If you’re like most of us, you work with a team to get your job done. We’re here to tell you that teamwork and collaboration is the future of business productivity.
In an article from Entrepreneur, a former CTO of Facebook named Bret Taylor said that companies must ensure a connected and communicating workforce in order to create the right environment to spark this kind of cooperation.
Certainly, you may face a challenge finding the tools that balance your business needs, compliance, and security concerns with the requirements of an increasingly mobile and remote workforce. Also, you may think of email as the basic platform for business communication. However, Taylor pointed out that the right productivity solutions should also have other communication and collaboration tools integrated into them to provide a seamless experience.
These days, this probably includes features for chat, document management, presentations, design, storage, meetings, and even VoIP phone calls. Comparing all of these tools in light of a company’s unique needs makes the job of selecting the best solution tough, and the right answer will vary by organization.
Compare Microsoft 365 vs. Google Workspace vs. On-Premises Exchange
Three Leading Productivity Platforms for Modern Teams
With both the difficulty and importance of picking the right productivity and communication tools in mind, we can help you compare Microsoft 365, Google Workspace, and On-Premises Exchange as three of the most popular solutions.
Microsoft 365
Like Google Workspace, Microsoft 365 offers businesses a collection of productivity and communication tools that are mostly hosted in the cloud. Popular tools include:
- A cloud version of Exchange with email and scheduling
- Document management, collaboration, messaging, and conference software through Office apps, Microsoft Teams, and SharePoint
- OneDrive cloud storage that’s accessible from any device
- New and innovative tools to support teamwork, workflow, automation, form and digital design, and more
Microsoft 365 Pricing
Microsoft offers a number of pricing plans to suit the needs of different organizations. For example:
- Small and medium businesses can choose between Business Basic, Business Standard, and Business Premium plans, supporting up to 300 users. Per-user monthly pricing is available for smaller companies. Business Basic includes email and communication tools but not the full suite of Office desktop apps. Business Standard adds Office apps, cloud storage, and sharing. Business Premium includes advanced security, workflow, and productivity tools.
- Enterprise versions of Microsoft 365 are available at several tiers. All plans include Office apps and generous cloud storage, ranging from 1 TB to unlimited. Higher-tier plans such as Microsoft 365 E5 include the full suite of tools plus advanced security, data governance, analytics, and a built-in phone system, and support unlimited users. Visit Microsoft’s pricing page for current rates.
What to Know About Microsoft 365
Microsoft 365 offers small-, medium-, and even enterprise-sized organizations the digital tools they need to improve productivity through communication, collaboration, and better business processes. They’ve also kept up well with trends to allow employees to work from anywhere and on any device. Their packages also allow software installation on up to five devices but feature cloud-hosted versions for ease of accessibility and freedom from location or hardware constraints.
Google Workspace
Google Workspace and Microsoft 365 both offer cloud-hosted communication, collaboration, and productivity tools. With Google Workspace (formerly G Suite), businesses use well-known Google apps like Gmail for email. They also provide users with solutions for chat, presentations, calendars, cloud storage, and document management and sharing.
Google Workspace Pricing
Google Workspace pricing is a little simpler to understand than Microsoft’s. They group their plans as Business Starter, Business Standard, Business Plus, and Enterprise. This overview explains the highlights:
- Business Starter users get custom email addresses for their organization, voice and video calls, secure messaging, shared calendars, a variety of document applications, a site-building tool, storage, security controls, and 24/7 support.
- Business Standard users get everything included in the Starter plan, with higher limits and more storage. They also receive meeting recording capabilities, advanced search, and additional collaboration features.
- Business Plus and Enterprise users get everything in the Standard plan, often with higher limits. Google also includes more third-party integration options, compliance and eDiscovery tools, and enterprise-grade encryption and security.
What to Know About Google Workspace
Google Workspace delivers everything in the cloud. At the same time, it’s possible to do some work offline in a Chrome browser. Since Google offers free versions of many of their business tools, lots of users will already be familiar with and accepting of Google Workspace software. It’s also possible to download Microsoft-compatible versions of many documents, so working with Office users should not present a major problem.
On-Premises Exchange
On-Premises Exchange still leads the market for enterprise email and productivity software. However, with the rapid growth of cloud-based solutions, it faces increased competition from big players like Google Workspace and Microsoft 365. With On-Premises Exchange, Microsoft provides a business with software to install on their own hardware and devices. This includes email, plus a variety of other communication, document management, collaboration, and security tools.
On-Premises Exchange Pricing
It’s difficult to directly compare the cost of on-premises Exchange with Google Workspace and Microsoft 365 because the latter two are mostly hosted solutions. The license doesn’t necessarily include all the apps an organization might require, so these may be purchased separately from Microsoft.
In other words, many large organizations that run Exchange servers also purchase licenses to Microsoft 365. Most of all, calculating the true price of running Exchange would have to include hardware and maintenance costs.
What to Know About On-Premises Exchange
These days, many companies have decided to pursue cloud-based solutions in order to reduce their infrastructure concerns. On the other hand, Exchange gives businesses control over their software, hardware, governance, and security. They can integrate any other applications they choose.
Also, the organization has responsibility for backup and recovery, which may be an advantage or disadvantage, depending upon the situation.
How Can Businesses Choose Between On-Premises Exchange, Google Workspace, and Microsoft 365?
Organizations with their own IT infrastructure, and in particular, those that need complete control over their environment, might find that an on-premises solution like Exchange will serve their needs the best.
On the other hand, you can scale all of Google Workspace’s plans at will because you don’t have a hard limit on the number of users. By the time you get to Google’s Business Standard plan with at least five users, Google Workspace starts to look like a better storage value.
One of the main reasons you might choose Microsoft 365 is if you have a strong need to ensure compatibility with Microsoft products. Also, at lower subscription tiers, Microsoft is more generous with storage than Google.
Get Expert Help Finding the Right Productivity Platform
Choosing between Microsoft 365, Google Workspace, and On-Premises Exchange comes down to your organization’s specific needs: the level of control you want over your infrastructure, your existing software ecosystem, your compliance requirements, and your budget. There is no one-size-fits-all answer, and the wrong choice can mean costly migrations down the road.
WheelHouse IT is a certified Microsoft Solutions Partner with hands-on experience deploying, migrating, and managing all three environments. Our team can help you evaluate your options, match the right platform to your business goals, and handle implementation so your team can focus on what matters most.
Ready to find the right fit? Reach our team in Florida at (954) 474-2204 or New York at (516) 536-5006, or contact us online to get started.
