We compare the features and functionality of the two leading Cloud-based office solutions, Microsoft Office and Google Apps. Suitable reading for any SMB owner, or IT manager.

1. 10 Reasons to
Consider Office 365
over Google Apps
The Ultimate Resource for Small to Medium-Sized
Businesses Looking to Implement a Web-Hosted
Office Solution

2. In today’s economic climate, independent businesses are looking for any edge they can get over the
competition – and often that means getting more done faster. Limited human resources means that
you can’t always add more man hours to a task, and although we may wish we could sometimes, it’s
not (yet) possible to add more hours to a day.
So, what has to change?
The answer is the productivity tools we are using. Although we can work so much more efficiently
than we could 20 years ago, thanks to the rise of the PC, the internet and software suites like
Microsoft Office, these tools need to keep getting smarter in terms of features and capability. But
also - and perhaps more importantly - they need to adapt to the new way of working that the vast
majority of us have adopted. That means allowing us to get as much possible done while out of the
office, either due to telecommuting or traveling for business. In short, we want to be as productive
sitting in a train, plane, coffee shop, lobby, hotel room, beach or home office as we would be sitting
at our desk in the office.
Microsoft understands this paradigm shift
Not only in the way that we work but also in how we communicate. As a result it has incorporated
the most important aspects of any professional’s digital life into one integrated package called Office
365. The name says it all- we can now truly work every day of the year (if we really have to!) from
virtually anywhere in the world at any time, even if we do not have access to the internet. And
because our time and your employee’s time is precious, there’s no need to re-learn any new of the
software – it’s the same intuitive interface that anyone who has used Microsoft Office before will be
familiar with.
Keep reading to learn more about Office 365’s advanced feature set, and why it is clearly the
better choice for your organisation when compared directly to Google Apps.
1. Your business information is private - keep it that way
Microsoft is a leader in enterprise –grade security and Office 365 certainly benefits from this by being
able to provide its users with enhanced security. Because Google is so well-known, you may be
forgiven for thinking that its security is also water-tight, but when we compare the two solutions side-
by-side, you will see this is not the case.

3. Office 365 Google Apps
Enhanced security by design with Single Privacy policy shared across
state-of-the-art data centres business and consumer applications
Premium anti-spam and anti-virus States that Google may use
protection customer information they collect
to improve services (including
advertising)
No ambiguity in privacy policy Google offers basic group policies
about how your data is used in Google Apps, but not to as
granular as that what Office 365
provides
Separate architecture for business
and consumer services
Encrypted access to data
You maintain control over your
business information and data
2. Take Your Office with you Wherever You Go
Being out of the office is now no longer a reason for you or your employees to be any less productive
than being in the office. Office 365 allows you to work on documents collaboratively, join
conference calls, share desktops, and more from any PC, smartphone or tablet. Office 365 also excels
over Google Apps in its ability to avoid conflict issues between on and offline versions of files, as the
below screenshot illustrates.
With Office 365 you never need to worry about version fidelity, as both on and offline
versions look the same, and are formatted exactly the same – so if
you are unable to connect to the internet for any reason, you can

4. still continue with what you’re doing with no hassle.
3. Less Time Switching Between Apps Means More Time Getting
Stuff Done
Do you ever get the feeling that you are spending more time switching between applications
on your desktop and phone than you are actually getting stuff done? Microsoft understands
that frustration, and as such, has created a fully integrated solution meaning you can video
conference, enter a meeting, or collaborate on a document in real time, all within the Office
365 application. Google Apps offers nowhere near the same rich, integrated functionality as
Office 365 and must rely on third-party solutions for core services and features such as video
conferencing and single sign on.
With Office 365 it’s possible to co-author a Word document in real-time making
collaboration with colleagues a more seamless, less awkward experience.

5. 4. Familiarity Breeds Contempt. Actually, Familiarity Often
Makes Life Much Easier
With Office 365 you get the applications you are used to, plus the added benefit of
integrated online applications such as presence, instant messaging, video conferencing,
calendar exchange, and Outlook email. Minimal ramp up time means you and your staff will
be taking advantage of this powerful suite of tools instantly. With Google Apps, your users
will have to deal with learning a new interface, browser and plug-ins and will no doubt be
disappointed when they discover the suite lacks their favourite features.
Other downsides to Google Apps are:
 Limited formatting options
 File fidelity losses may occur even when using Cloud Conenct
 Third-party tools such as OffiSync and Memeo are recommended for functionality
that Google Apps cannot provide, but Office 365 can
5. Make Sure Documents and Presentations Stay Beautiful
Don’t let the time you spend on the aesthetics of your documents and presentations go to
waste by having the recipient open and print them from Google Apps. Often this destroys
the integrity of the document by deleting or breaking advanced formatting features available
to you in Word and PowerPoint, such as Watermarks,
Tables of Contents, Headers and Footers, Page numbers, Bullet Points, Tables, and even
certain fonts and alignment formatting. The below screenshot shows the extent to which
documents can look differently when viewed in Office 365 versus Google Apps.

6. With Office 365, the document remains its integrity and therefore meaning. In the Google
Docs version, it is rendered virtually useless.
6. Advanced IT Functionality without the Clunky
With Office 365 you can easily manage users from day one, and scale up to meet advanced
IT needs as you grow. It is designed to be easy to administer, even if you don’t have a
dedicated IT staff. You can also get a professional-looking website at no extra cost, and host
it for free. You also benefit from seamless integration with the leading authentication
systems, and grant different levels of permissions to staff at the click of a button.
With Google Apps, you may find the functionality limiting – especially if you have advanced
IT needs. You also lack the ability to manage hybrid deployments, and may find yourself
needing to resort to third-party or DIY solutions. Furthermore Google provides limited site
management capability, and exposes you to unwanted security and compliance risks.
Definitely not the best way to rest easy at night!
7. Get a Solution that is both Cost-Effective and Flexible
Office 365 is the only solution that offers a hybrid for those aspects of your business that are
not yet ready for the cloud. Google’s “good enough” approach is simple, but that may not
satisfy all of your business needs, and you may have to end up looking elsewhere to find an
appropriate third-party solution. And even then, Google’s partner ecosystem is
understandably less developed than Microsoft’s Partner Network given the length of time it
has been making business applications (6 years versus Microsoft’s nearly 30 years’
experience).
8. Have Peace of Mind with a Financially-Backed 99.9% Service
Level Agreement
Microsoft is one of the very few cloud service providers that offers a financially-backed
service level agreement (SLA). This means your services are free when any Office 365 service
drops below 99.9% availability. This means that you can have total

7. confidence in your business-critical productivity services, unlike with Google who boost their
uptime figures by lumping together consumer and business services. They also test their
beta products with Google Apps users, but these are not covered by their SLA. And they
only offer service credits for any downtime at the end of your contract. Office 365’s SLA
covers every user and every component of the suite every day of the year.
The above dashboard gives total transparency for the health of the Office 365 service
9. Make Budgeting Easy with All-Inclusive Pricing
Office 365 has 4 pricing options to choose from depending on your business needs. Pricing
is on a monthly subscription basis, and you can easily scale up to other options, after trialing
them free for a month long period. With Google, you really don’t know what your total costs
are going to be as it isn’t an end-to-end solution, so you may find yourself shopping around
for add-on solutions that cost more than you bargained for. Here is the pricing chart for
Office 365:

8. 10. Round-the-Clock Support from a Local Certified Microsoft
Partner
At Mustard IT, we pride ourselves on responding to our customer’s support request within
minutes. And we know our customers appreciate it as they repeatedly tell us that we are
faster at responding than other, often more expensive, IT support agencies. We are based in
Central London and Hertfordshire, so if in-person support is required, we can easily get to
you. But most of the time we can figure it out over the phone, and we are here 24/7, 365
days a year to help you when you need it.
Still Need More Convincing?
If you’re still not convinced, we suggest you get in touch for an initial consultation around
your particular IT needs and we can give you a more in-depth analysis of how Office 365 and
how it will help to make your company even more awesome.
Simply complete the short form on our website today, and we’ll get back to you right away.

9. Mustard IT - No-Nonsense IT Support
London Soho Office
Mustard IT
33 Glasshouse Street
London
W1B 5DG
Hertfordshire Office
Mustard IT
108 Ware Road
Hoddesdon
Hertfordshire
EN11 9ET
Tel: 020 7043 4382
Fax: 0207 900 1747
info@mustardit.co.uk