We’ve come a long, long way since the days when physical desktops were piled with stacks of paper and typical office workers used physical In/Out boxes and funny little objects called “paper weights.” Now documents evolve over time, serve as content-rich nodes of global collaboration, and are fully integrated with other documents, spreadsheets, presentations, and the Web.
For many businesses, word processing used to mean working with Microsoft Word, which once upon a time arrived in the form of a shiny, aluminum CD-ROM. Word still hangs on as part of the Microsoft suite of tools, but as businesses have increasingly come to rely on the AI-driven productivity and collaboration features of cloud-native Google Workspace, many are wondering whether the days of using Word are numbered.
We certainly believe so, and offer the following three reasons why businesses are choosing Google Docs for their documentation needs.
1. Collaboration is super easy
One of the biggest advantages of Google Docs over Word is the ease with which it enables collaboration. With Google Docs, multiple users can work on the same document at the same time, and changes are saved in real-time. The process is smooth, intuitive, and allows for easy navigation among several tools at once.
Technically, Microsoft Word, like the rest of Microsoft 365, has collaboration features, too. It’s called “co-authoring.” In Word, however, the ability for multiple users to edit and collaborate in real-time depends on a number of factors, including which device each user is working on, whether all users are part of the same organization, and even where the document being worked on is stored.
With Docs, teams can collaborate on documents without the need for multiple versions of the same document or messy email chains. Collaboration is seamless and cloud-based, meaning working on shared documents can happen on any device and any workplace configuration, remote, in-office, or hybrid.
2. Seamless, cloud-based integration with other Google Workspace tools
Another significant advantage of Google Docs is its seamless integration with other Google Workspace tools, such as joining a Google Meet directly in your open document, sharing a doc within a Google Chat and editing within the chat. Or adding Smart Chips to a doc, connecting data across various documents through slides, docs, and sheets. This integration makes it easy to create and edit documents, spreadsheets, and presentations in a single environment, without the need to switch between different applications.
Microsoft Word is part of Microsoft 365, which evolved from Microsoft Office, originally designed as a desktop app. Even today, Word users install Microsoft 365 apps on their local devices. While Microsoft also makes Word available through a web browser, it’s a pared-down version lacking certain functionalities—including advanced collaboration features.
Google Docs, like the rest of Google Workspace, is fully cloud-native and browser-centric. Docs is accessible from any device, using any modern web browser. In fact, while Microsoft users can install Word and other 365 apps on only five devices, Google allows users to access Docs and the rest of Google Workspace on an unlimited number of devices.
A cloud-based word processor makes life easier for organizational IT admins, too. Updates to Google Docs, like the rest of Google Workspace, are automatically handled by Google. Admins and users don’t have to do a thing to ensure that they’re always running the most up-to-date version.
This integration also enables businesses to easily share and collaborate on different types of documents within a single workspace. You can even launch a Google Meet meeting within the same environment to collaborate with your team in real-time.
3. AI-powered from the start, with even more functionality for tomorrow
Many of the foundations of the artificial intelligence revolution we’re currently experiencing started at Google. Workspace has been AI-native from the start. Google Docs offers a range of AI-powered productivity features that can help your businesses streamline your document creation and editing workflows.
For example, Google Docs includes an AI-powered grammar and spelling checker that can help ensure that documents are error-free. It also includes a range of AI-powered formatting tools that can help you create documents that are visually appealing and easy to read. The ability to summarize and translate documents is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the powerful new AI functionality that is being built into Workspace every day.
While Microsoft Word has often been a go-to choice for word processing, it’s no surprise that more businesses are making the switch to Google Docs. With innovative collaboration features, seamless integration with other Google Workspace tools, and AI-powered productivity features, Google Docs provides a powerful and efficient way to create, collaborate, and edit documents.
There’s also evidence to suggest that the next generation of business leadership agrees–last year SADA conducted a survey of college students on their productivity and collaboration preferences, with Docs besting Word by a significant margin. And for an example of how one business successfully moved away from Word and successfully implemented Google Workspace, be sure to check out our Kravet case study. And Docs is just the beginning. Be sure to download our ebook, 7 steps to enterprise transformation with Google Workspace to learn more about how this powerful suite of tools can make a big impact on your organization.
