Diligent Boards vs. Microsoft 365

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Diligent Boards
Score 9.1 out of 10
N/A
Diligent’s Board & Leadership Collaboration solution is built to provide organizations everything they need to drive digitization and operational excellence for board, committee, and executive meetings. Directors and executives can leverage real-time communication, secure collaboration, governance approval workflows and intelligence to power smart decisions. More broadly, Diligent solutions aim to provide a growth trajectory on the path to good governance and bundle capabilities that support…N/A
Microsoft 365
Score 8.7 out of 10
N/A
Microsoft 365 (formerly Office 365) is a Microsoft Cloud subscription service that includes Microsoft Office products (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote, Outlook, Publisher, and Access). The software can be installed across multiple devices and ensures that users always have the most up-to-date version of the included Office applications.
$5
Per User Per Month
Pricing
Diligent BoardsMicrosoft 365
Editions & Modules
No answers on this topic
Business Basic
$5.00
Per User Per Month
Individual
$5.84
*Per Month
Business - Apps
$8.25
Per User Per Month
Enterprise - F3
$10.00
Per User Per Month
Business Standard
$12.50
Per User Per Month
Business Premium
$20.00
Per User Per Month
Enterprise - E3
$32.00
Per User Per Month
Enterprise - E5
$57.00
Per User Per Month
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
Diligent BoardsMicrosoft 365
Free Trial
NoNo
Free/Freemium Version
NoNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
YesNo
Entry-level Setup FeeOptionalNo setup fee
Additional DetailsDiligent Board Plans include... Essential: Built for organizations looking to embrace governance best practices and digital transformation Pro: Built for organizations that are looking to embrace end-to-end security around key governance processes like board meeting preparation, communication, and questionnaires. Enterprise: For high performing boards looking to maximize effectiveness of committees and prepare for proxy season.*When billed annually.
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
Diligent BoardsMicrosoft 365
Considered Both Products
Diligent Boards
Chose Diligent Boards
Overall, Diligent was much easier to use. Also, more widely used particularly with our directors who sit on multiple Boards.
Microsoft 365

No answer on this topic

Top Pros
Top Cons
Best Alternatives
Diligent BoardsMicrosoft 365
Small Businesses
Dropbox DocSend
Dropbox DocSend
Score 8.8 out of 10
Google Workspace
Google Workspace
Score 9.1 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
Dropbox DocSend
Dropbox DocSend
Score 8.8 out of 10
Google Workspace
Google Workspace
Score 9.1 out of 10
Enterprises

No answers on this topic

Microsoft 365 Business Premium
Microsoft 365 Business Premium
Score 8.8 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
Diligent BoardsMicrosoft 365
Likelihood to Recommend
8.4
(39 ratings)
8.7
(238 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
8.7
(4 ratings)
9.5
(6 ratings)
Usability
8.6
(5 ratings)
8.4
(6 ratings)
Availability
9.1
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Performance
9.1
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Support Rating
8.6
(36 ratings)
8.9
(54 ratings)
Online Training
9.1
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Implementation Rating
8.2
(4 ratings)
9.0
(2 ratings)
Configurability
9.1
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Ease of integration
9.1
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Product Scalability
9.1
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Vendor post-sale
9.1
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Vendor pre-sale
9.1
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
User Testimonials
Diligent BoardsMicrosoft 365
Likelihood to Recommend
Diligent Corporation
Diligent is pricey, so it is suitable for large-size organizations with sufficient funding. Universities and colleges would be good clients. Diligent is not suitable for small organizations or not-for-profit organizations due to the pricing. There are other options to distribute and share documents, such as Google format, so I think pricing is the key to expand the market for Diligent.
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Microsoft
Microsoft 365 is well-suited for:Small and Medium-sized Businesses (SMBs): Microsoft 365 offers a cost-effective solution for SMBs to access a suite of essential productivity tools without the need for extensive IT infrastructure. It provides a wide range of applications, allowing teams to collaborate, communicate, and manage documents efficiently.Remote Work and Collaboration: Microsoft 365's cloud-based nature makes it ideal for remote work scenarios. With tools like Microsoft Teams, employees can easily communicate, hold video conferences, and collaborate on projects in real-time, regardless of their location.Microsoft 365 may be less appropriate for:Organizations with Specific Software Requirements: Some organizations may have specialized software needs that are not met by Microsoft 365. In such cases, they may require industry-specific software or custom solutions.Limited Internet Connectivity: Microsoft 365 is a cloud-based platform, which means a stable internet connection is essential for optimal functionality. Organizations with poor internet connectivity might face challenges using the cloud-based applications effectively.
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Pros
Diligent Corporation
  • Easy end-user interface - for boards with maybe less technological experience, the format was very user friendly.
  • Facsimile signature - eliminates trying to coordinate schedules to obtain signatures to written consents.
  • Customer Service - Diligent Boards trained employees, not a call center, available 24/7.
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Microsoft
  • keeps me extremely organized. It is so easy to link calendars, emails, and documents.
  • keeps me well connected. It is so easy to send a quick message on teams or send an email to a group (for example, my particular team within the company).
  • easy to use. Everything is straightforward, making it easy to find an answer to a question. There is even a search option to figure out how to do something within Microsoft.
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Cons
Diligent Corporation
  • I am using one click, it would be nice to see what board members see
  • I mentioned before I would like to be able to sort documents by various parameters like importance, date, type
  • Talking to other assistance i find that everyone knows something different about quicker ways to load, maybe a weekly/monthly tip would be beneficial.
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Microsoft
  • Microsoft 365 really needs to work on protection part. In complex environment it is not reliable as compared to its competitors like Proofpoint. There are many instances where it fails to perform effectively.
  • In SharePoint Online the versioning feature of the document needs to be improved by Microsoft. Sometimes when we have to roll back to the previous version it does not work as expected.
  • In Teams messaging and app permission policies can be improved. There are some settings where we have to add a lot of things manually.
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Likelihood to Renew
Diligent Corporation
Because it is a great product--safe, secure and reliable. If it ain't broke, don't fix it!!
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Microsoft
There are many features of Office that we cannot replicate in any other tool. Plus people know it already. It's not going away anytime soon.
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Usability
Diligent Corporation
It is very easy to use
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Microsoft
The interface of the different tools (this suite has MANY different tools) is usually simple to use and intuitive, and you can always re-arrange and add or remove the task you use most frequently from the menus and task bars.
Each tool / product includes a lot of features that may require a more intensive learning, but usually Office 365 tools are simple to learn from scratch, adding more knowledge as you required more advanced features
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Reliability and Availability
Diligent Corporation
Great service!
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Microsoft
No answers on this topic
Performance
Diligent Corporation
Quick service, specially on loading.
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Microsoft
No answers on this topic
Support Rating
Diligent Corporation
As previously stated, I applaud how effective the customer service team was during the onboarding process. They communicated effectively and offered around-the-clock assistance. The training sessions are also useful and allow you to learn at your own pace. They are also willing to set up time to discuss any concerns.
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Microsoft
Over the past 8 years of using Microsoft 365, I have noticed that they change vendors often. This always leads to a poor experience in the beginning, then levels out after some time for the company to get things worked out. As a customer, it is really frustrating because I don't have time when something isn't working to have them "look into my issue" and get back with me. They have even closed a ticket I specifically told them to keep open. Your applications are only as good as the support.
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Online Training
Diligent Corporation
The training was executed through a Deligent meber.
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Microsoft
No answers on this topic
Implementation Rating
Diligent Corporation
I think our Diligent Boards implementation went well
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Microsoft
Everything works and I use it all the time.
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Alternatives Considered
Diligent Corporation
It was the end user interface that ultimately sold me on Diligent Boards. I also appreciated the customer service center being Diligent employees, the high level of security features, and the single username and password for directors with multiple Diligent Boards sites.
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Microsoft
Google Sheets is better for sharing and collaborative editing. Versioning of the same file is also one of Google Sheets strong points.
Microsoft 365 is better for working with local files. It is much easier to store the file in multiple places and backup multiple versions in multiple places.
LibreOffice is free but the usage is much counter intuitive than Microsoft Office. OpenOffice is worse when it comes to UI.
Microsoft Excel's performance with larger files is much better. When opening huge files, excel loads it asynchronously and I can start working right away.
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Scalability
Diligent Corporation
It is really worth it.
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Microsoft
No answers on this topic
Return on Investment
Diligent Corporation
  • Increases productivity and efficiency for the admin, such as myself, who can quickly develop the book
  • Houses confidential material
  • Can accommodate extremely large books effortlessly
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Microsoft
  • Positively, it has increased productivity and efficiency in creating templates and being able to systemize some of the protocols we are working on putting into place.
  • It has been a positive as well as most individuals and companies that we associate with also use MicroSoft 365 and therefore there is no need to have formats change in our documents when they open them up using another type of program.
  • Getting work done quickly.... One and Done!!!
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ScreenShots

Diligent Boards Screenshots

Screenshot of Preparation for board, committee and executive meetings, whether in person, virtual or a hybrid of the two.Screenshot of Collaboration on sensitive documents across the organisation in preparation for the board meeting, while safeguarding information in Diligent’s secure ecosystem.Screenshot of an additional layer of security to known processes with key integrations like Microsoft 365. Documents can be shared and users can collaborate with both internal and external stakeholders.Screenshot of the centralized platform where users can take, record, review and share minutes.Screenshot of board evaluations and questionnaires.Screenshot of D&O questionnaire requirements, which are managed in a single application experience.