Solution Overviews » Management » Office Suite/Productivity

Office Suite/Productivity

Author: TechShortcut Staff | Article updated: June 9, 2009

1. Overview

General office applications are the glue that holds many businesses together by providing a flexible means to plan, organize, analyze, control and communicate. The bedrock applications include word processing and a spreadsheet but other applications that may be part of an "office suite" include software for creating presentations, drawings and databases.

Good compatibility between office suite document formats and the addition of Internet services means there are a lot of good options to consider.

Implementation Options

1. In-House Office Suite	2. Office Suite Internet Service
The most common option is to install the office productivity software on each computer.	There are now Internet based "office suites" that only require an Internet browser and Internet connection.

2. Option Comparison

	1. In-House Office Suite	2. Office Suite Internet Service
Requirements	A PC to install and run it on.	A PC with a web browser and an Internet connection - preferably DSL, cable or T1.
Cost Factors	Hardware
	A PC to use the software	A PC to use the software
	Software
	Software license cost	Not applicable
	Labor
	Installation, configuration and maintenance of software	Software configuration
	Services
	None	Possibly a monthly fee
Features/Productivity	Feature rich and mature functionality	Some key features may not be available within Internet office applications. It may not be possible to work on documents while disconnected from the Internet. It may not be possible to copy and paste images into a document, images usually need to be imported from a file location. Macros may not be supported.
Anywhere Access	Possibly, if the computer or files are accessible via the Internet	Yes
Document Storage Space	Depends on your computer or network	Many services have a limit
Multi-user Access	Possibly, if the computer or files are accessible on a network or via the Internet	Yes
Electronic Backup	Not included, must be included in your in-house backup.	Yes, some form of backup is typically included
Security	Security depends on the quality of your technology environment.	Data is being placed in someone else's hands, however Internet services are usually on top of security measures.

3. Next Steps

	1. In-House Office Suite	2. Office Suite Internet Service
General Advice	If collaboration and anywhere access are not key then an in-house option may be a good fit.	If you require a lot of interaction you may want to consider an Internet service, which generally excel at providing fast and easy collaboration.
Find Local Tech Specialists Search TechShortcut's tech profiles for specialists in your area	Office
Find More Information Use Research Helper to find related web articles	"Office Suite" Word Processing Spreadsheet Software	"Office Suite" Online Word Processing Spreadsheet
Examples of Products and Services These are not endorsements, simply some product or service names we encountered in our research to get you started finding your best fit.	Apple iWork ¹ Corel WordPerfect Office IBM Lotus Symphony ² Micorosoft Office OpenOffice ³ Sun Microsystems StarOffice² ¹ For Apple computers ² Based on OpenOffice.org but includes additional features ³ Free and open source	Google Docs ¹ ThinkFree Office ² Zoho Docs, Sheet & Show ¹ ¹ Offers a free version ² Offers a stand-alone version