of Google Apps. It's web only. No connection, no go. Not only that, with Google Apps you're using a pared-down set of document creation and editing capabilities compared to the online and offline documentation suite in Office 365. In fact, the basic, kindergarten-level features for grammar checking, tracking changes and grouping objects are not available in Google Apps.

Office 365 has a familiar look across mobile, desktop and browser interfaces.
At the same time, Kanwal wants "Ability for my Windows Phone to work seamlessly." He called it out as a benefit for Office 365: "The key benefits are as follows: Access to e-mail, documents, contacts and calendars on nearly any device..."  While Google Apps provides basic, consumer-grade applications that appear okay for simple tasks and work scenarios, they do not offer the advanced features required to maximize your productivity and your business' profitability. Not only that, with Google Apps, your phone interface to your documents looks nothing like what you see via a browser when accessing documents, your calendar and contacts are concerned.

Microsoft provides a familiar and rich email application in Office 365 that allows users to manage email on a phone, computer, or browser, giving them the flexibility to work online and offline. With Office 365 you can access your email, important documents, contacts, and calendar on nearly any device, including your online or offline PC, your iPhone or iPad, certain Android phones, BlackBerry via its Internet Service, Palm devices, your Nokia E or N series device, or your Windows Phone.

Google Apps was not good enough.
Kanwal sought "Ability to communicate with others via IM, audio and video without using a 3rd party service." As a Google user, he found: "to provide some of the same functionality that you'll find in the Microsoft Office 365 service, you'll also need these applications and plug-ins: Google Talk to provide instant messaging services and to enable Web conferencing; Dimdim or a similar third-party Web conferencing service." Meanwhile, Office 365 collects its accolades for unified communications.

Google Talk does not have native screen sharing and white boarding.
The "Ability to conduct meetings with a group of people: PPT and whiteboard" is important to Kanwal. Office 365 has native screen sharing and white boarding; Google Talk does not. Kanwal now has Office 365's Lync capabilities for conferencing, as well as presence information for people he works with, and the ability to share his desktop. That's ad hoc, in-the-moment collaboration! No wonder why, here at Microsoft, someone opens a new desktop sharing session every three minutes.

Wrestle with Google APIs, or click and configure to work with Office 365 sites.
Having "Ability to create separate workspaces for me and my wife on different projects" is something Kanwal couldn’t even come close to with Google Apps. In Office 365, workspaces are private SharePoint Web sites where you can collaborate on projects and documents with coworkers, clients, or anyone to whom you grant permission. You can have as many workspaces as you want. Each one has separate permissions so people access only the workspaces that you want them to access. Not only that, users can work with any SharePoint site on their desktop while disconnected from Office 365. A site can contain project tasks, documents, multimedia files, project timelines, and spreadsheets. Use your imagination on what else to include. Better yet, when using SharePoint capabilities in Office 365 you click and configure as opposed to using code via APIs for Google sites. Take your pick!

Kanwal's comparison of Google Apps vs. Office 365 feels like an echo in the room:

"Outlook Synchronization Nightmare. Calendar and contacts don’t sync out of the box between Outlook and Google Apps… Multiple times there were problems with synchronization issues and whether Outlook or Google Apps should be considered the master… There have been multiple reports of Google apps customers losing their data due to an issue with Google. Do you run your business on Google? How would it affect you if all of a sudden your email, contacts and calendars were deleted as well as unrecoverable?"

See Kanwal Kipple's blog for his 10 step migration story, and to learn from Office 365 customers join the Office 365 community. You might see Microsoft's Office 365 Deployment Overview Video as you get started on your own Office 365 migration.

Customer after customer is finding that Google Apps for Business is just not good enough to meet their needs. Meanwhile, businesses are lining up to subscribe to Office 365. What's your migration story?

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