How can I get Microsoft suite to run exactly like G-suite?
October 19, 2020 9:45 PM Subscribe
I've perfected my use of G-suite over the past 10+ years and now have a job that requires usage of the full Microsoft suite including Teams, Planner, Sharepoint etc. I find it annoyingly not G-suite. Outlook is absolutely the worst of all, though the web version is a little better than the one of my computer.
How can I best replicate my G-suite experience with Microsoft programs? Unfortunately due to legal requirements around the job, I am completely restricted to what Microsoft has to offer.
I'd like my experience to be as close to what Google would offer me. For example, I've learned that using Sharepoint, I can upload a word doc, share it and multiple people can edit it at once, just like with a google doc. Of course, the annoying part is that it's only a copy that lives on Sharepoint, and in the end I need to copy it back to my hard drive, and it doesn't seem to live in any organized folder system like what I could do with a google drive. Maybe I'm not using it right? Tips on this or other ways to make my Microsoft experience more Google?
I'd like my experience to be as close to what Google would offer me. For example, I've learned that using Sharepoint, I can upload a word doc, share it and multiple people can edit it at once, just like with a google doc. Of course, the annoying part is that it's only a copy that lives on Sharepoint, and in the end I need to copy it back to my hard drive, and it doesn't seem to live in any organized folder system like what I could do with a google drive. Maybe I'm not using it right? Tips on this or other ways to make my Microsoft experience more Google?
if the documents are stored in, and edited from, sharepoint, as you mentioned, you can use the co-authoring option to have multiple editors. you also have the advantage that sharepoint will save the document history and versions, if you need to go back to an earlier copy. for other documents, if needed, you can have a check in/check out function where only one person at a time can edit, and everyone else can only read until the check-in happens. if you use versioning, you can use minor/major versions if your document moves through an approval/editing workflow. All of the above also includes the advantage of only needing to work with 1 copy of the document, no more "presentation_version1_finalversion_edited_actuallyfinal.pptx".
with regards to storage, sharepoint lets you use metadata to organise the documents. this gives you a more flexible information architecture than folders, which are static. by using these metadata columns you can create views that fit the users, you can filter and sort the documents by column information. unless it's for security with a document library, folders are "worst practice" in sharepoint. also you could reconsider why you are copying the documents back to your hardrive at all?
you could, in the future, go even further, if needed, and explore the use of retention lables and security labels for the document - and now, with sharepoint Syntex (outcome of Project Cortex) you can use machine learning to automate a part of this work.
as mentioned by sid above, you can sync the sharepoint library to your windows explorer, and have the documents available to you there, you can also navigate to the library from the various office apps, so it isn't really needed to start out in the document library.
posted by alchemist at 10:38 PM on October 19, 2020
with regards to storage, sharepoint lets you use metadata to organise the documents. this gives you a more flexible information architecture than folders, which are static. by using these metadata columns you can create views that fit the users, you can filter and sort the documents by column information. unless it's for security with a document library, folders are "worst practice" in sharepoint. also you could reconsider why you are copying the documents back to your hardrive at all?
you could, in the future, go even further, if needed, and explore the use of retention lables and security labels for the document - and now, with sharepoint Syntex (outcome of Project Cortex) you can use machine learning to automate a part of this work.
as mentioned by sid above, you can sync the sharepoint library to your windows explorer, and have the documents available to you there, you can also navigate to the library from the various office apps, so it isn't really needed to start out in the document library.
posted by alchemist at 10:38 PM on October 19, 2020
Does your workplace provide access to LinkedIn Learning? They offer a course entitled, "Migrating from google apps to office 365 business or enterprise".
I feel your pain, though I'm traveling in the opposite direction.
posted by lulu68 at 2:42 AM on October 20, 2020
I feel your pain, though I'm traveling in the opposite direction.
posted by lulu68 at 2:42 AM on October 20, 2020
On your specific example, you can sync a SharePoint library and add it as a networked folder on your hard drive (similar to Dropbox sync). The file still sits in SharePoint but it's easily accessible locally, including drag/drop functions across folders.
posted by hellopanda at 5:10 AM on October 20, 2020
posted by hellopanda at 5:10 AM on October 20, 2020
Office365 is a thin veneer over Sharepoint. OneDrive sync (I find) is a little more controllable that Google Drive Sync: you can sync parts of projects and teams and it will do a decent job on sync and collaboration. Outlook will always be the worst, but is absolutely the industry standard: other external users may comment that your emails and calendar invitations "work properly" now.
Teams has no equivalent in G-suite, and it's rather good. Our corporate experience is that the cut-down versions of Office apps that run from inside teams can sometimes corrupt a document so badly it needs to be re-keyed from scratch. If you're doing more than viewing files, the "Open in App" button will be a bit safer.
posted by scruss at 9:23 AM on October 20, 2020 [1 favorite]
Teams has no equivalent in G-suite, and it's rather good. Our corporate experience is that the cut-down versions of Office apps that run from inside teams can sometimes corrupt a document so badly it needs to be re-keyed from scratch. If you're doing more than viewing files, the "Open in App" button will be a bit safer.
posted by scruss at 9:23 AM on October 20, 2020 [1 favorite]
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posted by sid at 9:50 PM on October 19, 2020 [2 favorites]