The Question We Hear Most Often
"Should we be on Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace?" It comes up in nearly every IT assessment we run for new clients. And the honest answer is that both platforms are excellent, both are mature, and the right choice depends on your business more than the software.
We manage tenants on both platforms. Some of our clients run Microsoft 365 Business Premium with Intune and Defender. Others run Google Workspace Business Plus with Context-Aware Access and Chrome Enterprise. A few even run both. After years of configuring, hardening, and migrating between the two, what I can tell you is that the platform matters less than how well it is managed.
That said, there are real differences worth understanding before you commit.
Security and Identity
Microsoft builds its security model around Entra ID (formerly Azure Active Directory). Conditional Access policies let you define rules like "block access from outside Canada" or "require a compliant device for SharePoint." Paired with Intune for device management and Defender for endpoint protection, you get a tightly integrated security stack that covers identity, devices, and data in one console.
Google takes a different approach with BeyondCorp, its zero-trust framework. Context-Aware Access evaluates every login attempt based on who the user is, where they are, and what device they are using. Chrome Enterprise adds browser-level controls: forced security extensions, blocked malicious add-ons, and enforced Safe Browsing. Google leans heavily on the browser as the security perimeter, which makes sense when most of your work happens in a browser tab.
Both models work. Microsoft gives you deeper device-level control through Intune, which matters if your team uses thick desktop applications like practice management software or CAD tools. Google gives you simpler, faster deployment when your team lives primarily in web applications, and BeyondCorp's browser-centric approach means less infrastructure to manage.
Admin and Management Complexity
Microsoft 365 admin is powerful and sprawling. There is an admin center for Exchange, another for SharePoint, another for Teams, another for Intune, another for Entra ID, another for Defender, and another for Purview. The upside is granular control over every aspect of the environment. The downside is that a misconfigured Conditional Access policy or a forgotten legacy authentication exception can quietly create security gaps that go unnoticed for months.
Google Workspace admin is notably simpler. Organizational Units control policy inheritance, and most security settings live in a single admin console. You can configure Context-Aware Access, 2-Step Verification, Chrome policies, and data governance from one place. The trade-off is less granularity. If you need very specific device compliance rules or application-level controls, Google's tooling is thinner than Microsoft's.
For a 40-person business without dedicated IT staff, Google Workspace is genuinely easier to manage properly. For a 200-person firm with compliance requirements and multiple device types, Microsoft 365's deeper tooling starts to justify its complexity.
Compliance and Data Governance
Regulated industries tend to land on Microsoft 365 for a reason. Purview offers data loss prevention (DLP), sensitivity labels, retention policies, and eDiscovery in a single suite. If your firm needs SOC 2, PIPEDA compliance documentation, or handles client data subject to regulatory holds, Microsoft's compliance tooling is more mature and more configurable.
Google Vault handles retention and eDiscovery, and it does the job for firms with straightforward compliance needs. Google also offers DLP rules for Drive and Gmail. But for firms that need to classify documents with sensitivity labels, apply encryption policies that follow files outside the organization, or run detailed audit logs across services, Microsoft has a meaningful lead.
Worth noting: neither platform provides true backup. Microsoft's 30-day Recycle Bin and Google's 25-day trash window are not substitutes for an immutable, independent backup. We deploy third-party backup on both platforms as standard practice.
For more on how compliance requirements affect your platform choice, see our guide on PIPEDA and SOC 2 for growing firms.
Collaboration
This is where the platforms diverge most visibly.
Google built collaboration into the product from the beginning. Real-time co-editing in Docs, Sheets, and Slides is seamless and fast. Multiple people working in the same document at the same time is the expected workflow, and it shows. Google Meet is clean and lightweight. Calendar scheduling is simple. The entire experience is designed around speed and low friction.
Microsoft has invested heavily in catching up, and the gap has narrowed. Co-authoring in Word, Excel, and PowerPoint Online works well now. Teams has become a serious collaboration hub with channels, file sharing, and integrated apps. Where Microsoft still has a clear edge is in the desktop applications. Excel for financial modeling, Word for long-form documents with complex formatting, PowerPoint for client presentations. The web versions are capable, but the desktop apps remain more powerful.
If your team creates spreadsheets with complex macros, writes 50-page reports, or builds branded slide decks every week, Microsoft 365 will feel more natural. If your team collaborates rapidly on shorter documents, works primarily from browsers, and values simplicity, Google Workspace will feel faster and less cluttered.
Cost
On paper, the pricing looks similar. Google Workspace Business Plus runs around $22 CAD per user per month. Microsoft 365 Business Premium runs around $28 CAD per user per month. For a 30-person company, that is a difference of roughly $2,160 per year.
The real cost difference shows up in management overhead and add-on requirements. Microsoft 365 Business Premium includes Intune and Defender, which eliminates the need for separate endpoint management and antivirus subscriptions. Google Workspace requires Chrome Enterprise Upgrade (additional cost) to get comparable device management, and you will likely need a separate endpoint security solution.
When you factor in managed IT services, the per-user cost difference between platforms shrinks because the management layer, security monitoring, backup, and support costs are similar regardless of which platform you run.
Industry Patterns
We see clear industry preferences across our client base. Law firms, accounting firms, and financial services companies gravitate toward Microsoft 365. These industries rely on desktop Office applications, need granular compliance controls, and often have existing integrations with practice management software that expects a Microsoft ecosystem.
Startups, consulting firms, and creative agencies tend to choose Google Workspace. Faster onboarding, simpler administration, and browser-first workflows align with how these teams already work. Google's pricing advantage at the entry level also matters for early-stage companies watching every dollar.
These are tendencies, not rules. We have a 60-person consulting firm running Microsoft 365 and a 25-person law firm on Google Workspace, both working perfectly well.
How We Manage Both
Most IT providers specialize in one platform and steer every client toward it. We made a deliberate choice to maintain deep expertise in both Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace because the right platform should be chosen based on your business, not your provider's comfort zone.
On Microsoft 365, we harden tenants to CIS Benchmark standards, configure Conditional Access and Intune compliance policies, manage Defender security baselines, and provision licenses as an authorized Cloud Solution Provider at the same price as buying direct from Microsoft.
On Google Workspace, we architect Organizational Unit structures, enforce Context-Aware Access and 2-Step Verification, configure Chrome Enterprise policies, and build structured Shared Drive hierarchies so company data stays under organizational control rather than scattered across personal drives.
Both platforms get the same treatment: third-party immutable backup, documented security baselines, quarterly access reviews, and proper onboarding and offboarding workflows. The security and governance standards do not change based on which logo is on the login page.
Making the Decision
If you are starting from scratch, ask yourself three questions. Does your team rely on desktop Office applications, or do they work primarily in a browser? Do you have specific compliance requirements that need granular data classification and retention? And how much IT management complexity are you prepared to take on?
If the answers are "desktop apps, yes, and we have IT support," Microsoft 365 is likely the better fit. If the answers are "browser-first, basic compliance, and we want simplicity," Google Workspace will serve you well.
If you already have a working environment on either platform, switching for the sake of switching rarely makes sense. The migration cost, productivity disruption, and retraining effort are significant. In most cases, the better investment is properly configuring and hardening the platform you already have.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can Teclara manage both Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace?
Yes. We are an authorized Cloud Solution Provider for Microsoft and a Google Cloud Partner. We maintain dedicated expertise in both platforms and manage tenants on each with the same security and governance standards.
Is Microsoft 365 more secure than Google Workspace?
Neither platform is inherently more secure. Security depends on configuration and management. A properly hardened Google Workspace tenant with Context-Aware Access and Chrome Enterprise is more secure than a default Microsoft 365 tenant with no Conditional Access policies. The platform matters less than how it is managed.
Which platform is cheaper?
Google Workspace is slightly less expensive per user, but Microsoft 365 Business Premium includes Intune device management and Defender endpoint security, which can offset the price difference. Total cost depends on your specific add-on requirements and the size of your team.
Should we switch platforms?
Usually not. Migration is disruptive and expensive, and both platforms are capable of running a secure, productive environment when properly managed. We recommend switching only when there is a clear, specific reason tied to your business needs.