Before Google Apps For Business widely advertised their services, our company was using Google as our hosted email and calendar solution for our IT support business in Austin, TX. For as long as I can remember, it never gave us any problems – it worked flawlessly. Early 2013, I was supporting a client with an email issue and needed to call their hosting provider; Godaddy. The call was regarding the sync setup with an iPhone and Godaddy imap email. The sever settings were updated by Godaddy and I needed to update the email configuration on the iPhone. But, getting the new email settings isn’t what made the call interesting. After talking for sometime with the Godaddy support representative, she brought up a new product they had just started selling – Office 365. Now, I’ve heard and read up on Office 365 but for Godaddy to deliver their service this was interesting to me since I too have accounts with Godaddy. Centralizing services and working with fewer vendors makes sense right? After going over all the features, I knew I needed to sign up at least a test account to gain experience with the new platform.
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For the past couple of years, I’ve seen a rapid increase in Austin businesses moving to cloud solutions like hosted exchange. After spending weeks driving around the Office 365 dashboard we made a quick decision to migrate from Google to Office 365 without hesitation. Our reason for switching? Office 365 simply delivers more in terms of user experience and application. It didn’t take long to figure out that Office 365 packs a punch of features and integration that you just don’t get from Google. Yes, Google has a lot to offer but they don’t have the years of user research and experience like Microsoft – in my opinion. Microsoft has been doing Office applications since Sergey Brin (Google Founder and CEO) was still in grade school so they definitely have the lead on experience. Like any technology company of today, Microsoft needed to adapt so they decided to move their services to the cloud and they’ve really stepped up their game. Office 365 can mean just hosted email or the full Office application suite and mobile device integration all in the cloud. So, you’re probably wondering what features or user experience made us switch to Office 365 from Google. Here’s why.
Why Small Businesses Should Switch To Office 365
It’s important that your IT service provider recommends the right IT solutions for your business. We’re completely dependent on technology with whatever business you’re in or industry you support. Using Office 365 reminds me a lot of the Apple IOS – it simply just works, and works all the time. Some of the features we use and love are the contacts, calendar, and mailbox sharing, mobile device setup and integration, internal chat, and powerful admin dashboard. Yes, Google gave us some of these features but not nearly as organized and powerful as Office 365. Plus, if you decide to do the full office suite, you can pay an annual subscription to all of the office applications like Word, Excel, PowerPoint, etc. – the office suite you already know.
Are you using Office 365 for your business? Did you switch from Google? Let us know on our Facebook page. Thanks for sharing!
