Simple Straightforward and Jargon-Free Answers

B A S I C S

bull What is Office 365 bull What is Office 365 used for

bull How much does Office 365 cost

bull Is Office 365 secure

bull How does Office 365 stack up against the competition bull How difficult is it to migrate your existing files

Contents

Office 365 is a blanket term for many of Microsoftrsquos cloud software services The SaaS (Software as a Service) model replaces the old practice of purchasing software and downloading it on the lone computer each of your employees uses at work

The basic idea is that subscriptions to these services give you access to your office 24 hours a day and 365 days a year So whether you sign in from a tablet or smart phone on the road a laptop in your bedroom at home or a desktop in your actual office at work you can access any of the tools or information you may need Multiple devices multiple locationsmdashsame access

What Is Office 365

3

68of workers check their work email

before 8 am

Factoid

50 check it in bed

Factoid

Microsoft offers a formidable array of service bundles under the Office 365 banner and a lot of confusion arises out of people using the general term to describe several different things Office 365 Personal is essentially a cloud version of the old Microsoft Office including Word Excel PowerPoint and Outlook (but now with OneNote Publisher and Access) On the other end of the scale there is Office 365 Enterprise E3 which includes eDiscovery and Power BI

(See ldquoCompare Office 365 for business plansrdquo to see what various bundles include)

What Is Office 365

4

44 check it daily while

on vacation

Factoid

38 of workers check

their work email at the dinner

table

Factoid

11 check it hourly

while on vacation

Factoid

bull What is Office 365 bull What is Office 365 used for

bull How much does Office 365 cost

bull Is Office 365 secure

bull How does Office 365 stack up against the competition bull How difficult is it to migrate your existing files

Contents

Office 365 is a blanket term for many of Microsoftrsquos cloud software services The SaaS (Software as a Service) model replaces the old practice of purchasing software and downloading it on the lone computer each of your employees uses at work

The basic idea is that subscriptions to these services give you access to your office 24 hours a day and 365 days a year So whether you sign in from a tablet or smart phone on the road a laptop in your bedroom at home or a desktop in your actual office at work you can access any of the tools or information you may need Multiple devices multiple locationsmdashsame access

What Is Office 365

3

68of workers check their work email

before 8 am

Factoid

50 check it in bed

Factoid

Microsoft offers a formidable array of service bundles under the Office 365 banner and a lot of confusion arises out of people using the general term to describe several different things Office 365 Personal is essentially a cloud version of the old Microsoft Office including Word Excel PowerPoint and Outlook (but now with OneNote Publisher and Access) On the other end of the scale there is Office 365 Enterprise E3 which includes eDiscovery and Power BI

(See ldquoCompare Office 365 for business plansrdquo to see what various bundles include)

What Is Office 365

4

44 check it daily while

on vacation

Factoid

38 of workers check

their work email at the dinner

table

Factoid

11 check it hourly

while on vacation

Factoid

Office 365 is a blanket term for many of Microsoftrsquos cloud software services The SaaS (Software as a Service) model replaces the old practice of purchasing software and downloading it on the lone computer each of your employees uses at work

The basic idea is that subscriptions to these services give you access to your office 24 hours a day and 365 days a year So whether you sign in from a tablet or smart phone on the road a laptop in your bedroom at home or a desktop in your actual office at work you can access any of the tools or information you may need Multiple devices multiple locationsmdashsame access

What Is Office 365

3

68of workers check their work email

before 8 am

Factoid

50 check it in bed

Factoid

Microsoft offers a formidable array of service bundles under the Office 365 banner and a lot of confusion arises out of people using the general term to describe several different things Office 365 Personal is essentially a cloud version of the old Microsoft Office including Word Excel PowerPoint and Outlook (but now with OneNote Publisher and Access) On the other end of the scale there is Office 365 Enterprise E3 which includes eDiscovery and Power BI

(See ldquoCompare Office 365 for business plansrdquo to see what various bundles include)

What Is Office 365

4

44 check it daily while

on vacation

Factoid

38 of workers check

their work email at the dinner

table

Factoid

11 check it hourly

while on vacation

Factoid

Microsoft offers a formidable array of service bundles under the Office 365 banner and a lot of confusion arises out of people using the general term to describe several different things Office 365 Personal is essentially a cloud version of the old Microsoft Office including Word Excel PowerPoint and Outlook (but now with OneNote Publisher and Access) On the other end of the scale there is Office 365 Enterprise E3 which includes eDiscovery and Power BI

(See ldquoCompare Office 365 for business plansrdquo to see what various bundles include)

What Is Office 365

4

44 check it daily while

on vacation

Factoid

38 of workers check

their work email at the dinner

table

Factoid

11 check it hourly

while on vacation

Factoid

The table below lists the main Office 365 offerings along with rough equivalents from Google Apps Microsoftrsquos main competitor and a brief oversimplified explanation of their functions

What Is Office 365 Used for

5

Outlook

Office

OneDrive

Lync

SharePoint

Yammer

Exchange

OneDrive

Active Directory

Power BI

Gmail

Docs

Drive

Hangouts

Sites

Google+

Gmail

Vault

Email Calendar

Documents

Files and Document Storage

IM Voice Video

Intranet Collaboration Sharing

Social Updates

Business Email

Archiving Legal Searches and Holds

User Access Controls

Metrics Analysis Graphs

There will likely be costs associated with your initial migration into the cloud Many companies work with Microsoft partners to develop user stories to help them decide among the various service options Microsoft partners can also help you migrate legacy archives into the cloud The table below lists the costs for various subscription plans

How Much Does Office 365 Cost

6

Business Plan Number of Users Per UserMonth

Exchange Online Kiosk Unlimited $200

$400

$400

$500

$1250

$1500

$800

$2000

Unlimited

Unlimited

Up to 25

Up to 25

Up to 300

Unlimited

Unlimited

Enterprise K1

Exchange Online Plan 1

Small Business

Small Business Premium

Midsize Business

Enterprise E1

Enterprise E3

Many business leaders feel a natural reluctance to give up physical possession of their files and documents Hosting applications and storing files on your businessrsquos premises provides an intuitive sense of security and control But any system connected to the web is vulnerable to attacks And any datacenter can be destroyed by disasters like floods or fires The difference between cloud and on-premises datacenters is that cloud service providers expend vastly greater resources in their efforts at securing businessesrsquo information than most businesses could possibly afford themselves Saving your data in the cloud makes it more secure for many of the same reasons that saving money in the bank is safer than hiding it in your mattress

Is Office 365 Secure

7

Security measures include

-Modular Datacenters All the physical storage components are brought to the Microsoft facilities sealed up in shipping containers where they remain for as long as they are in use Only a few people have access to the areas where these containers are stored and entry is guarded using RFID tracking and biometric controls

-Encryption at Rest All the data on the physical storage devices is encrypted -Redundant Storage If the hardware running your workloads in one container fails those workloads get transferred to different parts of the container (If all the hardware in the container goes bad all the data is transferred to another and the data stored in the original container is deleted)

Is Office 365 Secure

8

-3 Separate Datacenters If an entire datacenter goes down Microsoft guarantees yoursquore workloads will be operational again in a second datacenter within an hour There is a third datacenter as well which can have you operational again in three hours But if the first two go down we all probably have bigger problems than waiting for our files to come back online

-Password Requirements minimum characters 90 day expirations multiple character types CAPTCHA prompts and lockouts after multiple failed log-ins -Multifactor Authentication When you first sign in on a new device Office 365 sends a text with a passcode You have to enter that passcode in addition to your password to access your files Administrators can set up Multifactor Authentication for any user

Is Office 365 Secure

9

3X

-Remote Wipes can be done from any browser by the device owner (in case of theft) or by the administrator Administrators can also force passwords on Office 365 files on remote devices

-Information Rights Management (IRM) puts wrappers around emailed documents that carry instructions for how they can and canrsquot be used You can prevent people from opening editing printing copying or forwarding a document or set an expiration date for it -Transport Rules Administrators can create rules to ensure compliance with official standards like HIPAA

-ISO 27001 Encryption applied to all Office 365 data For more information on Office 365 securityClick here

Is Office 365 Secure

10

There will likely be costs associated with your initial migration into the cloud Many companies work with Microsoft partners to develop user stories to help them decide among the various service options Microsoft partners can also help you migrate legacy archives into the cloud The table below lists the costs for various subscription plans

How Much Does Office 365 Cost

6

Business Plan Number of Users Per UserMonth

Exchange Online Kiosk Unlimited $200

$400

$400

$500

$1250

$1500

$800

$2000

Unlimited

Unlimited

Up to 25

Up to 25

Up to 300

Unlimited

Unlimited

Enterprise K1

Exchange Online Plan 1

Small Business

Small Business Premium

Midsize Business

Enterprise E1

Enterprise E3

Many business leaders feel a natural reluctance to give up physical possession of their files and documents Hosting applications and storing files on your businessrsquos premises provides an intuitive sense of security and control But any system connected to the web is vulnerable to attacks And any datacenter can be destroyed by disasters like floods or fires The difference between cloud and on-premises datacenters is that cloud service providers expend vastly greater resources in their efforts at securing businessesrsquo information than most businesses could possibly afford themselves Saving your data in the cloud makes it more secure for many of the same reasons that saving money in the bank is safer than hiding it in your mattress

Is Office 365 Secure

7

Security measures include

-Modular Datacenters All the physical storage components are brought to the Microsoft facilities sealed up in shipping containers where they remain for as long as they are in use Only a few people have access to the areas where these containers are stored and entry is guarded using RFID tracking and biometric controls

-Encryption at Rest All the data on the physical storage devices is encrypted -Redundant Storage If the hardware running your workloads in one container fails those workloads get transferred to different parts of the container (If all the hardware in the container goes bad all the data is transferred to another and the data stored in the original container is deleted)

Is Office 365 Secure

8

-3 Separate Datacenters If an entire datacenter goes down Microsoft guarantees yoursquore workloads will be operational again in a second datacenter within an hour There is a third datacenter as well which can have you operational again in three hours But if the first two go down we all probably have bigger problems than waiting for our files to come back online

-Password Requirements minimum characters 90 day expirations multiple character types CAPTCHA prompts and lockouts after multiple failed log-ins -Multifactor Authentication When you first sign in on a new device Office 365 sends a text with a passcode You have to enter that passcode in addition to your password to access your files Administrators can set up Multifactor Authentication for any user

Is Office 365 Secure

9

3X

-Remote Wipes can be done from any browser by the device owner (in case of theft) or by the administrator Administrators can also force passwords on Office 365 files on remote devices

-Information Rights Management (IRM) puts wrappers around emailed documents that carry instructions for how they can and canrsquot be used You can prevent people from opening editing printing copying or forwarding a document or set an expiration date for it -Transport Rules Administrators can create rules to ensure compliance with official standards like HIPAA

-ISO 27001 Encryption applied to all Office 365 data For more information on Office 365 securityClick here

Is Office 365 Secure

10

Many business leaders feel a natural reluctance to give up physical possession of their files and documents Hosting applications and storing files on your businessrsquos premises provides an intuitive sense of security and control But any system connected to the web is vulnerable to attacks And any datacenter can be destroyed by disasters like floods or fires The difference between cloud and on-premises datacenters is that cloud service providers expend vastly greater resources in their efforts at securing businessesrsquo information than most businesses could possibly afford themselves Saving your data in the cloud makes it more secure for many of the same reasons that saving money in the bank is safer than hiding it in your mattress

Is Office 365 Secure

7

Security measures include

-Modular Datacenters All the physical storage components are brought to the Microsoft facilities sealed up in shipping containers where they remain for as long as they are in use Only a few people have access to the areas where these containers are stored and entry is guarded using RFID tracking and biometric controls

-Encryption at Rest All the data on the physical storage devices is encrypted -Redundant Storage If the hardware running your workloads in one container fails those workloads get transferred to different parts of the container (If all the hardware in the container goes bad all the data is transferred to another and the data stored in the original container is deleted)

Is Office 365 Secure

8

-3 Separate Datacenters If an entire datacenter goes down Microsoft guarantees yoursquore workloads will be operational again in a second datacenter within an hour There is a third datacenter as well which can have you operational again in three hours But if the first two go down we all probably have bigger problems than waiting for our files to come back online

-Password Requirements minimum characters 90 day expirations multiple character types CAPTCHA prompts and lockouts after multiple failed log-ins -Multifactor Authentication When you first sign in on a new device Office 365 sends a text with a passcode You have to enter that passcode in addition to your password to access your files Administrators can set up Multifactor Authentication for any user

Is Office 365 Secure

9

3X

-Remote Wipes can be done from any browser by the device owner (in case of theft) or by the administrator Administrators can also force passwords on Office 365 files on remote devices

-Information Rights Management (IRM) puts wrappers around emailed documents that carry instructions for how they can and canrsquot be used You can prevent people from opening editing printing copying or forwarding a document or set an expiration date for it -Transport Rules Administrators can create rules to ensure compliance with official standards like HIPAA

-ISO 27001 Encryption applied to all Office 365 data For more information on Office 365 securityClick here

Is Office 365 Secure

10

Security measures include

-Modular Datacenters All the physical storage components are brought to the Microsoft facilities sealed up in shipping containers where they remain for as long as they are in use Only a few people have access to the areas where these containers are stored and entry is guarded using RFID tracking and biometric controls

-Encryption at Rest All the data on the physical storage devices is encrypted -Redundant Storage If the hardware running your workloads in one container fails those workloads get transferred to different parts of the container (If all the hardware in the container goes bad all the data is transferred to another and the data stored in the original container is deleted)

Is Office 365 Secure

8

-3 Separate Datacenters If an entire datacenter goes down Microsoft guarantees yoursquore workloads will be operational again in a second datacenter within an hour There is a third datacenter as well which can have you operational again in three hours But if the first two go down we all probably have bigger problems than waiting for our files to come back online

-Password Requirements minimum characters 90 day expirations multiple character types CAPTCHA prompts and lockouts after multiple failed log-ins -Multifactor Authentication When you first sign in on a new device Office 365 sends a text with a passcode You have to enter that passcode in addition to your password to access your files Administrators can set up Multifactor Authentication for any user

Is Office 365 Secure

9

3X

-Remote Wipes can be done from any browser by the device owner (in case of theft) or by the administrator Administrators can also force passwords on Office 365 files on remote devices

-Information Rights Management (IRM) puts wrappers around emailed documents that carry instructions for how they can and canrsquot be used You can prevent people from opening editing printing copying or forwarding a document or set an expiration date for it -Transport Rules Administrators can create rules to ensure compliance with official standards like HIPAA

-ISO 27001 Encryption applied to all Office 365 data For more information on Office 365 securityClick here

Is Office 365 Secure

10

-3 Separate Datacenters If an entire datacenter goes down Microsoft guarantees yoursquore workloads will be operational again in a second datacenter within an hour There is a third datacenter as well which can have you operational again in three hours But if the first two go down we all probably have bigger problems than waiting for our files to come back online

-Password Requirements minimum characters 90 day expirations multiple character types CAPTCHA prompts and lockouts after multiple failed log-ins -Multifactor Authentication When you first sign in on a new device Office 365 sends a text with a passcode You have to enter that passcode in addition to your password to access your files Administrators can set up Multifactor Authentication for any user

Is Office 365 Secure

9

3X

-Remote Wipes can be done from any browser by the device owner (in case of theft) or by the administrator Administrators can also force passwords on Office 365 files on remote devices

-Information Rights Management (IRM) puts wrappers around emailed documents that carry instructions for how they can and canrsquot be used You can prevent people from opening editing printing copying or forwarding a document or set an expiration date for it -Transport Rules Administrators can create rules to ensure compliance with official standards like HIPAA

-ISO 27001 Encryption applied to all Office 365 data For more information on Office 365 securityClick here

Is Office 365 Secure

10

-Remote Wipes can be done from any browser by the device owner (in case of theft) or by the administrator Administrators can also force passwords on Office 365 files on remote devices

-Information Rights Management (IRM) puts wrappers around emailed documents that carry instructions for how they can and canrsquot be used You can prevent people from opening editing printing copying or forwarding a document or set an expiration date for it -Transport Rules Administrators can create rules to ensure compliance with official standards like HIPAA

-ISO 27001 Encryption applied to all Office 365 data For more information on Office 365 securityClick here

Is Office 365 Secure

10

Office 365rsquos main competitor is Google Apps (though stay tuned for Applersquos eventual push into the market) The expert consensus is that Microsoftrsquos cloud productivity and collaboration suite beats Googlersquos offerings in a few key areas In one of the most authoritative and comprehensive comparisons Derrick Wlodarz who was a Google Apps Certified Trainer and a Google Apps Certified Deployment Specialist writes about what he discovered after his IT company switched to Office 365 after almost four years using Google

How Does Office 365 Stack upagainst the Competition

11

Herersquos Wlodarzrsquos basic finding

ldquoThe battle between Microsoft and Google goes a lot further than who has bigger inboxes more mobile apps or whatever new whizbang feature can generate easy buzz Irsquove carefully learned that this is more-so a battle of the ecosystems at this point

ldquoWhorsquos got the all-encompassing platform that is looking to solve business needs the way your company views them Whorsquos going to solve your email problems today but offer you a segway to cloud document storage amp unified communications amp etc tomorrow hellip

How Does Office 365 Stack upagainst the Competition

12

xBusinessProblem

Success

ldquohellipThatrsquos the question companies and organizations should be asking themselves Because itrsquos the realization Irsquove come to after our two-feet-first jump onto Office 365 a little more than a month ago Google Apps isnrsquot a bad platform by any means In fact itrsquos pretty darn good But in my eyes when you view both suites as the sum of their individual parts as a collective experience Office 365 takes the upper handrdquo

How Does Office 365 Stack upagainst the Competition

13

How Does Office 365 Stack upagainst the Competition

14

Here are a few more general takeaways

Office 365 apps tend to play nicer with other apps while Google really wants everybody yoursquore working with to be on Google too Office 365 is much better when it comes to security and compliance standards like HIPAA (Wlodarz ldquoIrsquom refusing to recommend [Google] Apps for any clients even remotely associated with the healthcare industry so they donrsquot have to go through the pains I describedrdquo) Lync is much better than Hangouts Googlersquos unified communications offering

The advantages you do get from Google Apps derive from its minimalist user interface While Office 365 comes in at least eight varieties (see the cost table above) Google Apps lets you choose between just two Google Apps for business ($5usermonth or $50useryear) and Google Apps for Business with Vault ($10usermonth) Depending on which bundle of apps you need and other circumstances Google Apps may also be cheaper

How Does Office 365 Stack upagainst the Competition

15

$ $ $ $ $ $ $

Some users find the minimalist one-size-fits-all Google ecosystem less complicated to navigate So it can be good for businesses who donrsquot have a lot of custom requirements Finally many reviewers complain about the Office 365 version of PowerPoint but itrsquos unclear whether the Google counterpart Slides will be any more user-friendly In general users favor the familiar Office tools by a large margin seeing the Google versions as knockoffs

How Does Office 365 Stack upagainst the Competition

16

$erro

r

3X

1st

Microsoftrsquos philosophy with Office 365 is that it should be able to meet a huge array of business needs So the platform can be customized to fit any organizationrsquos specific productivity challenges Thatrsquos both its main strength and its main weakness The types of companies who go with Google prefer the one-and-done simplicity of choosing a plan

With Office 365 many businesses need help from third-party partners to realize all the productivity and cost benefits Many companies for instance have a lot of difficulties migrating legacy archives into the cloud (but this problem isnrsquot unique to Office 365) Once the ideal plan has been chosen and the migration completed however Office 365 is the better all-around solution for most businesses

How difficult is it to migrate your existing files

17

ldquoIs Office 365 Right for Yourdquo Recorded Webinar httplandingapterainccomarchived-webinar-is-office-365-right-for-you

ldquoCompare Office 365 for business plansrdquo httpofficemicrosoftcomen-usbusinesscompare-office-365-for-business-plans-FX102918419aspx

ldquoGoogle Apps for Business Pricingrdquo httpwwwgooglecomenterpriseappsbusinesspricinghtml

ldquoOffice 365 Security Whitepaperrdquo httpwwwmicrosoftcomen-usdownloaddetailsaspxid=26552

ldquoSecurity and Compliance in Office 365rdquo Recorded Webinar httplandingapterainccomcloud-security-and-compliance-office365

Resources

18

Herersquos Wlodarzrsquos basic finding

ldquoThe battle between Microsoft and Google goes a lot further than who has bigger inboxes more mobile apps or whatever new whizbang feature can generate easy buzz Irsquove carefully learned that this is more-so a battle of the ecosystems at this point

ldquoWhorsquos got the all-encompassing platform that is looking to solve business needs the way your company views them Whorsquos going to solve your email problems today but offer you a segway to cloud document storage amp unified communications amp etc tomorrow hellip

How Does Office 365 Stack upagainst the Competition

12

xBusinessProblem

Success

ldquohellipThatrsquos the question companies and organizations should be asking themselves Because itrsquos the realization Irsquove come to after our two-feet-first jump onto Office 365 a little more than a month ago Google Apps isnrsquot a bad platform by any means In fact itrsquos pretty darn good But in my eyes when you view both suites as the sum of their individual parts as a collective experience Office 365 takes the upper handrdquo

How Does Office 365 Stack upagainst the Competition

13

How Does Office 365 Stack upagainst the Competition

14

Here are a few more general takeaways

Office 365 apps tend to play nicer with other apps while Google really wants everybody yoursquore working with to be on Google too Office 365 is much better when it comes to security and compliance standards like HIPAA (Wlodarz ldquoIrsquom refusing to recommend [Google] Apps for any clients even remotely associated with the healthcare industry so they donrsquot have to go through the pains I describedrdquo) Lync is much better than Hangouts Googlersquos unified communications offering

The advantages you do get from Google Apps derive from its minimalist user interface While Office 365 comes in at least eight varieties (see the cost table above) Google Apps lets you choose between just two Google Apps for business ($5usermonth or $50useryear) and Google Apps for Business with Vault ($10usermonth) Depending on which bundle of apps you need and other circumstances Google Apps may also be cheaper

How Does Office 365 Stack upagainst the Competition

15

$ $ $ $ $ $ $

Some users find the minimalist one-size-fits-all Google ecosystem less complicated to navigate So it can be good for businesses who donrsquot have a lot of custom requirements Finally many reviewers complain about the Office 365 version of PowerPoint but itrsquos unclear whether the Google counterpart Slides will be any more user-friendly In general users favor the familiar Office tools by a large margin seeing the Google versions as knockoffs

How Does Office 365 Stack upagainst the Competition

16

$erro

r

3X

1st

Microsoftrsquos philosophy with Office 365 is that it should be able to meet a huge array of business needs So the platform can be customized to fit any organizationrsquos specific productivity challenges Thatrsquos both its main strength and its main weakness The types of companies who go with Google prefer the one-and-done simplicity of choosing a plan

With Office 365 many businesses need help from third-party partners to realize all the productivity and cost benefits Many companies for instance have a lot of difficulties migrating legacy archives into the cloud (but this problem isnrsquot unique to Office 365) Once the ideal plan has been chosen and the migration completed however Office 365 is the better all-around solution for most businesses

How difficult is it to migrate your existing files

17

ldquoIs Office 365 Right for Yourdquo Recorded Webinar httplandingapterainccomarchived-webinar-is-office-365-right-for-you

ldquoCompare Office 365 for business plansrdquo httpofficemicrosoftcomen-usbusinesscompare-office-365-for-business-plans-FX102918419aspx

ldquoGoogle Apps for Business Pricingrdquo httpwwwgooglecomenterpriseappsbusinesspricinghtml

ldquoOffice 365 Security Whitepaperrdquo httpwwwmicrosoftcomen-usdownloaddetailsaspxid=26552

ldquoSecurity and Compliance in Office 365rdquo Recorded Webinar httplandingapterainccomcloud-security-and-compliance-office365

Resources

18

ldquohellipThatrsquos the question companies and organizations should be asking themselves Because itrsquos the realization Irsquove come to after our two-feet-first jump onto Office 365 a little more than a month ago Google Apps isnrsquot a bad platform by any means In fact itrsquos pretty darn good But in my eyes when you view both suites as the sum of their individual parts as a collective experience Office 365 takes the upper handrdquo

How Does Office 365 Stack upagainst the Competition

13

How Does Office 365 Stack upagainst the Competition

14

Here are a few more general takeaways

Office 365 apps tend to play nicer with other apps while Google really wants everybody yoursquore working with to be on Google too Office 365 is much better when it comes to security and compliance standards like HIPAA (Wlodarz ldquoIrsquom refusing to recommend [Google] Apps for any clients even remotely associated with the healthcare industry so they donrsquot have to go through the pains I describedrdquo) Lync is much better than Hangouts Googlersquos unified communications offering

The advantages you do get from Google Apps derive from its minimalist user interface While Office 365 comes in at least eight varieties (see the cost table above) Google Apps lets you choose between just two Google Apps for business ($5usermonth or $50useryear) and Google Apps for Business with Vault ($10usermonth) Depending on which bundle of apps you need and other circumstances Google Apps may also be cheaper

How Does Office 365 Stack upagainst the Competition

15

$ $ $ $ $ $ $

Some users find the minimalist one-size-fits-all Google ecosystem less complicated to navigate So it can be good for businesses who donrsquot have a lot of custom requirements Finally many reviewers complain about the Office 365 version of PowerPoint but itrsquos unclear whether the Google counterpart Slides will be any more user-friendly In general users favor the familiar Office tools by a large margin seeing the Google versions as knockoffs

How Does Office 365 Stack upagainst the Competition

16

$erro

r

3X

1st

Microsoftrsquos philosophy with Office 365 is that it should be able to meet a huge array of business needs So the platform can be customized to fit any organizationrsquos specific productivity challenges Thatrsquos both its main strength and its main weakness The types of companies who go with Google prefer the one-and-done simplicity of choosing a plan

With Office 365 many businesses need help from third-party partners to realize all the productivity and cost benefits Many companies for instance have a lot of difficulties migrating legacy archives into the cloud (but this problem isnrsquot unique to Office 365) Once the ideal plan has been chosen and the migration completed however Office 365 is the better all-around solution for most businesses

How difficult is it to migrate your existing files

17

ldquoIs Office 365 Right for Yourdquo Recorded Webinar httplandingapterainccomarchived-webinar-is-office-365-right-for-you

ldquoCompare Office 365 for business plansrdquo httpofficemicrosoftcomen-usbusinesscompare-office-365-for-business-plans-FX102918419aspx

ldquoGoogle Apps for Business Pricingrdquo httpwwwgooglecomenterpriseappsbusinesspricinghtml

ldquoOffice 365 Security Whitepaperrdquo httpwwwmicrosoftcomen-usdownloaddetailsaspxid=26552

ldquoSecurity and Compliance in Office 365rdquo Recorded Webinar httplandingapterainccomcloud-security-and-compliance-office365

Resources

18

How Does Office 365 Stack upagainst the Competition

14

Here are a few more general takeaways

Office 365 apps tend to play nicer with other apps while Google really wants everybody yoursquore working with to be on Google too Office 365 is much better when it comes to security and compliance standards like HIPAA (Wlodarz ldquoIrsquom refusing to recommend [Google] Apps for any clients even remotely associated with the healthcare industry so they donrsquot have to go through the pains I describedrdquo) Lync is much better than Hangouts Googlersquos unified communications offering

The advantages you do get from Google Apps derive from its minimalist user interface While Office 365 comes in at least eight varieties (see the cost table above) Google Apps lets you choose between just two Google Apps for business ($5usermonth or $50useryear) and Google Apps for Business with Vault ($10usermonth) Depending on which bundle of apps you need and other circumstances Google Apps may also be cheaper

How Does Office 365 Stack upagainst the Competition

15

$ $ $ $ $ $ $

Some users find the minimalist one-size-fits-all Google ecosystem less complicated to navigate So it can be good for businesses who donrsquot have a lot of custom requirements Finally many reviewers complain about the Office 365 version of PowerPoint but itrsquos unclear whether the Google counterpart Slides will be any more user-friendly In general users favor the familiar Office tools by a large margin seeing the Google versions as knockoffs

How Does Office 365 Stack upagainst the Competition

16

$erro

r

3X

1st

Microsoftrsquos philosophy with Office 365 is that it should be able to meet a huge array of business needs So the platform can be customized to fit any organizationrsquos specific productivity challenges Thatrsquos both its main strength and its main weakness The types of companies who go with Google prefer the one-and-done simplicity of choosing a plan

With Office 365 many businesses need help from third-party partners to realize all the productivity and cost benefits Many companies for instance have a lot of difficulties migrating legacy archives into the cloud (but this problem isnrsquot unique to Office 365) Once the ideal plan has been chosen and the migration completed however Office 365 is the better all-around solution for most businesses

How difficult is it to migrate your existing files

17

ldquoIs Office 365 Right for Yourdquo Recorded Webinar httplandingapterainccomarchived-webinar-is-office-365-right-for-you

ldquoCompare Office 365 for business plansrdquo httpofficemicrosoftcomen-usbusinesscompare-office-365-for-business-plans-FX102918419aspx

ldquoGoogle Apps for Business Pricingrdquo httpwwwgooglecomenterpriseappsbusinesspricinghtml

ldquoOffice 365 Security Whitepaperrdquo httpwwwmicrosoftcomen-usdownloaddetailsaspxid=26552

ldquoSecurity and Compliance in Office 365rdquo Recorded Webinar httplandingapterainccomcloud-security-and-compliance-office365

Resources

18

The advantages you do get from Google Apps derive from its minimalist user interface While Office 365 comes in at least eight varieties (see the cost table above) Google Apps lets you choose between just two Google Apps for business ($5usermonth or $50useryear) and Google Apps for Business with Vault ($10usermonth) Depending on which bundle of apps you need and other circumstances Google Apps may also be cheaper

How Does Office 365 Stack upagainst the Competition

15

$ $ $ $ $ $ $

Some users find the minimalist one-size-fits-all Google ecosystem less complicated to navigate So it can be good for businesses who donrsquot have a lot of custom requirements Finally many reviewers complain about the Office 365 version of PowerPoint but itrsquos unclear whether the Google counterpart Slides will be any more user-friendly In general users favor the familiar Office tools by a large margin seeing the Google versions as knockoffs

How Does Office 365 Stack upagainst the Competition

16

$erro

r

3X

1st

Microsoftrsquos philosophy with Office 365 is that it should be able to meet a huge array of business needs So the platform can be customized to fit any organizationrsquos specific productivity challenges Thatrsquos both its main strength and its main weakness The types of companies who go with Google prefer the one-and-done simplicity of choosing a plan

With Office 365 many businesses need help from third-party partners to realize all the productivity and cost benefits Many companies for instance have a lot of difficulties migrating legacy archives into the cloud (but this problem isnrsquot unique to Office 365) Once the ideal plan has been chosen and the migration completed however Office 365 is the better all-around solution for most businesses

How difficult is it to migrate your existing files

17

ldquoIs Office 365 Right for Yourdquo Recorded Webinar httplandingapterainccomarchived-webinar-is-office-365-right-for-you

ldquoCompare Office 365 for business plansrdquo httpofficemicrosoftcomen-usbusinesscompare-office-365-for-business-plans-FX102918419aspx

ldquoGoogle Apps for Business Pricingrdquo httpwwwgooglecomenterpriseappsbusinesspricinghtml

ldquoOffice 365 Security Whitepaperrdquo httpwwwmicrosoftcomen-usdownloaddetailsaspxid=26552

ldquoSecurity and Compliance in Office 365rdquo Recorded Webinar httplandingapterainccomcloud-security-and-compliance-office365

Resources

18

Some users find the minimalist one-size-fits-all Google ecosystem less complicated to navigate So it can be good for businesses who donrsquot have a lot of custom requirements Finally many reviewers complain about the Office 365 version of PowerPoint but itrsquos unclear whether the Google counterpart Slides will be any more user-friendly In general users favor the familiar Office tools by a large margin seeing the Google versions as knockoffs

How Does Office 365 Stack upagainst the Competition

16

$erro

r

3X

1st

Microsoftrsquos philosophy with Office 365 is that it should be able to meet a huge array of business needs So the platform can be customized to fit any organizationrsquos specific productivity challenges Thatrsquos both its main strength and its main weakness The types of companies who go with Google prefer the one-and-done simplicity of choosing a plan

With Office 365 many businesses need help from third-party partners to realize all the productivity and cost benefits Many companies for instance have a lot of difficulties migrating legacy archives into the cloud (but this problem isnrsquot unique to Office 365) Once the ideal plan has been chosen and the migration completed however Office 365 is the better all-around solution for most businesses

How difficult is it to migrate your existing files

17

ldquoIs Office 365 Right for Yourdquo Recorded Webinar httplandingapterainccomarchived-webinar-is-office-365-right-for-you

ldquoCompare Office 365 for business plansrdquo httpofficemicrosoftcomen-usbusinesscompare-office-365-for-business-plans-FX102918419aspx

ldquoGoogle Apps for Business Pricingrdquo httpwwwgooglecomenterpriseappsbusinesspricinghtml

ldquoOffice 365 Security Whitepaperrdquo httpwwwmicrosoftcomen-usdownloaddetailsaspxid=26552

ldquoSecurity and Compliance in Office 365rdquo Recorded Webinar httplandingapterainccomcloud-security-and-compliance-office365

Resources

18

Microsoftrsquos philosophy with Office 365 is that it should be able to meet a huge array of business needs So the platform can be customized to fit any organizationrsquos specific productivity challenges Thatrsquos both its main strength and its main weakness The types of companies who go with Google prefer the one-and-done simplicity of choosing a plan

With Office 365 many businesses need help from third-party partners to realize all the productivity and cost benefits Many companies for instance have a lot of difficulties migrating legacy archives into the cloud (but this problem isnrsquot unique to Office 365) Once the ideal plan has been chosen and the migration completed however Office 365 is the better all-around solution for most businesses

How difficult is it to migrate your existing files

17

ldquoIs Office 365 Right for Yourdquo Recorded Webinar httplandingapterainccomarchived-webinar-is-office-365-right-for-you

ldquoCompare Office 365 for business plansrdquo httpofficemicrosoftcomen-usbusinesscompare-office-365-for-business-plans-FX102918419aspx

ldquoGoogle Apps for Business Pricingrdquo httpwwwgooglecomenterpriseappsbusinesspricinghtml

ldquoOffice 365 Security Whitepaperrdquo httpwwwmicrosoftcomen-usdownloaddetailsaspxid=26552

ldquoSecurity and Compliance in Office 365rdquo Recorded Webinar httplandingapterainccomcloud-security-and-compliance-office365

Resources

18

ldquoIs Office 365 Right for Yourdquo Recorded Webinar httplandingapterainccomarchived-webinar-is-office-365-right-for-you

ldquoCompare Office 365 for business plansrdquo httpofficemicrosoftcomen-usbusinesscompare-office-365-for-business-plans-FX102918419aspx

ldquoGoogle Apps for Business Pricingrdquo httpwwwgooglecomenterpriseappsbusinesspricinghtml

ldquoOffice 365 Security Whitepaperrdquo httpwwwmicrosoftcomen-usdownloaddetailsaspxid=26552

ldquoSecurity and Compliance in Office 365rdquo Recorded Webinar httplandingapterainccomcloud-security-and-compliance-office365

Resources

18

ldquoFrom Google Apps to Office 365 Why my company ditched Googlerdquo by Derrick Wlodarz httpbetanewscom20140110from-google-apps-to-office-365-why-my-company-ditched-google

ldquoGoogle Apps vs Microsoft Office 365rdquo by Dennis Junk httpblogapterainccombid347839Google-Apps-vs-Microsoft-Office-365 ldquoReview Microsoft Office 365 vs Google Appsrdquo httpwwwinfoworldcomdcloud-computingreview-microsoft-office-365-vs-google-apps-233667page=00

ldquoMoving to Office 365 Prepare for the huge pain of archive migrationrdquo httpwwwinfoworldcomdmicrosoft-windowsmoving-office-365-prepare-the-huge-pain-of-archive-migration-242124

Resources

19

With offices in Fort Wayne IN and Nashville TN Aptera is home to one of the most talented software and web design teams in the country Since its founding in 2003 the Aptera team has grown from a two-man operation to an organization with over seventy employees serving businesses all over the country A Microsoft Gold Certified Managed Partner Apterarsquos team has experts in SharePoint Business Intelligence NET Development Cloud Computing Microsoft Lync and more Wersquore equipped to step in at any stage of your businessrsquos project from analyzing workflows and installing data-tracking modules to building custom software or a new web site and from optimizing your search rankings to moving you into the cloud We believe the key to our success has been hiring excellent people giving them the resources they need and encouraging them to treat every project as the basis for a lasting partnership

To get more information about Office 365 follow Aptera on these social networks

About Aptera

20

Share this e-book with your network

LIKE

SHARE