All businesses strive for efficiency in the work place. Effective management of time and resources benefits all aspects of business. As the digital age continues its exponential growth, companies find it difficult to stay up to date on their software needs. Software developers release new versions of their product seemingly every other month. As soon as you purchase one program, another program or update renders yours obsolete. The innovation and rapid development in the software industry led to the increase of subscription-based services. In the past, you bought a disc or a download code for the current version of the software and waited a few years before upgrading to another version. While this method reduced costs, it also reduces the services the company provides you. Unlike the subscription-based method, buying the software outright limits you to the version you purchased. With a subscription you receive free updates whenever companies release a newer version of the software. Subscription based services offer you access to a whole set of applications rather than just one program.
With the turn towards subscriptions-based services, companies compete for innovative developments to earn the top productivity software spot, but three of the companies dominate the market: Microsoft, Google, and Apple.
Apple – iWork
Apple iWork comes free on Apple devices. Known for their adherence to aesthetics, Apple continues to build their reputation with iWork. iWork programs run smoothly and produce beautiful final products. Pages and Keynote especially create excellent visual content. iWork’s minimalistic toolbar approach simplifies the program for users, also consistent with Apple’s brand. Apple only offers three programs in the iWork product line unlike their competitors who offer five plus applications, but other Apple features such as iCloud work in tandem with iWork to provide similar services. Unfortunately, iWork only comes in a free form with no option for a business account. This limits the iWork programs severely, especially when coming to business emails or mass cloud storage. iWork comes on Apple products exclusively, which tend to cost more than windows devices and iWork files are known for not playing well with other operating systems, making collaboration between different devices hard.
Google – G Suite
G Suite offers the standard word processing, spreadsheet, and presentation software along with cloud-based storage, email, and other features. It is the business version of the standard software offered for home users. G Suite operates entirely on the cloud. Offline mode allows editing without internet but sharing and most options need internet access. Offline mode requires
you to use Google Chrome. G Suite’s advantage over Microsoft and iWork lies in its collaborative focus. G Suite products allow easy collaboration between multiple people at once. Unlike Microsoft, Google business emails still retain the @gmail.com domain rather than the customizable @yourbusinessname.com that Microsoft allows you to set up. This flaw hinders G Suite from competing as a top business productivity software since personalization of the domain helps create better customer communication and brand awareness.
Microsoft – Office 365
Office 365 beats out their competition for the top productivity software. Office 365 offers a plethora of tools that blow their competition out of the water. Where iWork and G Suite focus on a sleek, minimalistic product, Office 365 provides a comprehensive toolbar that allow for direct control in each process. For example, Power Point’s slide transition tools provide significant control over each slide. G Suite only works offline with a chrome browser and iWork only works on Apple products. On the other hand, Office 365 works on all operating systems and browsers. Microsoft’s applications all complement each other. For example, both Word and Power Point use Excel for creating charts. Documents automatically sync with One Drive, allowing access from any device.
Which Productivity Software is the Best for My Company?
All businesses ask this question at some point. For some companies, especially those in artistic fields, Apple iWork meets their needs the best, but they almost always use Office too for a business email. Other companies lack the need for the advanced tools and power of Office and G Suite covers their needs; however, Origami Technology Group recommends one of Office 365’s business plans. Although priced the most, they provide the most thorough solutions for your business. Office 365 offers a better cloud storage plan than G Suite. For five users and under, you receive one terabyte of storage per user and companies with six or more users receive unlimited storage. Backing your files up into the cloud prevents loss of important data. Microsoft offers a bigger inbox storage plan for emails too. From experience, Origami Technology knows that Microsoft’s support team offers superior service than Google’s. They provided solutions in a reasonable amount of time while Google took hours to solve issues with an account we worked on. Check out the exhaustive list of Office 365’s features here. This page offers a complete breakdown of everything included in the E3 business plan which we use at Origami Technology.
Office 365 provides an all in one solution for your company when it comes to managing your office and productivity. Whether data backup to the cloud, creating presentations for clients, crunching numbers, or typing up proposals, Office 365 provides the perfect application for your company to complete the job. While iWork and G Suite offer a better price Microsoft offers superior quality for you to create the best experience for your customers and clients.
Recent Comments