Why you should avoid GoDaddy’s Office 365 service

One of the first things to do after starting a new business is to purchase a domain name (business.com, business.net) from a domain provider such as GoDaddy. At this time these providers will take the opportunity to up-sell additional services like website hosting, email, etc. Below we will explain why we do not recommend GoDaddy’s Office 365 bundle no matter what the savings may be.

GoDaddy provides a version of Office 365 to its customers that integrates with their portal. While this is nice for a few things, it’s bad for everything else. Due to this integration, key security features like two factor authentication cannot be enabled since it does not integrate with GoDaddy’s portal. Two factor authentication provides the ability to text, email, or some other form of additional verification during log in. So even if your username and password is compromised, the additional code that is texted to you is required before gaining access.

GoDaddy’s Office 365 service will also charge you extra for features that are included in the traditional Office 365 service. In a normal Office 365 setup, messages addressed to Bob@domain.COM and Bob@domain.NET would reach the same user/inbox and Bob is considered as 1 billable user on both domains. With GoDaddy’s service, Bob@domain.COM will be configured and billed separately as Bob@domain.NET increasing your total monthly cost.
Another reason is service limitation. Subscribing to GoDaddy’s Office 365 service prevents you from entering the full featured administrator areas that are available in the traditional service. Making changes to your SharePoint site are not allowed and finding help documentation is almost non-existent since the articles all reference the non-GoDaddy version. Other administrator areas are limited as well like the Business Center Apps. This brings up the question:  Is it worth the savings?
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With the possibility of increasing costs as the business grows, the lack of security features, and limited abilities, we encourage any new or existing business that is considering Office 365 to contact us to discuss a full featured offering of the service to ensure you receive the best experience possible.