While Google Workspace is no longer discussed as an alternative to Microsoft 365, Microsoft retains the favor of CIOs – perhaps the strength and comfort of habit. Google Workspace, however, proves superior for those who want to operate the digital transformation of the work environment.
Doing away with last century's IT
Traditional organizational structures and working methods no longer correspond to the rapidly evolving world and technology in which we live.
An employee uses much more powerful and pleasant technology at home than at the office, where they work in a setting that has fundamentally not evolved since the 90s.
Receptiveness to IT tools has also changed. Young organizations expect the tools to meet their needs. They do not want to have to evolve within a rigid framework imposed by IT. This is why in classic organizations the shadow IT is multiplying because traditional IT does not meet employees' needs for exchange and collaboration.
This is something Google understood well by creating fundamentally simple and user-oriented tools.
Poorly advised SMEs
Still too many small and medium-sized businesses approach the subject only from the perspective of hardware and software renewal. Most often without even evaluating Google Workspace – or even ignoring its existence. The reason is their IT service providers who struggle to step out of their comfort zone, to see Google as a credible alternative, and to understand the new challenges of collaboration and digital transition.
Today, it is no longer about the digitization of infrastructure (computerization) but about the digitization of interactions (collaboration). This requires a radically different approach to IT.
IT services will then often provide out-of-scope advice, uncomfortable with the cloud – which can prove more complex than it seems – and especially uncomfortable with the true challenges related to collaboration.
The challenge is not a software choice
The digital transition also concerns the workspace. It is becoming urgent to realign tools and ways of working with the demands of the current, fertile, and turbulent environment. This is a key factor of competitiveness for businesses as much as a challenge for employee serenity and satisfaction.
It must be a true transformation, not a software upgrade. The stakes are the future of the company, employee satisfaction, and their employability.
It becomes essential for people to fundamentally rethink their ways of working and move away from old working methods – such as sending thousands of emails and attachments.
To read on the subject: Hyperconnected: the brain at risk
And it's much easier to achieve with a tool that, from its conception, radically breaks with past working methods and concepts, rather than working with a tool (Office 365) that ultimately remains quite similar to what we have used until now.
Why choose Google Workspace
Choosing Google Workspace over Microsoft 365 will offer you the opportunity to create a clear break with the past and put employees in a mindset conducive to major transformations.
Tom Enders, the CEO of Airbus says: “Airbus has decided to take a major step by switching to Google Suite. We need technologies that actively support our new working methods, modern tools that allow us to be fully collaborative. Choosing Google Workspace is a strategic choice, a clear break with the past.”.
Workspace will considerably simplify your task by creating a break in the environment and habits, conducive to stepping back and renegotiating ways of doing things. A change program including training and workshops will be much better accepted because it will be self-evident.
To read on the subject: Choosing between G Suite and Microsoft 365
Conversely, moving from a classic Microsoft environment to Office 365 will be perceived as an update, possibly major but in no way a vector for transformation. Resistance to a change program will be considerably stronger.
The simpler and more elegant productivity tools provided with Google Workspace generate a less steep learning curve for users new to online collaboration.
With Microsoft 365, the challenge is to bring about a break with the past – and that's what it should be: a break with 90s-style work – which will require more effort than with Google Workspace.
Conclusion
Obviously, our article is uncompromisingly in favor of Google Workspace. Our opinion is based on our experience within companies. We believe that if the quality of collaboration is a major concern, then Google Workspace is undoubtedly the best choice.
Not changing costs too much. It is illusory to think you can remain competitive with the tools and methods of the last century. Otherwise, you will soon no longer have your place in the market.
In either case, you must treat the choice of Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace not as a technical choice but as an element that must support and promote an evolution of mindsets and ways of doing things.
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