Don Sesler, The Technology Whisperer: As the owner, I have the honor of leading a team of super-smart individuals who share my passion for helping entrepreneurs and business owners not fall victim to complex technology challenges that can kill productivity. We want to tame your technology so that it works for you and not the other way around. What technology problem is making your life more complicated than it should be? Reach out to me and tell me your story.

Best Office Productivity Suite

Google Workspace, Office 365, And An Interesting Alternative

If you spend time writing emails and creating documents or spreadsheets, then you are most likely already using some kind of office productivity suite. And chances are good that you are using one of the two most popular services from Google or Microsoft to get the job done. These two suites are similar in many ways, but there are some important differences to think about.

There are three options that we really like, but for different reasons.

Google Workspace

It’s hard to imagine a better office productivity suite to start with for most users than Google.  Email and Calendar? Check. Spreadsheets and Presentations? Check. Documents? Web Conferences? Check and Check. Since the system was built from the ground up as a cloud-based service, your team can quickly and easily review a spreadsheet or a presentation together, no matter where they happen to be on the planet.

If you are just starting out, you may be able to get away with a personal account for a while, but eventually, you will need to upgrade to Google Workspace.

Microsoft Office 365

Microsoft Office is still the benchmark office productivity suite by which other suites are measured. You may end up paying a dollar or two more every month for the service, but there are still some things that this suite does better than any other.

One area where Microsoft Office has the edge over Google Workspace is their desktop applications. If you are writing macros, creating pivot tables, or some other complex spreadsheet task, Excel is the place to be. If splashy presentations are your thing, it’s really hard to beat what can be done with the PowerPoint desktop app. 

Zoho Workplace Might Also Be Worth A Look

Zoho has a very nice productivity suite that is worth a look as well.  Everything you get with the two big guys is present with Zoho’s offer, and while the tools may not be as polished, these guys are working hard to catch up.

We got involved with Zoho when we decided that we needed a cheaper CRM than Salesforce, and the deeper we get into this platform the better we like it. We currently use Zoho for our CRM, our email and social media campaigns, our internal ticketing system, our invoicing…, you get the idea. You have to be careful with Zoho because the add-ons can add up quickly if you are not careful, but there is a lot of value in what they offer.

Which One Is Right For My Business?

There’s no one right answer here since each business is a little different. In our case, we subscribe to Office 365 and Zoho Workplace since there are things that each of those services do that made sense for us. And just because we chose not to go with Google Workspace does not mean that we don’t recommend it. On the contrary, Google Workspace has a lot going for it and we happily recommend it when it’s the right tool for one of our clients.

If your business is growing and it’s time to pick a productivity suite, feel free to schedule a free consultation with me and I’ll be happy to help you choose the one that makes the most sense for your business.