Both platforms are excellent, and both can be run securely and GDPR-compliant. The right choice depends on how your team actually works. Here's the comparison I walk clients through.
I administer both Google Workspace and Microsoft 365 for clients, so I have no platform to sell you. Both are mature, secure and excellent value. But they embody two different philosophies of work, and picking the one that matches your team saves years of low-grade friction.
Where Google Workspace shines
Workspace was born in the browser, and it shows. Everything is fast, lives at one URL and works identically on any device. If your team collaborates in real time, lives in shared documents, and nobody is emotionally attached to desktop Office, Workspace feels effortless.
- Real-time co-editing in Docs and Sheets is still the best in class.
- Admin console is simpler; a small business can genuinely self-manage.
- Gmail's search and spam filtering are consistently superb.
- Predictable per-seat pricing with little licence complexity.
Where Microsoft 365 shines
Microsoft 365 wins on depth. If your business runs on Excel power users, needs Teams telephony, or has compliance requirements that demand fine-grained control, the Microsoft stack goes further. And the Business Premium bundle is quietly one of the best deals in IT.
- Desktop Word, Excel and PowerPoint remain the business standard, especially in Germany.
- Business Premium includes Intune (MDM) and Entra ID conditional access: enterprise security at SME pricing.
- Teams doubles as a full phone system if you need it.
- Deeper compliance tooling: retention, eDiscovery, sensitivity labels.
What about GDPR?
Both platforms can be operated GDPR-compliant, and both offer EU data-residency options and a proper data processing agreement (AVV). Compliance is less about which logo you choose and more about how the tenant is configured: access control, sharing defaults, retention and documentation. A misconfigured tenant is non-compliant on either platform.
The honest decision shortcut
- Browser-first team, heavy real-time collaboration, simple needs: Google Workspace.
- Excel-heavy workflows, desktop Office expectations, device management and stricter compliance: Microsoft 365 Business Premium.
- Mixed or unsure: count the hours your team spends in spreadsheets. That number usually decides it.
Already on the 'wrong' one? Switching is routine
Migrations between Workspace and Microsoft 365 run in both directions every week, and with proper planning nothing is lost: mail, calendars, contacts and files all carry over. The work is in the preparation (mapping users, groups, shared drives and permissions), not the cut-over itself.
The platform matters less than the configuration. A well-run Workspace beats a neglected 365 tenant every time, and vice versa.
If you're weighing the two, or inheriting a tenant nobody has looked after, I'm happy to give you a straight recommendation based on how your team actually works. No platform bias, just the trade-offs in plain language.
Emmanuel A.
Azure Administrator & Cloud Consultant at EA IT Consult. Helping businesses run secure, cost-efficient Azure & Microsoft 365.
