Numerous factors go into choosing a cloud platform for an organization. Among these, we can count things such as access, design, functionality, and, of course, security. As the business landscape becomes more digitized with every passing day, the threat of cybercrime is growing ever more real. By choosing a platform that will best suit the security needs of your organization, will go a long way in safeguarding your data and processes.

Among the most popular and widely used of these cloud platforms for business, we can consider Microsoft Office 365 and Google Docs, or officially known as Google G Suite. Of the two, Office 365 is older and more commonly used among businesses, providing the familiarity and ease of use of Windows apps. The G Suite, on the other hand, is newer and on an almost equal footing with Office 365 when it comes to security.  Each of them has its abilities and will probably be a better fit, depending on what you look for.

G Suite vs. Office 365 Security Features

Data Monitoring & Protection

Regarding data monitoring and protection, Google controls its entire hardware stack. It means that it can address and block security threats quickly. G Suite also offers full data encryption, while its machine learning capabilities help to detect threats more efficiently. When it comes to user data protection, G Suite focuses on malware threats in terms of infection prevention.

Office 365, on the other hand, offers an email filtering service that targets advanced spam and malware viruses. These include malicious URLs with various phishing traps and other similar infections. This platform is more focused on overall cloud security. Data encryption is also a top priority.

Compliance Management

Concerning compliance management, Google has strong user contracts that ensure their compliance environments are maintained.

That said, the platform is compliant with the following certifications:

• ISO 27001, 27018
• SOC 2, SOC 3
• COPPA
• HIPAA
• FERPA
• EU Data Protection Directive and GDPR

Office 365, on the other hand, has over 900 controls built in its compliance framework. It helps the platform stay on top of every development and industry compliance standards. Besides, a team of compliance specialists track all of these regulations and helps build them into their programs.

Office 365 compliance certifications:

• ISO 27001, 27018
• SOC1 Type II & SOC2 Type II
• SSAE16
• FISMA
• HIPAA
• EU Data Protection Directive and GDPR

User Access

G Suite had faced some challenges in the past since it had a minimal set of security management features. And even if it has made some strides more recently, companies should still review G Suite’s user controls to make sure that it suits their respective industry. Nevertheless, admins can more easily manage user accounts, user permissions, and control access.

With Office 365, user control is built into every section. Admins have full control of security policies surrounding content sharing and external users. It allows them to create customized policy infrastructures with unique security demands based on their organization. If implemented correctly, this dramatically increases cloud security.

Automatic Updates

Regarding software and system updates, both the G Suite and Office 365 offer a seamless experience, automatically weeding out any weak security issues. Office 365 used to have a problem with this, but since it has become fully integrated into the cloud, this is no longer an issue.

Takeaway

When it comes to the bottom line, both the G Suite and Office 365 have well put together security infrastructures. And while both platforms can be useful for companies, there is one final point to consider - namely data privacy.

While Microsoft has made it clear that they will not scan user data and make it available to third parties for advertisement purposes, the same thing cannot be said about Google. And with Microsoft's years of experience in optimizing security strategies and patching up security vulnerabilities, it makes Office 365 a better candidate.

If you are interested in migrating to Office 365, Managed Solution is here to help.

We provide a hands-on discovery of the Microsoft Suite of products through a Customer Immersion Experience. We’d love to host a CIE on-site or at our headquarters for you to learn more.  We supply all the hardware and software for you to demo the tools interactively with a group. Contact us to learn more.