Google Workspace, Microsoft 365, or Proton — which one does your business actually need?

Every business email conversation starts the same way: Google or Microsoft? And for most companies, that's genuinely the right question. Both are excellent. But there's a third option almost nobody's IT provider brings up — and for some businesses, it's the only right answer.

The honest take on Google Workspace and Microsoft 365

We deploy and manage both every week. Google Workspace is our default recommendation for most small businesses: simpler to administer, harder to misconfigure, and your team already knows Gmail. Microsoft 365 wins when your business lives in Excel, needs desktop Office, or has vendors and workflows built around it. Either way, with proper security layered on top — phishing protection, encryption in transit, EDR on the devices — both are safe choices for everyday business.

Where they fall short: real privacy

Here's the part that matters for some of you: with Google and Microsoft, your provider can technically read your data. Their business models and government-request processes mean your emails and files are encrypted in transit and at rest — but not end-to-end. For a restaurant, that's a non-issue. For a law firm handling privileged communications, a therapist's practice, a firm doing M&A work, or any organization whose clients demand confidentiality, it can be a real one.

The alternative: Proton

Proton is a full alternative suite to Google and Microsoft — Mail, Calendar, Drive, VPN, and password management — built in Switzerland around end-to-end encryption. Nobody, including Proton itself, can read your mail or files. It's what we recommend when a client says the words 'privilege,' 'confidential sources,' or 'I don't want big tech reading our business.'

• End-to-end encrypted email, calendar, and file storage — not even the provider can read it
• Swiss privacy law, outside US and EU data-request jurisdictions
• A real business suite: custom domain, shared drives, admin console, VPN for the whole team
• Works alongside a Google or Microsoft tenant if only part of your firm needs it

We're a Proton Partner — and we'll still tell you if you don't need it

Cyber Alamo is a registered Proton partner, which means we deploy, migrate, and manage Proton for organizations the same way we do Google Workspace and Microsoft 365. But the recommendation always starts with your actual risk, not the logo. Most businesses should stay on Google or Microsoft with proper security management. If you're a law firm or an organization where privacy is the product — ask us about Proton. The free assessment covers exactly this question.