Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace

More on what it is

Both are sold per user per month in tiers. Microsoft's range runs from an apps-only plan through its core business and enterprise tiers to specialty plans. Google has four named editions. Non-profit, government and education organizations qualify for their own license tracks. You can buy licenses alone and manage them yourself, or buy them wrapped in ongoing management from a provider.

If you are coming from your own mail server, the suite replaces several things at once: the server, its local archives, shared mailboxes and usually a file server. Migration is sold as its own service, split between moving mail and moving files. What drives the effort is the number of mailboxes and how large they are on average, so have both numbers ready.

Then there is what the suite does not do for you, which is where most of the spending on this shelf goes.

Backup comes first. Microsoft keeps the service running. Recovering your content after a deletion, a mistake or an attack is largely left to you, and Microsoft's own service agreement recommends keeping a regular backup. The built-in recycle bin keeps deleted items only for a limited time. A backup service keeps a second, independent copy outside Microsoft's environment and can restore anything from a single message to an entire mailbox or site. See Backup and Disaster Recovery.

Phone calling is next. Microsoft Teams does not reach outside phone numbers until calling is added, through Operator Connect, which needs no equipment on your site, or Direct Routing, which suits complicated setups. See Cloud Phone Systems. A receptionist console can be layered on top, so whoever answers the main number can see queues and who is free before transferring a call.

The last is AI. Google builds generative AI features into its Business and Enterprise editions instead of selling them separately, so the edition you choose decides who gets them.

How IT Raven helps

Add Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace to your quote list and tell us your user count, what you run today and what is missing. A person takes that to the licensing and migration providers in our 500+ partner network and matches on fit. Some providers set a minimum number of seats, so we check that before you spend time on a proposal.

We also look at what you already pay for. Companies often hold a license tier whose security and compliance features were never switched on, and turning them on costs less than buying something new. That work is covered under Data Governance and Knowledge Graph and Managed Security.

We stay on one thread through licensing, migration and cutover weekend, and we quote backup and calling alongside so nothing is discovered afterward. The same team is here when your headcount changes.