WhatsApp Privacy Policy प्राइवेसी पॉलिसी

User study on WhatsApp new privacy policy

by | Jan 30, 2021 | Policy, Privacy

Better World द्वारा किए गए एक सर्वे में, 82% लोगों ने WhatsApp की नई प्राइवेसी पॉलिसी को लेकर अपनी नाराजगी व्यक्त की है ।
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यूज़र्स चाहते हैं कि सरकार Whatsapp प्राइवेसी पॉलिसी में हस्तक्षेप करे।

Whatsapp प्राइवेसी पॉलिसी सर्वे रिपोर्ट

विश्लेषण: दीपक कुमार

हाल ही में Whatsapp प्राइवेसी पॉलिसी में बदलाव प्रस्तावित किये गए हैं, जिसपर चर्चा काफी गर्म है । इंटरनेट कंपनियों द्वारा यूजर डेटा की गोपनीयता का सम्मान करने और न करने के बीच एक पतली रेखा है। आज के डिजिटल युग में यह रेखा और भी पतली हो गई है। बड़ी इंटरनेट कंपनियों के लिए, यूजर डेटा एक सोने की खान जैसा है।

व्हाट्सएप यूजर डेटा को फेसबुक तथा अन्य बिज़नेस पार्टनर्स के साथ साझा करने का अधिकार प्राप्त करना चाहता है। इससे पेरेंट कंपनी फेसबुक डिजिटल विज्ञापन की दुनिया में एक सशक्त बढ़त हासिल कर सकती है। यह सर्वविदित है कि व्हाट्सएप डेटा फेसबुक के विज्ञापन बिज़नेस को काफी लाभ पहुंचा सकता है।

 
इस बात से उपयोगकर्ता खुश नहीं हैं। हाल ही में संपन्न एक Better World सर्वेक्षण के जवाब में, उनमें से अधिकांश (67%) चाहते हैं कि सरकार किसी न किसी रूप में इस मामले में हस्तक्षेप करे, जैसा कि इस रिपोर्ट में आगे चर्चा की गई है। विशेष रूप से, इनमें व्यावसायिक व्हाट्सएप उपयोगकर्ता भी शामिल हैं। इस रिपोर्ट के लिखे जाने के समय तक, मीडिया सूत्रों के अनुसार सरकार ने व्हाट्सएप को अपनी प्रस्तावित गोपनीयता-नीति में बदलाव को वापस लेने के लिए कहा है।
 
यह सब तब शुरू हुआ जब व्हाट्सएप ने अपने उपयोगकर्ताओं को सूचित किया कि उसने अपनी गोपनीयता नीति को अपडेट कर दिया है और उपयोगकर्ता नई नीति को स्वीकार कर सकते हैं या 8 फरवरी 2021 तक व्हाट्सएप का उपयोग करना छोड़ सकते हैं। बाद में इस समय सीमा को बढ़ा कर 15 मई कर दिया गया।
 
WhatsApp की गोपनीयता-नीति में बदलाव और उसके बाद
 

उपयोगकर्ताओं का बड़े पैमाने पर विरोध साफ़ दीखता है। लाखों उपयोगकर्ताओं ने इस कदम के खिलाफ अपने विरोध को पोस्ट और ट्वीट किया और यहां तक कि सिग्नल और टेलीग्राम जैसे वैकल्पिक मैसेजिंग ऐप्स को ज्वाइन भी किया। टेस्ला कंपनी के संस्थापक एलोन मस्क के ट्वीट, “सिग्नल का उपयोग करें”, ने व्हाट्सएप छोड़ने की एक मुहिम सी चलाने में मदद की।  ट्विटर पर उनके 41.5 मिलियन फॉलोवर्स होने का भी इस मामले में काफी प्रभाव पड़ा।

शुरु में तो व्हाट्सएप छोड़ने की होड़ इतनी ज्यादा थी कि सिग्नल के सर्वर नए साइनअप का भार उठाने में सक्षम नहीं थे। एक समय सिग्नल ने ट्वीट करके सफाई तक दी कि एक साथ कई नए लोगों के साइन करने के कारण सर्वर आवश्कतानुसार काम नहीं कर पा रहे हैं, अतः लोग थोड़ा धैर्य रखें।

11 जनवरी 2021 को, फेसबुक के शेयरों में 4.01% की गिरावट आई जबकि Nasdaq index सिर्फ 1.55% गिरा । 12 जनवरी को फेसबुक 2.24% गिरा जबकि  Nasdaq 0.77% बढ़ा। 14 जनवरी को, यह छह महीने से अधिक समय में सबसे कम पर हुआ।

Better World द्वारा किए गए  सर्वे में जहां 37% उपयोगकर्ताओं ने कहा कि वे whatsapp के इस कदम को अपनी गोपनीयता का गंभीर उल्लंघन मानते हैं, 45% ने कहा कि यह अच्छा नहीं पर वे इसे मान लेंगे । केवल 18% ने कहा कि whatsapp की प्रस्तावित गोपनीयता नीति में परिवर्तन से उन्हें बिल्कुल परेशानी  नहीं है। हालांकि, इन 18% उपयोगकर्ताओं में से कुछ पहले से ही व्हाट्सएप के साथ अन्य मैसेजिंग ऐप का उपयोग कर रहे थे।

आइये इन ग्राफों के जरिये देखें कि whatsapp users ने सर्वे के माध्यम से क्या मत रखे हैं।
(To read this report in English, please click here.)
WhatsApp privacy policy-Graph1
WhatsApp privacy policy-Graph1
WhatsApp privacy policy-Graph1
WhatsApp privacy policy-Graph4
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FeaturesWhatsAppTelegramSignal
Subscribers (Global)2 billion400 million20 million
Cross platformYesYesYes
Video and voice callYesYesYes
End-to-end encryption Personal messages and calls are end-to-end encrypted.Only for secret chatAll features are end-to-end encrypted
Type of softwareClosed-source privacyOpen-source privacyOpen-source privacy
Information collectionUser’s location, IP address, mobile operator, timezone, phone number, and details of a Facebook or WhatsApp account.Device data, IP addresses for moderation, phone number and the User IDOnly phone number for registration
Group chatsUp to 256 membersUp to 200,000 members1,000 members
File sharing capabilityVideos with 16MB limit in size and regular files up to 100MB2 GB100 MB
Folder managementChats can be stored through emailChats can be moved in to foldersNo such feature exists with Signal
Disappearing messages featureEnables self-destruction of a message after 7 daysEnabled through self-destruct timerEnable self-destruction after 5 seconds to 7 days once a user read the message
Data backupYes, online and offline backup on google driveYes, on Telegram’s cloudNo, stored on its own cloud platform
Group chat securityE2ENoE2E
Cross platformYesYesYes

Analyst’s Views

Better World is of the view that while the responses to this survey do reflect users’ displeasure with the new privacy policy, the actual actions taken by them will likely be different in many cases. Particularly, those users who are considering to quit WhatsApp in a month’s time, are more likely to have second thoughts and may stay put. It is also likely that some of the users who have already quit may come back after some time.

The key reason for such reconsiderations would be the huge user base that WhatsApp currently enjoys. While WhatsApp had a colossal global base of 2 billion subscribers, Telegram has a much smaller base of 400 million and Signal has a miniscule base of 20 million by comparison. Even if a few million WhatsApp users move to other platforms, it will not be fruitful if a significant percentage of their contacts also move to those very platforms. If that doesn’t happen, users could feel compelled to come back to WhatsApp for their daily messaging needs.

Notably, when considering alternative apps, 26% said they were sticking with WhatsApp. Further, when asked to provide a timeline for quitting, 28% said they had no plans to quit. It is quite possible that when it comes to actually quitting the platform, a much higher number of users will reconsider.

A consolidated view of respondents’ profiles

WhatsApp privacy policy-Graph7

About the Analyst and the Survey Methodology

Deepak KumarDeepak Kumar

Deepak is an ICT industry analyst with more than 25 years of experience in researching and analyzing multiple domains. His focus areas are strategic business and marketing advisory, sales enablement, and public speaking.  He has published reports, whitepapers, case studies, and blogs in areas of cloud, mobility, social media, and analytics.

He is Founder and Chief Research Officer at BM Nxt and Better World. He has earlier worked with IDC, Reuters, Voice&Data, and Dataquest in leadership roles spanning research, advisory, and editorial functions. 

About the report

The Better World WhatsApp Privacy Policy Survey Report was prepared by analyzing results of a primary research and supplementing it with data and insights collected from secondary research.  

The Better World WhatsApp Privacy Policy Survey was conducted via an online form that was circulated among more 1,000 respondents.  A total of 565 valid responses were collected during the period 9 January to 25 January 2021.  Better World also spoke to multiple respondents for qualitative insights. The surveys were led Jatinder Singh, Director, Research and Insights, Better World, and independent market researcher Deepti Arora.  

Acknowledgements

I take this opportunity to sincerely thank all the survey respondents for taking time out and providing their inputs, without which this report would not have been completed in a timely manner. Special thanks are due to the following individuals for adding value to the report and providing viewpoints representative of different user and stakeholder segments.

 

MORE FROM BETTER WORLD

Tech Cos take M&A route for digital transformation supremacy

Tech Cos take M&A route for digital transformation supremacy

The sudden escalation of COVID-19 has disrupted the business operations of many enterprises, and businesses have realized that digital transformation is no longer an option; it is now indispensable for survival. In the new normal, where remote working is the norm, IT Services firms see a massive demand to support digital transformation initiatives.

Many traditional enterprises face significant challenges in implementing digital transformation in business. Hence, enterprises and IT services players are being approached by the companies to identify and fix the missing links in their respective digital puzzle.

Over the next three to four quarters, it is anticipated that most businesses will fast-track the deployment of digital technologies to support long-term business continuity, giving IT and Consulting firms an ample market opportunity.

Recent deals to accelerate digital transformation

In a recent development, global technology major HCL Technologies has signed an agreement to buy DWS Limited, a leading Australian IT, Business, and management consulting group, for about $115.8 million to expand its digital capabilities, mainly in Australia and NZ. DWS provides a range of IT services such as digital transformation, IT, commercial enterprise and management consulting services, and information and business analytics.

HCL is hoping to fortify its digital client portfolio in Australia and New Zealand with this acquisition.

The deal has once again demonstrated the growing trend of many IT majors firming up their digital transformation capabilities through collaboration or the merger and acquisition (M&A) route in recent times.

Earlier this month, Accenture announced the acquisition of Germany based technology consultancy SALT Solutions. IT Services major Infosys, too, subscribed to an agreement to purchase enterprise service management consultancy, GuideVision, for 30 million euros. (See: Infosys buys GuideVision to boost Dx capabilities). In July this year, global information technology, consulting, and business process services major, Wipro had also signed a deal to buy 4C, a leading Salesforce partner in Europe and the Middle East. (See: Wipro’s 4C buy to firm up its European presence). Simultaneously, we also had EY and IBM announcing their multi-year deal to help organizations accelerate their digital transformation goals.

Why M&A is the best bet?

Technology has enabled the customers to dictate terms even in a pandemic situation. And that’s what compels organizations’ to invest in new-age technologies such as cloud, data analytics, internet of things (IoT), robotic process automation (RPA), cloud-based workflow solutions, among others.

While there is a considerable demand for a comprehensive digital ecosystem, it is also true that IT Services behemoths don’t own all the capabilities to support digital transformation in business. They do not have time either to train themselves and support diverse IT frameworks in a cutthroat marketplace. To win market share in new geographic locations, improve competencies, and promptly add new offerings, M&A and strategic collaboration seem to be the most favored route.

By strategically acquiring relevant players, IT Majors can offer a range of new and specialized digital transformation services that can strengthen network performance, security standards, cloud methodology of their clients. Through acquisition and merger, solution providers can be in a lot better condition to aid their customers to harness the power of new-age technologies such as the Internet of Things (IoT), artificial intelligence, and data analytics to achieve incomparable success.

In 2021, the IT and Telecom industry is likely to see more strategic alliances and M&As to beef-up their digital transformation influences.

 

 

Apple India debuts online store, eyes more market share

Apple India debuts online store, eyes more market share

American multinational technology company, Apple, has announced that its online store will be launched in India on September 23. This will be the company’s first-ever direct retail touchpoint in India. Apple in India currently sells its devices through third-party licensed partners in physical stores or online retailers such as Amazon and Flipkart.

“We’re proud to be expanding in India and want to do all we can to support our customers and their communities. We know our users rely on technology to stay connected, engage in learning, and tap into their creativity. By bringing the Apple Store online to India, we are offering our customers the very best of Apple at this important time,” said Deirdre O’Brien, Apple’s senior vice president of Retail + People, in a press release.

It is expected that the Apple Indian online store will sell Apple’s products at a discounted price and several freebies, especially during the upcoming Diwali festive season in India. To give a more personalized experience, Apple in India will also offer personal virtual sessions to all its direct buyers to understand the features of the new Apple product.

The development may come as a surprise for many as to why it took Apple in India so long to launch any retail shop. While the delayed launch in the second-largest telecom market in the world can be ascribed to Apple’s low market share in India, other factors, including the local government guidelines, also went against Apple’s direct retail aspiration in India.

The Indian government recently relaxed the rules that companies must source 30% of components locally to sell their products directly. This easing is a significant relief for Apple, which also plans to launch its physical stores in the country soon.

“Apple has been operating in India for more than 20 years, and its ongoing investment and innovation support almost 900,000 jobs across the country. Apple’s App Design and Development Accelerator in Bengaluru has supported thousands of local developers. Today, apps created by developers in India have become even more critical to everyday life as people seek to stay engaged and connected from home,” the company notes in a press release.

Apple strategy: tackling premium price conundrum

 With the number of smartphone users in India estimated to reach around 800 million in 2021, the outlook of India’s smartphone market looks enticing. Many smartphone players, such as Xiaomi, Vivo, and Samsung, have flourished in the Indian market because of their cost-effective products. Apple, however, still has only 2 percent of the market share, with the iPhone maker pricing puts it in a luxurious product section.

Due to the price-conscious nature of the economy, Apple’s premium products in the country are out of the reach of many potential buyers’. And eventually, this low-cost juggernaut doesn’t let Apple increase its relative earnings in India.

Apple has taken several measures to lower the cost of its products in India. In July this year, Apple’s manufacturing partner, Foxconn, started assembling the iPhone 11 in India, a move that helped the company to save about 20% duty that the New Delhi charges for every imported product.

Besides, it has also collaborated with various banks and financial institutions to offer its premium products at an attractive price-points or through cashback offers.

Planning the next steps for growth

Given India’s strong focus on strengthening local manufacturing capabilities, and offering considerable incentives to companies which set-up their industrial units in India, Apple is now refreshing its strategy to boost its prospects here.

Various unsubstantiated reports indicate that Apple is planning to upsurge its manufacturing footprints in the Indian market. This is primarily because of the trade war between the US and China. Many American telecom companies are cutting down their output in China and moving to countries like India, the Philippines, and Malaysia.

Apple is also aware that the COVID-19 disruption may result in an extended delay in iPhone demand from European countries and the US. Hence, it is wise to build new business models and markets to mitigate the future growth crisis. (See: Will Apple bite India’s manufacturing bait )

 

Tech Mahindra gets new blockchain accreditation

Tech Mahindra gets new blockchain accreditation

Indian IT Services firm, Tech Mahindra, has been recognized as a Hyperledger Certified Service Provider (HCSP) for blockchain capabilities by Hyperledger and the Linux Foundation. Tech Mahindra says that the certification reinforces Tech Mahindra’s capabilities to provide blockchain technology support and setting up scalable blockchain networks for commercial deployments. The company claims that it was one of the 18 blockchain service providers globally to have received this certification, which is considered the gold standard in the open-source community.

Tech Mahindra has deployed over 25 blockchain platforms using Hyperledger projects across industry verticals such as banking and financial services, media and entertainment, telecom, retail, manufacturing, oil & gas, healthcare, and travel & logistics. The organization also has to credit the implementation of one of the world’s largest blockchain networks covering 500 million+ subscribers in India to fight spam calls and text.

The company has been engaged in over 250 global Blockchain deployments, with over 100 core blockchain team members trained on Hyperledger. The company is extensively focusing on developing and deploying several transformative implementations for governments, large and mid-sized enterprises across diverse industry verticals that have enabled customers to solve complex business problems.

“In order to successfully navigate and strategize in this ‘new normal,’ organizations must leverage technologies like blockchain to address this unprecedented challenge and create a competitive edge in the market. As part of our TechMNxt charter, we offer a holistic blockchain ecosystem to create industry-leading applications and enhance customer experiences. The recognition by the Linux Foundation as a Hyperledger Certified Service Provider is a matter of great pride for us to demonstrate our differentiated capabilities globally. This will provide us a definitive edge over our peers to position Tech Mahindra as a partner of choice,” says Rajesh Dhuddu, Blockchain and Cybersecurity Practice Leader, Tech Mahindra.

Hyperledger launched the HCSP program in November 2019. The program requires the blockchain technology professionals in an organization to enroll for an online, performance-based test consisting of a set of performance-based problems to be solved in a command line.

“Our Hyperledger Certified Service Provider (HCSP) program is designed to meet the growing demand for implementing Hyperledger-based solutions. As an HCSP, Tech Mahindra is now part of a global network of blockchain experts with the training and proven expertise to deploy Hyperledger DLTs (Distributed Ledger Technology) quickly and efficiently and to ensure ongoing success. Tech Mahindra has already played an active role in developing and deploying Hyperledger technologies, and we look forward to the work they will do as an HCSP,” says Brian Behlendorf, Executive Director, Hyperledger.

For Tech Mahindra, Blockchain has been a big focus area in recent times. It recently entered into an agreement with Amazon Web Services (AWS) Blockchain for creating solutions in the aerospace, healthcare, and telecom sectors. This year, Tech Mahindra launched a new blockchain-based contract and rights management system (bCRMS) targeted toward the media and entertainment sector on IBM blockchain. The platform has been developed to help media companies to track revenue, royalty, payments, manage rights, and check plagiarism, among others.

Infosys buys GuideVision to boost Dx capabilities

Infosys buys GuideVision to boost Dx capabilities

IT services major Infosys has recently signed a definitive agreement to buy Czech Republic-based enterprise service management consultancy, GuideVision, for 30 million euros. The official statement by Infosys states that the deal is likely to be closed during the third quarter of fiscal 2021.

GuideVision is one of the largest ServiceNow Elite Partners in Europe and offers strategic advisory, consulting, implementations, training, and support capabilities for the ServiceNow platform. This acquisition will enable Infosys to leverage GuideVision’s established ServiceNow training academy and nearshore capabilities for its clients in Europe.

“This acquisition is an important milestone in our journey to build capabilities relevant to the digital priorities of our clients. This move reaffirms our commitment to the growing ServiceNow ecosystem. The combination of scalable and agile near-shore capabilities of GuideVision in Europe, and their unmatched delivery excellence, complements our effort to help global enterprises navigate their next. We are excited to welcome GuideVision and its leadership team into the Infosys family,” says Ravi Kumar, President, Infosys, in a statement.

Founded in 2014, GuideVision serves over 100 enterprise clients in the ServiceNow platform. Its offerings also include a proprietary smart data replication tool for ServiceNow, called Snow Mirror. Infosys itself is a ServiceNow partner and has been recognized as Global Service Partner of the year by ServiceNow for the last two years.

Santa Clara based ServiceNow delivers a cloud computing platform for businesses to manage their digital workflows for enterprise innovations.

Infosys Acquisition: Way to strengthen future capabilities

With the remote-work getting increased traction, digital transformation acceleration has become a central focal point for most of the enterprises. In such a setting, the Infosys acquiring GuideVision is a significant move for the Bengaluru-headquartered company to strengthen its position in the US and Europe, and fortify its digital transformation capabilities.

ServiceNow empowers the IT and operations team of a global enterprise to receive, track, and respond to varied requests of an employee of an organization, irrespective of his location. And they are gradually taking prominence amongst most of the global companies.

Infosys understands that it needs diverse capabilities and solutions to meet the unique demands of its clients and to stay relevant. Time and again, the technology major has made it clear that it will continue to take the digital acquisition and transformation partnership route to stay ahead of the competition. At its recent annual general meeting, Infosys’s CEO Salil Parekh commented that the company was actively exploring acquisitions in areas such as data, analytics, and cloud to further make substantial inroads in the digital capabilities.

GuideVision is Infosys’s third acquisition of this year, after buying Salesforce platinum partner Simplus for $250 million, and US-based product design and development firm, Kaleidoscope Innovation for $42 million.

 

 

Tik Tok Ban news: Could Oracle acquire TikTok

Tik Tok Ban news: Could Oracle acquire TikTok

Enterprise software major Oracle seems to have won the fiery bidding for TikTok’s US operations after Microsoft’s confirmation that TikTok has rejected its acquisition offer. Speculations are rife that Oracle is close to becoming ByteDance’s technology partner. It is, however, not clear whether TikTok video-sharing social app’s technical partnership with Oracle also includes majority ownership rights.

“ByteDance let us know today they would not be selling TikTok’s US operations to Microsoft. We are confident our proposal would have been good for Tik Tok video users while protecting national security interests,” says Microsoft in a statement.

The Beijing-based video-sharing social network giant had been facing a ban threat by the US government due to data leakage and security fears. The Trump government had earlier given a Diktat to TikTok to either sell its American operations to a US company or shut down the local operations.

The development has left many industry onlookers flabbergasted as Satya Nadella-led Microsoft was the favorite to ink a deal with TikTok for its US operations from ByteDance. Not only does Microsoft have a fat purse, but it also delivers the best capabilities and engineering science to address the data protection concerns brought up by the US.

Given the ongoing geopolitical tensions, many Chinese companies are facing heat in countries like India and the US.

Earlier this year, Washington had barred telecom equipment major Huawei from selling next Gen 5G equipment and solutions in the US marketplace. India, too, had banned over 100 Chinese apps, including TikTok, early this year, traveling along with a border clash between the two nuclear-armed neighbors.

Tik Tok ban: India’s response

It is highly unlikely that India will revoke the ban on TikTok’s operations unless Oracle acquires a majority stake in TikTok’s global operations as well as addresses New Delhi’s concerns related to security, data privacy, and user permissions.

India was Tik Tok’s largest overseas market, with over 200 million users when it shut down its operations in the country. The industry is abuzz with the reports that TikTok is exploring a backdoor entry in India through a local partner.

It would be interesting to watch if Oracle, the world’s second-greatest software company by market capitalization, can succeed in getting TikTok back in the Indian ecosystem.

Google’s new kid in India

After India banned TikTok in June this year, several companies tried to create TikTok clones to tap the massive audience who were left in the lurch after the Tik Tok ban in India. Surprisingly, none of the local alternatives were able to entice users and disrupt the authority TikTok enjoyed in the short-video segment.

Now, in the latest attempt, Google-owned YouTube has launched a new feature called Shorts, in beta version in India as an advantage of the Tik Tok ban. YouTube says that Shorts is a new way to express yourself in 15 seconds or less. “We’re excited to announce that we are building YouTube Shorts, a new short-form video experience right on YouTube for creators and artists who want to shoot short, catchy videos using nothing but their mobile phones,” the company says in its official blog post.

Clearly, even if Tik Tok fails to earn a rejoinder, the competition in the short-video format is not going to stop in India.

 

 

 

Online project management tools: Top office suite analysis

Online project management tools: Top office suite analysis

In the wake of the work-from-anywhere scenario, cloud-based Team management software platforms are witnessing a substantial uptake. Industry onlookers expect this market to see an average of 25% y-o-y growth for the next three years.

The collaboration and productive project management tools enable businesses and professionals to leverage the power of the cloud to deliver the day to day business tasks virtually from the workplace of their choice. These solutions allow organizational teams to create documents, spreadsheets, and presentations in the cloud and collaborate online through chat, video conferencing, and cloud storage to accomplish various day to day tasks.

While Google’s G-suite and Microsoft owned Office 365 are primarily ruling the team management software market, there are many others, such as Zoho workplace, IBM, and Hancom, eying to make a splash in the productivity suite market.

For the solution providers, the typical market opportunity in this place can be segmented mainly into three categories: individual professionals, small and medium businesses (SMBs), and large enterprises.

The Enterprises and IT leaders have many elements to look at before building a deployment decision. Motivators could include factors such as licensing costs, backup, security, purpose, empowering the mobile workforce, or ease of use.

To help you decide the best fit solution for your organization, Better World provides a quick online project management tools comparison of the cloud-based productivity solution offerings of three top players: Microsoft, Google, and Zoho.

Microsoft 365: For team management

Microsoft 365 (formerly Office 365) is simply the cloud-based variant of the Microsoft Office application suite. It includes email, document creation/editing, contacts, calendars, IM, online meetings, video chats, and web interface.

Many large enterprises prefer Microsoft’s 365 because of its well-established presence in both desktop and online productivity suite arena. Moreover, Microsoft’s consistent focus on industry-centered innovations, flexible buying options, and full integration capability with Windows always help the company get brownie points from its loyal users.

Microsoft also offers Team, a collaboration platform that enables enterprise users to share documents, conduct online meetings, and collaborate in real-time.

Familiarity with Outlook: One of the vital components that operate in favor of Office 365 adoption is the strong brand recall and understanding of Outlook email client amongst corporate workers. Most of the corporate workers are comfortable working with the Outlook email client. And organizations do not desire to produce unnecessary anxiety and disrupt their business continuity by switching to any other productivity partner.

One Drive: MS’s enterprise-grade cloud storage platform, One Drive, offers seamless user experience in terms of hosting documents and files in Online, On-Premises, or Hybrid cloud. Moreover, the enterprise search engine capability also enables users to track and find relevant documents or files at their convenience by inserting appropriate keywords.

Fully integrated with Windows: Additionally, Microsoft’s core resources, i.e., Word processor (MS Word), chart editor (MS Excel), and presentation editor (MS PowerPoint), have always been favored by the traditional computer users. All the online documents are fully integrated with the offline edition of MS Office without any fears related to formatting errors. They also include plenty of pre-built templates for enterprise users.

Many Office apps and services are also available on the pay-as-you-use model. Thus, some companies buy a basic plan and then add different services according to their business need.

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Google’s G-Suite: For office management

Google sticks with a cloud-native and browser-centric approach and has already proved its productivity suite mettle in the consumer space. With G Suite bouquet of offerings, it is right away taking big strides to further beef up its enterprise market share.

Google’s G-Suite includes offerings such as Gmail for business, audio, and video conferencing capability, interactive and shared calendars, spreadsheets, presentations, auditing accounts, log analysis, among others.

Clean interface: The most crucial advantage that the company offers is the clean, simple, and intuitive email interface. Granular controls can be implemented by IT heads of what data or files can be portioned out and what necessitates to be checked. Nevertheless, one of the areas which annoy users is the poor integration of Gmail with Contacts and Calendar apps, something which may be intricate to navigate.

Team Drive: Google’s productivity suite of offerings includes Team Drive, a shared space repository, which allows a specific set of users or teams to search, store, access, and download files and documents from any entitled network device.

On-the-go collaboration: While Google apps (Docs, Sheets, and Slides) may lag behind Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, and PowerPoint) in terms of characteristics and pre-built templates, they outperform MS Office when it comes to the on-the-go collaboration. Google’s robust online ecology and experience enable the company to drive a seamless and smooth document live collaboration experience for its users.

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Zoho Workplace: Cost-effective for SMBs

Hyderabad based global engineering firm, Zoho Corporation, has gathered much interest in recent times. The company offers Zoho Workplace, a single unified cloud office platform that brings together collaboration, productivity, and communications tools and integrates them into other business processes.

Launched in 2005, Zoho’s office suite includes word processing, presentations, spreadsheets, databases, note-taking, and web-conferencing. To compete closely with Google and Microsoft, the company has recently integrated its nine existing productivity tools more firmly than ever.

With over 15 million users in 150 countries, Zoho is still seen as an emerging player in the productivity suite market and not necessarily a threat to the tech behemoths, Google, and Microsoft. Nevertheless, it provides a significant advantage to SMB’s and independent professionals as it is the least expensive amongst all three.

Click here to know more details about the various plans offered by Zoho Workplace.

 

 

 

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