Google Apps for Work vs. Microsoft Office 365, a Comparison of cloud tools

While Google apps for Work and Microsoft Office 365 offer many similar business productivity services and choosing between the two can be confusing for CTOs. But This comparison between office 365 & Google Apps for Work eases that burden.

CTOs and IT managers may have different choices when it comes to cloud-based business productivity tools for email, documents, calendar and file-sharing. And the first two options that come to mind are Google Apps for Work and Office 365 cloud solutions by microsoft.

Google Apps suite offers Gmail, Hangouts, Drive and Calendar, Sheets while the latter comes Microsoft Office apps, such as Word, Excel, Skype for business, Outlook and PowerPoint. Both the options have unique strengths and weaknesses, and each is best-suited for specific types of businesses and users.

Google Apps for Work Pricing Vs. Office 365 Pricing

Google apps for work starts at Rs. 1500 per user per year while Office 365 starts at Rs. 2700 per user per year. Microsoft requires a full-year commitment for its enterprise plans, while Google apps for work business suite is available on a month-to-month basis.

Digitrock’s Special Price :

Google Apps for Work : Rs. 1200 per user per year

Microsoft Office 365 : Rs. 2350 per user per year

Space Comparison

Every Office 365 user gets 1TB of cloud storage, while Google apps for work basic plan provides considerably less space which is 30GB of online storage per user. However, Google provides unlimited storage for accounts with at least five users on its $10 per month or $120 per year (plus tax) plans.

Google also gets high preference for its simplicity and easy to use UI, because it offers two relatively straightforward plans.

Microsoft offers six total plans making it bit more confusing : three for small and medium-size businesses and three for large enterprises that range in price from $5 to $20 per month, with a yearly commitment.

Pricing is an important determining factor, but equally important for CTOs are the feature sets, security and user experiences of both the cloud platforms. The ideal cloud-based business productivity platform is secure, stable and simple for employees to learn and use. Cost is one of the many concerns IT managers must consider when investing in cloud-based business productivity platforms.

Eric Schlissel, CEO of IT consultancy GeekTek IT Services, says his company uses Google apps for Work, but more often than not he recommends Office 365 cloud solutions to clients because they are already heavily dependent and invested in Microsoft Outlook. Many business owners are reluctant to change the way their offices work.

“We tend to recommend Google apps for Work to clients with a younger and more tech-savvy workforce,” Schlissel says. “CIOs should look at how their employees use technology and work outwards from there.”

According to CIO Shawn Wiora, at Creative Solutions in Healthcare, a company that owns and operates assisted-living facilities, the IT department uses Google apps for Work while the rest of the company relies on Microsoft Office 365.

“In many ways, Google apps for Work is a low-cost equivalent of Office 365 by Microsoft, and it’s a great fit for startups and small businesses that need to limit costs while achieving ‘good enough’ status,” Wiora says. “However, the cost savings come with a number of nuances that limit its fit for enterprise customers.”

Wiora says there are at least four problems with Google apps for Work that can add up to a major burden for businesses. He cites “shared calendar issues, an inability to transfer Excel formulas directly into Google Spreadsheets, compatibility issues and vertical-specific decisions like Google’s past refusal to sign a HIPAA BAA [Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act Business Associate] agreement for the healthcare industry.” Google removed the barrier for organizations that need to comply with HIPAA in late 2013.

In Wiora’s experience, Google apps for work suite keeps up with Office 365 by Microsoft about 90 percent of the time. It’s that other 10 percent that “makes Google apps for Work a poor substitute for medium and large enterprises that expect to simply pick up in Google where they leave off with Microsoft.”

BetterCloud, a company that provides security and management services for Google Apps for work and Office 365, also uses both Google and Microsoft’s cloud solutions offers, according to Tim Burke, BetterCloud’s IT director.

The company primarily uses Google apps for Work as the sole platform for its corporate calendar and conference room reservation system, but it also provides Office 365 cloud suite accounts to users who work on its Microsoft-related products.

“We’ve looked into many solutions for coexistence between the two platforms (especially for calendar and contacts), but there’s nothing mature yet that allows Google Apps for work and Office 365 to ‘play together’ well on a single domain,” Burke says.

Both cloud based productivity platforms are enterprise class, with almost identical offerings, according to Burke, who says Google apps for work is becoming more “enterprise” every day.

“Many people don’t realize Google has been in this market for over six years at this point, and Google Apps for work is used by some of the largest organizations in the world,” Burke says. Google’s strengths also include a deeply integrated infrastructure and a simple licensing structure, he says.

Office 365 by Microsoft provides a continuity with legacy solutions that makes it easier to keep everyone happy with the applications they’ve been using for many years, or perhaps decades, but it’s also evolving. “Office 365 is based on Microsoft’s legacy products and is becoming more ‘cloud-enabled’ and easy to manage,” Burke says.

Google Apps for Work vs. Microsoft Office 365: One size does NOT fit all

Many others familiar with Office 365 and Google apps for Work take a much less neutral stance than Wiora and Burke; both companies have dedicated users and evangelists.

Martin Milanov, a digital marketing specialist at Fair Point, a corporate travel management firm based in Germany, writes that he “will scream to the ends of hell if they take away my Excel and make me use the, let’s face it, subpar Excel wannabe that is Google Sheets.” 

Kristin Bassett, corporate marketing manager at AppNeta, an application performance management provider, says her company recently switched from Microsoft cloud solutions to Google apps for work to get all employees on the same email system. The firm chose to migrate its entire staff to Google apps for Work because it preferred Gmail to Outlook and considered email its highest-priority tool.

Many of the engineers working for AppNeta had requested corporate access to Gmail, according to Bassett, and the switch improved the company’s ability to hire and retain engineers, who are core to its business.

Regardless of platform, it’s about preparation

Both Burke and Wiora encourage CIOs to gain a deep understanding of their users’ needs and company goals before deciding on Google apps for Work or Office 365.

“We’ve worked with thousands of customers across both platforms, and the most successful deployments involved a highly democratic approach where they set up small pilot groups, talked to managers in different departments, discussed pros and cons for both platforms, and generally took the time to make sure they were making the best decision for their users and not for their IT department or existing infrastructure,” says Burke.

For some CTOs, a hybrid approach will work best, according to Wiora. However, using both platforms can also lead to more work and potential problems for IT. “Each new service increases complexity for end users exponentially rather than linearly, so reducing confusion from having information in so many places will be critical for anyone using a hybrid approach,” says Wiora.

Above all, CTOs shouldn’t delay the necessary research and piloting, and they should try to make a decision as quickly as possible, according to Burke. “Whether your organization chooses Google Apps for work or Office 365, you’re getting a cloud office platform that’s going to fundamentally change the way your business operates if it’s correctly implemented and thoroughly adopted,” he says.

Source : cio.com

Microsoft announced Windows 10, coming in mid of 2015

Microsoft Threshold event started and as expected the technology giant have announced its next version of the windows operating system i.e Window 10. The successor to Windows 8 will officially be known as Windows 10.

Microsoft’s Executive Vice President of Operating System, Terry Myerson announced the name, after saying Windows operating system is used by more then 1.5 billion people.

Windows is at a Threshold and now it’s time for a new Windows,” Terry Myerson said at the event. “It wouldn’t be right to call it Windows 9.

Microsoft Corporation will take back start menu in its next version of Windows operating system and its here. Windows 10 will have start menu, the virtual desktops feature, a flatter user interface, the Notification Center and even Cortana integration. also with an improved CMD and much more.

The OS preview which was released as leak earlier was same at the event also. The technical preview version this latest windows operating system for public will soon available. The next version of Windows Operating System is widely expected to arrive sometime next year in 2015.

Before announcing the new windows version name, Terry Myerson trolled everyone by saying it would be called Windows One. Since Microsoft Windows 1 has already been released though, the company chose to go with Windows 10. He did promise, however, that Windows 10 would work on all types of devices (computers, smartphones, tablets, and of course the Internet of Things):

One product family. One platform. One store.

Start menu will have tiles features and users can resize it as they want. More interesting thing is that, you can make a web search without opening the browser.

Source : The Hacking Post

8 Tips To Increase Downloads For Your App – Application Marketing

So you’ve just built an iOS app or maybe an Android one. You’re really proud of your design, the app works on every device you tested and there seems to be no competition in your niche. After publishing it, you go ahead and share it on your Facebook Profile page. You feel you’re onto a winner!

Next day you’re eager to check out how many people have downloaded it. “12 downloads” and not a single review. Hm… something must be wrong! So you start to really promote it now. You spam your friends constantly with Twitter and Facebook updates. A month later, you’re still below 500 downloads. What are you doing wrong?

1. Great Translated Descriptions

Make sure you have a nice, long description for your app to put it up the market place. This is for your clients and for your app’s ranking. You need to invest the time and do this right.

Language
Where possible, your description should be localized in most common languages such as Chinese, Korean, Spanish or French. Google Play has a nice feature (which won’t be available with the new Developer Console update, so hurry up) which will let you do the translation automatically using Google Translate. However, some translations do come up weird, so make sure you double check Google’s work.

For the App Store, you could do it yourself or look into human translation; it’s worth the money, or just use the browser-version of Google Translate.

Keywords
Your description should contain certain keywords you’re targeting with your app. Say you have a camera app named “Funky Camera Tricks”. Use the word ‘camera’ 3-6 times in your app description, (while keeping it relevant) and also use the words ‘tricks’ and ‘funky’ a few times.

Go on the normal Adwords Keyword Tool and search for lateral keywords to use as well. Using lateral keywords (the ones suggested by Google after you’ve done your main search) will improve your app’s chance to get into the search results for those main keywords. You want to create a Goldilocks description: not too much keyword usage, not too long or too short. Keep it balanced.

Declare Required Permissions
Don’t forget to talk about any permission your app is requesting upon installing. The user will see them anyway so it’s better to be honest from the start. List all your app’s features, while also being transparent about any monetization modals you have in place.

2. Make A Video

Making a video for your app is a must. If you’re going down this road, I would advise you to hire a professional agency, or a video editing (freelance) plus a voice talent. There are even mobile specific video editors, like the guys at Apptamin, who specialize in app videos.

If you are going to invest in a video, make sure it has subtitles for the local language. If you have the money, have it translated into the most common languages. It will do wonders to your download rate.

3. CPI Burst Campaigns

Most of the traffic from searches on both Google Play and the App Store will go only as far as the 50th app in the list. Naturally, developers strive to make their app reach the highest spot. One tactic is by making use of a CPI (Cost-Per-Install) Campaign via different advertisers.

You’ll pay a certain amount of money for each install. The idea is not to make a positive return on your money, but to propel yourself in the list of Top 50 apps in your niche. If you reach that spot, the effects will last long enough for you to get your money’s worth.

This is best used while you are already riding a high wave of downloads. Compounding that with a well thought-out CPI Burst Campaign can make your app into a winner.

There are tons of ad networks offering CPI Campaigns. You could look into Tapjoy, Leadbolt or even specialized app discovery services such as MagicSolver who are offering this service.

4. Limited Discounts

You can offer your app for free or at half price for a period of time. Couple that with the beforementioned CPI campaign and a medium-sized user base already in place, and the effects can be mind-blowing. There are also apps which can help promote your discounted app, similar to the way daily deal sites work. AppGratis is one of them.

So is AppTurbo.

5. Get The Word Out

There are some services out which can handle press release distribution for you such as PRWeb or MarketWired. Just write your press release and send if out. There are even mobile specific agencies such as AppShout which can help you contact a massive number of blogs and publications.

Even if you use these services, I would advise you to personally contact medium-sized blogs for reviews. Usually these guys are eager to see new apps, and because they aren’t that big, you won’t become yesterday’s news too fast. That will mean more traffic.

Once you get a decent-sized publication to write about you, contact every other smaller blog, referring to the first article on the medium-sized blog. They’ll be more than happy to write about you. Give a personal, unique story to each. Don’t just repeat your press release. Nobody likes double content, and I presume Google doesn’t as well.

6. Keep Your Eyes On The User

Having analytics is a must. You’ll want to keep your active device numbers as high as possible. That’s the key to continuous downloads. A good app analytics should offer multi-app options, give you the ability to compare between them, let you see the user’s behaviors, from download until app deletion. You’ll also want to set up key trigger points inside the app in order to run A/B testing.

Here are some tools to choose from:

Flurry Analytics. Flurry boasts some big clients, from EA to Yahoo! to Groupon. Flurry recently celebrated 5 years of their Analytics service.

Google’s Universal Analytics. The most used analytics on the planet, Google’s Analytics just received a major update, and now offers mobile support.

7. Use A Cover Image For Google Play

So many Android developers forget to do the simplest things, such as creating a cover image for their app. Don’t make the same mistake. A cover image can really boost user downloads. Make it unique, and don’t use the same picture from the screenshot. If you do use the same picture, at least take the time to resize it so it won’t look weird. You want users to trust you, before they will be willing to download your app.

Example of a cover image for a Christmas App

8. Professional Real-Life Screenshots

Your app’s screenshots should be as crisp, clean and professional as (humanly) possible. If you can, take some high-res pictures of a real person using your app on their phone/tablet. Show a child in your shot using the app if your app is for young kids. Replace it with a business owner, if it is a business app. Make sure the app can be clearly seen.

The point of the screenshot is for the user to see the app in action. Have at least 3 screenshots, preferably 6. Each screenshot should contain a different instance of the app.

Conclusion

So there you have it. These 8 points helped me grow my app business to more than 7 million downloads on our entire portfolio in under a year. Lastly, I couldn’t have done it without my associates, so one last thing – make sure you have a great team working with you. Some of the tips above are pretty hard to implement, so you need to have talented, dedicated people around you.