2. Getting Started: Advantage Microsoft
The Office 365 Beta setup is swift and simple, and the administrative console, seen here, provides clear, task-oriented options and resources. The core services are Outlook (with Exchange running on Microsoft's cloud); Lync, with components running locally and in the cloud; and team site and document libraries powered by SharePoint online. Google's signup process for Google Apps for Business requires a domain-ownership verification process that assumes your company has a website and that you are (or can quickly work with) the website administrator. Domain verification options include adding a snippet of code to your Google Analytics account, adding an HTML metatag to your site's metadata, adding a DNS record to your domain, or adding an HTML verification file to your website. No, it's not rocket science, but it's also not something many business users or Balkanized IT shops with outsourced sites could quickly handle. Microsoft uses a "domain name" on microsoft.com workaround for the initial signup and lets you (or your site admin) switch to your native domain when you're ready.
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