Haptic Posted October 22, 2015 Posted October 22, 2015 (edited) Shots fired! Google has fired off a direct challenge to Microsoft Office in an effort to halt some of the momentum around Office 365 and entice users over to Google Apps for Work. For Office customers with Microsoft Enterprise Agreements (EA) who switch to Google Apps for Work, Google is offering to pay the Microsoft fees for the remainder of the period and chip in up to $25 per user for migration and deployment fees, in return for a 12 month commitment once the EA has run out. It is a direct challenge to Office 365 which has been growing at an impressive rate and the launch of Office 2016 which is heavy on the collaboration features that have long been a strength of Google Apps, plus the increased availability of Office on mobile devices. It is also part of Google’s strategy to increase its enterprise footprint. full story here Although (sadly) it's an Enterprise/Work focused attack, it's indicative of Google's commitment to challenging Microsoft. We're hoping a similar version of the offer extends across 'the pond' at some point. Joe Edited October 22, 2015 by Haptic
CyberNerd Posted October 22, 2015 Posted October 22, 2015 I don't see why they need to, Google apps is still miles ahead of Office365. you URL is broken btw. 1
Geoff Posted October 22, 2015 Posted October 22, 2015 Isn't Google Apps half the price of the equivalent O365 subscription anyway?
Haptic Posted October 22, 2015 Author Posted October 22, 2015 I don't see why they need to, Google apps is still miles ahead of Office365. you URL is broken btw. Gah - thanks, fixed now. As for Google being miles ahead of O365 we want to remain as impartial as possible, it certainly appears that Google are making some decent headway. Isn't Google Apps half the price of the equivalent O365 subscription anyway? That may well be the case for Edu in the states, however our guess is it's a pretty even run thing for commercial licensing
Geoff Posted October 22, 2015 Posted October 22, 2015 Ok, I just looked. O365 Pro Plus is £7.80/month/user. Google Apps w/Vault is £6.60/month/user. These are business prices.
robjduk Posted October 22, 2015 Posted October 22, 2015 I feel the Googe product is slightly better but while 90% of the software aimed at schools insists on office 2003 and XP compatibility (exaggerating but not much...) we are stuck with office. My staff freaked the hell out when we went from office 2010 to 2013 and blamed the world's woes on it... imagine trying to get them to use google. 1
matt40k Posted October 22, 2015 Posted October 22, 2015 My staff freaked the hell out when we went from office 2010 to 2013 and blamed the world's woes on it... imagine trying to get them to use google. How are they going to cope when you go to Office 2016 when it auto-updates every month!
Arthur Posted October 22, 2015 Posted October 22, 2015 O365 Pro Plus is £7.80/month/user. Google Apps w/Vault is £6.60/month/user. These are business prices. I wonder if Google would have more luck getting businesses to switch from Windows to Chrome OS devices if they also reduced the price of their management console licenses which are $150 per device?
CyberNerd Posted October 23, 2015 Posted October 23, 2015 I feel the Googe product is slightly better but while 90% of the software aimed at schools insists on office 2003 and XP compatibility (exaggerating but not much...) we are stuck with office. My staff freaked the hell out when we went from office 2010 to 2013 and blamed the world's woes on it... imagine trying to get them to use google. We did it for 200 staff. The compatibility is actually pretty good, and better than some past migrations between different versions of office. It was 95% hot air about change and very, very few actual difficulties. It has brought about a huge pedagogical change and saved us tens of thousands of pounds. 1
Haptic Posted October 23, 2015 Author Posted October 23, 2015 (edited) I wonder if Google would have more luck getting businesses to switch from Windows to Chrome OS devices if they also reduced the price of their management console licenses which are $150 per device? We completely agree (and have voiced this to Google directly) we envisage a huge uptake of Google Apps, Chrome and Classroom within Education. If they are committed to seeing the same benefits/uptake from the commercial sector the Chrome Device Management cost should come down. £19 for edu and near £100 for business is a considerable hike! Joe Edited October 23, 2015 by Haptic comma chameleon
robjduk Posted October 23, 2015 Posted October 23, 2015 I totally agree but you have not met my staff. I know you can save thousands and improve efficiency but my SLT wont have it.
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