Hello everyone. I guess I might get different answers from you, because we all have our preferences between Microsoft and Google products. Nevertheless, I would like to have your sincere opinion taking into account the situation that I describe below. Our NGO started with Salesforce NPSP a little over a year ago. But using it only as a database to record donors and donations.
I started there 8 months ago with the mission of transforming this database into a real CRM. We have a small team in Belgium (10), and many collaborators in Africa. At the beginning of this year, we should start the SF integration process with email products, calendars, etc.
Although they initially opted for Office 365, this decision can be completely questioned. The important thing is that our collaborators start using SF in a natural way and that it becomes the tool they love (User adoption).
Like any NGO, our resources are quite limited because they are all invested in our missions in Africa. The majority of our employees use a screen, rather than a smartphone. With their emails, agenda, tasks in Office 365, and another tab with their SF access. Having SF integrated directly into their "Office" screen would be a positive revolution for them. With the ability to send emails from their email program, use their calendar, create tasks, but also create Leads, Opportunities, Contacts, etc. And to easily find Contacts/Account/Opportunity.. informations on the same screen (A column on the right of the screen). You will tell me that it is quite classic, and that both Microsoft and Google integration can meet these needs. The question I ask myself (I am a consultant and have various certifications such as Sales Cloud, Service Cloud, NPSP, Communities, B2B..) concerns the ease for us to achieve this integration and manage it internally without having to, in permanent, call on an external partner.
- Microsoft or Google? - Easy integration that I could achieve.... or Paid package of Appexchange?
In addition to what we have already talked about as a use, are there not advantages to using this or that product ?
- Such as the possibility of sharing and working with several people, at the same time, on online documents? (tables, letters, etc.),
- Have a whiteboard for our meetings, a tool to create internal technical or generic documentation (which is constantly evolving) that is NOT simple PDFs but real WIKIs/FAQs. .. Currently I use OneNote, but it's quite limited in layout while Wiki (MS) does not contain full text search...
And finally, the price is important, and the ability to maintain this on our own.
In your opinion, which solution should I turn to?
Thank you for your advice, it will be very useful to me.
Bernard
Hi,
good question, and you'll get both sides arguing. I'm going to stick to what's relevant to your situation: small team, limited budget, no permanent partner, and adoption as the sole goal.
The Salesforce side is closer than it appears
Both platforms offer a 'Salesforce inside my inbox' type view - a pane showing contact/account/opportunity info for the emails you're opening, logging emails, and creating records from the mail window. Outlook has the Outlook integration, and Gmail the Gmail integration. Both can be set up per your admin's clicks and don't usually require a paid AppExchange package. Check your edition as it'll depend on your licences. Most people fall into the trap of thinking that one is easier, and find the real work comes in permissions, fields mapping and training, not on the connector.
A free method to test
Run both integrations in a sandbox with 3-5 users for two weeks (free trials for both platforms, sandbox for Salesforce).
Include at least a couple of your Africa-based collaborators. Connectivity and old PCs usually define adoption more than features do.
Test the daily flows: send and log an email, create a task, create a lead from the side panel, find a contact quickly.
Compare the admin work. Ask yourself who's going to maintain this when you're unavailable?
On the collaboration questions
Co-editing: Both can do real-time editing well, but Google Docs and Sheets feel quicker on a browser, which may be a consideration on poor bandwidths. The Office web apps are okay but desktop and web can be different beasts.
Whiteboard: Microsoft has it built in. Google's Jamboard is retired, so check if Google has any recommendations before relying on it.
Wiki/FAQ: Neither are very good out the box. On the Microsoft side, SharePoint pages or Loop are better options for evolving documentation than OneNote. On Google, Sites plus Docs (and Drive search) is simple and has good search.
Price: Both vendors have nonprofit programmes, and terms often change, so ask both for current eligibility and discounts.
Common mistakes people make
Picking on feature sets and not running a pilot, and adopting the wrong tool as a result.
Opening up email and calendar sync for everyone without thinking through what ends up in Salesforce.
Not taking shared mailboxes, calendar permissions, and aliases into account when switching platforms.
Switching MX records before mailboxes have been migrated so new mail ends up in the wrong place.
Cancelling the old licences before data has been verified and moved.
My honest opinion is that if your people spend their time in the browser, are distributed, and want something they can host themselves, Google will usually be the lighter option. If your team needs to use desktop Office apps, or has Microsoft grants, it's perfectly reasonable to stick where you are. Adoption beats feature lists either way.
If you do adopt Google, the
Kernel Office 365 to Google WorkspaceMigration Tool can migrate mailboxes, calendars, contacts, and OneDrive in bulk with user mapping, and has a free trial where you can try a small batch first.
Hope that helps, and am happy to go deeper into the Outlook vs Gmail side-panel setup if it's useful.
