Google is stepping up its corporate software war with Microsoft, unveiling two new Workspace services designed to keep businesses online during Microsoft 365 outages, or move them off the platform entirely.

The tech giant’s “Business Continuity” suite will run Gmail, Drive and Meet in parallel with Microsoft tools, automatically syncing email, calendars and files.

If Microsoft’s systems go down, employees can switch to Google services instantly, minimising downtime.

A second offering, the “Work Transformation Set” goes further by bundling Google Workspace with identity and migration partners like Okta and JumpCloud to help enterprises fully transition from Microsoft 365.

Ganesh Chilakapati, director of product management for Google Workspace, said the move is a direct response to what Google calls Microsoft’s “architectural brittleness.”

Chilakapati argued that Google’s cloud-first infrastructure offers a more “resilient and secure AI workspace” – a pitch aimed at companies frustrated by repeated Microsoft outages.

The timing is strategic. Microsoft 365 suffered a string of service disruptions in recent months, including a major email outage on October 8.

Google has been quick to capitalise, saying the question is “when and for how long, not if” Microsoft services will fail.

The rivalry between the two companies has intensified as both race to dominate the AI-powered office.

Microsoft leads the market through its 365 suite and Copilot assistant, while Google is pushing its Workspace platform, which is now integrated with its in-house Gemini AI, as a leaner, more reliable alternative.

Google argues that because it builds its own AI models and chips, it can offer faster, more cost-effective generative AI tools without relying on external vendors.