Although Google appears to be free, you end up having to pay Google for an a business ready platform $5 per month and if you’re looking for security and e-discover that price goes up 10$ per month (and this is limited to the USA) even after this the productivity is limited, you will still require software and OS (yes you will need office and Windows) and Microsoft Provide the highest security credentials with a financially backed 99.9 SLA.
Microsoft Office 365 start from $4 for Email and $8 for the E1 plan which is comparable to the Google app suite, and lastly LiveEdu the educational version of Office 365 is FREE.
This article is a great read on Why Microsoft: http://download.microsoft.com/download/E/5/5/E55D917B-6007-4354-9AC6-8B148D19FC7F/Top10ReasonsEnterprisestoChooseOffice365_FINAL.docx
The whymicrosoft.com has a wealth of information on why Microsoft and has some great scenarios and videos on how the features compare, I have list some here:
- Example of word app vs Google docs: http://www.whymicrosoft.com/en-us/compare-demo/Pages/google-documents-vs-word-web-app.aspx
- This video shows why customers choose Microsoft over Google: