Report: Facebook Could Be Ditching Office 365 for Google’s G Suite

Just this morning, Microsoft announced its five-year-long tech partnership with Walmart, which will involve the retailer moving to Microsoft 365 and Azure. But as it turns out, Microsoft could be losing out on a big partner sometime soon.

According to a new report from The Information, Facebook is reportedly planning to switch from Microsoft’s Office 365 to Google’s G Suite. The social network giant previously used Google’s apps but moved to Microsoft’s Office 365 more than two years ago. Going forward, though, Facebook could be switching to Google’s G Suite apps.

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The main reason behind Facebook’s potential switch is not clear.

“We regularly evaluate a broad range of products and services for our enterprise IT needs. Microsoft has and will continue to be a valued partner for Facebook’s Enterprise Engineering organization as we deploy solutions to support the growing needs of our business,” a Facebook spokesperson said.

But here is the thing: Facebook employees are reportedly frustrated with Office 365. They have complained that the Office 365 apps are “slow and bloated”, with the macOS version of Office 365 being “difficult to use”. For Facebook, however, moving away from Microsoft’s solutions could be quite challenging — the transition could present a “significant technical undertaking” for the company due to many systems being heavily reliant on Microsoft’s services.

Facebook is still evaluating the potential reversal to Google’s apps, as the company may also move away from Dropbox to Google for cloud storage as well. If the deal does go through, it will only reportedly generate around $3 million a year for Google — though it could still be a huge blow to Microsoft, which has continued to use Facebook’s partnership to promote many of its cloud services, including Microsoft Graph.

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Conversation 31 comments

  • djross95

    Premium Member
    17 July, 2018 - 1:22 pm

    <p>"Slow and bloated" and "difficult to use", lol. Both true, but kinda beside the point. If you need Office, you need Office. If you really don't, then GSuite works fine and the millennials at FB are probably more familiar with it anyway. It'll be interesting to see how this turns out. </p>

  • Shmuelie

    Premium Member
    17 July, 2018 - 1:49 pm

    <p>"<span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent;">difficult to use": The most subjective term in the world. We find what we're use to easy and what we're not hard.</span></p>

  • Winner

    17 July, 2018 - 1:51 pm

    <p>Perhaps Microsoft should consider offering a version of Office that is simpler and streamlined.</p><p>Not everybody needs, or wants, the "slow and bloated" features.</p>

    • lvthunder

      Premium Member
      17 July, 2018 - 2:17 pm

      <blockquote><a href="#293002"><em>In reply to Winner:</em></a></blockquote><p>They do on Windows, Android, and iOS.</p>

      • Winner

        18 July, 2018 - 12:14 am

        <blockquote><a href="#293018"><em>In reply to lvthunder:</em></a></blockquote><p>What is the streamlined and non-bloated Windows version?</p>

    • EcceLex

      17 July, 2018 - 3:36 pm

      <blockquote><a href="#293002"><em>In reply to Winner:</em></a></blockquote><p>I do need and want the "slow and bloated" features.</p>

  • Chris_Kez

    Premium Member
    17 July, 2018 - 2:16 pm

    <p>A "huge blow to Microsoft"? Facebook has what, 25k employees? I get that it makes for bad press, but it's not really a large number of users as far as enterprise customers go. </p>

    • christian.hvid

      17 July, 2018 - 6:45 pm

      <blockquote><a href="#293017"><em>In reply to Chris_Kez:</em></a></blockquote><p>The article speculates that this deal is worth $3 million a year to Google. In other words, it will take them a measly 400 years to earn what Microsoft has already made from its 1.6% stake in Facebook.</p>

  • Daekar

    17 July, 2018 - 2:56 pm

    <p>Wait, the people working at a <em>tech company</em> find Office difficult to use? WTF? Who in the hell are they hiring? And what are they trying to do, perform SQL database work with Excel or something?</p><p><br></p><p>Seriously, the only person I have that can't use Office to do what they need without any problems has low blood-oxygen and has always had to learn ANY software by rote rather than understanding what they're actually doing anyway. The "hard to use" argument just doesn't hold water. It's not 2003 anymore.</p>

    • Chris_Kez

      Premium Member
      17 July, 2018 - 4:21 pm

      <blockquote><a href="#293035"><em>In reply to Daekar:</em></a></blockquote><p>To be fair, when we switched to G Suite a lot of people complained that it was hard to use. In most cases "hard to use" just means "unfamiliar". </p>

  • skane2600

    17 July, 2018 - 3:48 pm

    <p>Always consider the political angle. All the cool kids hate Microsoft even if they're too young to know why.</p>

    • BoItmanLives

      17 July, 2018 - 11:34 pm

      <blockquote><a href="#293045"><em>In reply to skane2600:</em></a></blockquote><p>Maybe that hate is rooted in something though. Maybe MS has grown more and more user hostile and just thought people would forget shit like GWX trojan tactics, force converting PCs to Windows 10 in the middle of the night. Or forcing the god awful tiled Metro screen on people with Windows 8. Or abandoning windows mobile users again and again with major revisions. The list goes on.</p><p><br></p><p>So just maybe MS has something to do with the consumer sentiments about them.</p>

      • ecumenical

        18 July, 2018 - 1:24 am

        <blockquote><a href="#293122"><em>In reply to BoItmanLives:</em></a></blockquote><p><br></p><p>The kids working at FB all grew up on Macs and, like virtually everyone in the real world, never even knew Windows Phone existed. </p>

        • YouWereWarned

          18 July, 2018 - 1:44 am

          <blockquote><a href="#293127"><em>In reply to ecumenical:</em></a></blockquote><p>Microsoft should have put one big button on the front of each Nokia 920, and charged $2000. Problem solved.</p>

      • skane2600

        18 July, 2018 - 4:24 am

        <blockquote><a href="#293122"><em>In reply to BoItmanLives:</em></a></blockquote><p>I'm not a fan of Windows 10 forced upgrade or Windows 8 (although at least 8 was more a self-inflected problem), but the anti-MS attitude was around long before those issues (don't they teach it at university?). And I have to agree with ecumenical that most people young and old never owned a Windows smartphone. </p>

  • Waethorn

    17 July, 2018 - 5:07 pm

    <p>I've been getting customers onto Zoho products. They have virtually the same product offerings as Google, but with far more options. Plus, you don't have the NSA/Big Brother feeling of being with Google or Microsoft. Zoho One is pretty awesome for the price.</p>

  • Waethorn

    17 July, 2018 - 5:27 pm

    <p>BTW: Microsoft's setup of Office 365 is still far too overly complicated. This stuff is made by the company that commoditised the GUI. It should be far easier than it is. Google's setup is much simpler. </p><p><br></p><p>Also, what Microsoft has done with the reseller channel for Office 365 is a travesty. Just having to order from a disty, with all of the scheduling and billing stuff, is just ludicrous. Microsoft says: "resellers can bill the charges for O365 into their own support contracts". That doesn't work. Customers see the prices of Office 365 on Microsoft's site and they get a free setup assistance from Microsoft's help desk. There's no logistical reason for them to go to a reseller under those conditions.</p>

  • Eric Dunbar

    17 July, 2018 - 5:28 pm

    <p>I've used Google Apps, online Office and desktop Office 2016.</p><p><br></p><p>I love both Office 2016 and Google Apps but am ambivalent about, if not hostile towards online Office apps.</p><p><br></p><p>Sure the online versions of Word and Excel and PowerPoint work and are simplified, but, compared to Google's offerings they're crippled. Google Slides and Sheets are simply sooooo much more useful and useable than the Microsoft counterparts.</p><p><br></p><p>If I were a Facebook employee I'd be livid at having to use Microsoft's online offerings (I also have a strong dislike for SharePoint having had two rather bad and long experiences with that platform).</p><p><br></p><p><br></p><p><br></p>

    • Waethorn

      18 July, 2018 - 9:55 am

      <blockquote><a href="#293079"><em>In reply to OntarioPundit:</em></a></blockquote><p>Try Zoho Workplace sometime.</p>

  • Patrick Yore

    17 July, 2018 - 6:30 pm

    <p>€3m a year..pfft….only peanuts!</p>

  • Otto Gunter

    17 July, 2018 - 7:55 pm

    <p>From today's earlier article: "<span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent;">Walmart also plans on rolling out Microsoft 365 to all of its employees</span>".</p><p><br></p><p>You win some, you lose some.</p>

    • Waethorn

      18 July, 2018 - 9:56 am

      <blockquote><a href="#293090"><em>In reply to Otto_Gunter:</em></a></blockquote><p>Only to data entry people in offices. It's not being used for point of sale, so that headline is totally false. Cashiers won't be using it, and neither will inventory managers.</p>

      • tsay

        Premium Member
        18 July, 2018 - 12:37 pm

        <blockquote><a href="#293206"><em>In reply to Waethorn:</em></a></blockquote><p>These roles would be using specific LOB applications:</p><p class="ql-indent-1">Cashiers would be using POS on tills.</p><p class="ql-indent-1">Inventory managers would be using ERP.</p><p><br></p><p>Neither O365 or G-Suite are suitable for these roles.</p><p><br></p><p>Your point is? </p>

        • Waethorn

          18 July, 2018 - 3:09 pm

          <blockquote><a href="#293326"><em>In reply to tsay:</em></a></blockquote><p>I think I made my point clear: cashiers and inventory managers are still employees. The headline is false. </p>

  • Tsang Man Fai

    17 July, 2018 - 10:48 pm

    <p>It's true that Office365 (web interface) is slow compared to Google Suite apps. The experience is not as smooth as Google's.</p>

  • 2ilent8cho

    18 July, 2018 - 2:29 pm

    <p>I really do not know what Microsoft did to Office 2016 for Mac, 2011 was fast and nippy. 2016 just takes ages to load, and OneDrive for Mac support has been a big obstacle in us moving to OneDrive, where the hell is files on demand? Why is there still no Publisher or Visio for Mac? or Power BI, they released an iOS client!</p><p><br></p><p>We really struggle to have anything positive about Microsoft in recent years and have zero trust for them, we moved away from Windows completely (bar 5 systems running CCTV software that is Windows only) because Microsoft turned Windows into a circus show and it still is. Now Office is getting worse. </p><p><br></p><p>Bar Microsoft the other big names in the IT industry use Mac's, Google have 40,000 deployed, Facebook 13,000, IBM over 100,000 now and Apple themselves of course, yet Microsoft cannot get Office 365 to work in a decent manor on Mac. </p><p><br></p><p>We need Bill Gates back as CEO , at least under his watch Windows made us happy, now Windows makes you go into rage mode. </p>

    • txag

      21 July, 2018 - 11:25 pm

      <blockquote><em><a href="#293388">In reply to 2ilent8cho:</a></em></blockquote><p>I have the same experience as you: startup on all the Office 365 applications on my Mac is painfully slow. Office 2011 was much faster.</p>

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