Last week, we compared the basics of GSuite and Microsoft 360 for several business purposes. Today, we are going to take a look at how GSuite and Microsoft 360 can work for a topic that is near and dear to our hearts here at OmniBiz Services – remote work! We have worked with clients throughout the United States, and several of our own team members do not live in close proximity to our home base in Maryland. 66% of companies allow remote work and 16% are fully remote. These numbers are expected to grow as today’s employees expect a better work-life balance than those of previous generations. Let’s take a look at how both GSuite and Microsoft 360 stack up against the needs of working remotely!
Video Chat
An important aspect of remote work is being able to talk to your people! Depending on the size of your business, both Google Meet and Microsoft Teams can both work. However, GSuite limits participants to 25, 50, or 100, depending on what plan you purchase. Teams allows up to 250 participants, but is more expensive than GSuite.
Collaboration
Real time collaboration on documents, spreadsheets, and slides is a crucial part of keeping your remote business cohesive. GSuite was invented for collaboration so naturally it is easier to use for collaboration purposes. 360 is more feature-packed, and therefore can be more confusing. The collaboration aspect of 360 evolved from it being a suite of desktop tools into software used for collaboration. Both platforms allow participants to edit, view team members’ work, comment, and revise.
Teamwork Makes the Dream Work?
Although we have been focusing on the differences, advantages, and disadvantages of both GSuite and Microsoft 360, Google recently announced that it is adding Microsoft Office file format support to it’s Docs, Sheets, and Slides apps. According to the Google Updates blog, “With Office editing, you can now edit, comment, and collaborate on Microsoft Office files using Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides. This feature brings the collaboration benefits of G Suite to Office files while streamlining workflows by eliminating the need to convert file types… Office editing will make it easy for G Suite users to open and edit Microsoft Office files that have been shared by partners, vendors or other teams.” Companies on different platforms can easily remote collaborate without worrying about file conversion.
Whether you decide to use GSuite or Microsoft, working remotely still comes with its own set of challenges. Next week, we will begin to take a look at what it takes to work effectively from a distance!