Let's start with the Microsoft 365 applications that are going to be used in place of your Google applications:
- Instead of Gmail you will use Microsoft Outlook
- Instead of Google Calendar you will use Microsoft Outlook
- Instead of Google Chat you will use Microsoft Teams
- Instead of Google Meet you will use Microsoft Teams
- Instead of Google Drive you will use:
- Microsoft OneDrive (for individual files)
- Microsoft SharePoint (for shared files / team collaboration)
- Instead of Google Docs you will use Microsoft Word
- Instead of Google Sheets you will use Microsoft Excel
- Instead of Google Slides you will use Microsoft PowerPoint
- Instead of Google Forms you will use Microsoft Forms
- Instead of Google Keep you will use Microsoft OneNote
- For a general launching point, use https://www.microsoft365.com/. From here, you can access all of the Microsoft 365 application available to you by clicking into the menu in the top-left corner:
Desktop Applications are Available
While the links above take you to the web version of each application, there are also desktop versions available for download and install. The web versions have come a long way and are great for quick edits or smaller documents, but when opening files that are larger, the desktop versions may be desired.
One application that should certainly be installed is OneDrive, as it will not be able to synchronize the files on your computer with Microsoft 365 and your other devices otherwise.
Use OneDrive Liberally
OneDrive is a great place to store all of your files. Our standard setup at Tridium includes syncing your Desktop and Documents folders in their entirety to OneDrive. This allows OneDrive to essentially "back up" your files and also make them available to you wherever there is an Internet connection via the web version of OneDrive.
There are Two Outlook Desktop Applications - Classic and New
Microsoft recently released a "new" Outlook application which looks very similar to the web version of Outlook. Unfortunately, it does not support many plugins and extensions that were created for Outlook in the past. There are also features which users have used in the past which are no longer available in the new Outlook.
If you are a long-time Outlook user who is now returning from Google Workspace, you may want to stick with Outlook classic. Microsoft will be supporting the classic version through 2029.
Use the Shared Mailboxes Feature
Many companies wish to have mailboxes that many users can access. Often this is accomplished by having a user with the shared email address, such as info@company.com. The password to this account is shared with many people who all login to this account separately to receive and send messages.
There are problems with this approach:
- When one person leaves the company, the password for the account must be changed and disseminated to all of the remaining persons.
- It is not evident which person is using the account at which time because all of them are using the same credentials. If one person decides to do something malicious, it is easier for all persons who have access to repudiate the claim that someone did something wrong.
To solve both of these problems, shared mailboxes allow a mailbox to be created that multiple persons can be granted access to. These users login with their own credentials and access the mailbox as themselves, so it is easy to track who does what within the shared mailbox.
As an added bonus, shared mailboxes do not require any licensing, so you can create all the shared mailboxes you need: info@, ar@, ap@, sales@, etc.
Learn more about shared mailboxes