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Why Are Companies Using Google Suite?

Aim for Growth

What tools come to mind when you think of business productivity applications? The majority of the population will come up with two: Google Suite and Microsoft Office 365. If you had to guess which one is utilized more, most would pick Office 365. That is in fact correct, however that doesn’t mean Google isn’t gaining ground.

Google Suite offers many business productivity tools such as Docs, Slides, Sheets, Drive, Gmail and more. About four years ago, Google underwent a major development overhaul with an aim to improve their enterprise tools. This initiative was successful, bringing in around 4 million new enterprise users over the course of the next two years. Since it launched in 2006, G Suite’s main user base consisted primarily of schools and start-ups due to its lower prices and the ability to collaborate on a document in real time. With a strong grasp on this demographic, expansion into enterprise applications was the next logical step for Google.

Conversion

In a 2018 survey of 135,000 organizations worldwide, conducted by Bitglass Inc., they found that 25% of the organizations used G Suite and 56% used Office 365. That may seem like a big gap, but Google is steadily growing their market share. Among companies listed on the S&P 1500 index, 7% switched from Office to G Suite in the last two years. This includes large organizations such as Verizon, Nielsen Holding PLC, Colgate-Palmolive and Salesforce.

So what is motivating companies to switch to G Suite? A major factor is the pricing. At $25 per monthly user, G Suite is $10 cheaper per head than Microsoft Office’s top list price. Other reasons that sweeten the deal include:

    • Cloud-based storage
    • Real-time work collaboration
    • Wider array of in-suite applications such as Hangout, Google’s communication app, Photos and Forms. Comparable apps are not offered as a part of Office 365
    • Mobile apps for Docs, Drive, Sheets and Slides

It’s worth noting that a natural part of G Suites’ growth has been its large presence in the academic space. Young adults just entering the workforce grew up using Gmail and Docs for school, creating continuous gradual conversion over time.

Is it for you?

Want to learn more about specific differences between G Suite and Office 365? Feel free to check out this article for a more in-depth comparison. Regardless of which one you use, we have the right training course for you and your team. Check out our OpenSesame training courses for employees from our curated catalog of G Suite training courses or our curated catalog of Office 365 courses.


About the author: Parker Abena, a summer marketing intern at OpenSesame, is a senior at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. He looks forward to moving out to PNW after school.

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