Using Google Apps for your business

Google has taken over a lot of the Internet one way or another, and generally does things in order to raise either it's revenue or visibility. Google Apps does both.

 

So what is Google Apps?
At it's simplest it is Gmail, Google Calendar, Google Sites and Google Docs all in one place much as you get when you sign up for a GMail account. The most obvious difference is that rather than having your email with @gmail.com on the end, you can have it sent from your own domain. This is sort of possible with a standard Gmail account, but it will be sent 'on behalf' rather than actually from the domain. In the scheme of things does this matter? Well consider it from the other side of the equation. Which would look more business like to you?

 

So why would I want Google Apps?
Consider two scenarios;

1. You work alone but travel a lot abroad or domestically and need to be able to pick up email from a laptop, smartphone or stand alone browser from unsecured sites like internet cafés, etc. With Google Apps you can do this, and if you enable IMAP support your email including outbox and sent items will be synchronised wherever you view it from.

2. You work with a number of different colleagues in different locations with whom you need to meet on occasion, but each is responsible for their own Calendars. With Google Calendar you can synchronise calendars with a small app running on your own computer and view others calendars online as long as you have been granted access by them. You may also need to collaborate on shared documents and spreadsheets. Very simple.

Even if either scenario doesn't fit, you may well find that Google Apps will benefit you.

 

What next?
Initial setup is a tad techie but contact us to talk through what you need with no obligation through our online contact form and we'll take it from there. Before you do though, compare what you get below in the free Google Apps version or pay per user Google Apps for Business version and decide which you think is the best fit for you.

	Google Apps	Google Apps for Business
User maximum User accounts allowed per organization	10	Unlimited
Messaging apps Gmail and Google Calendar
Collaboration apps Google Docs and Google Sites
More Google applications Google Reader, Blogger, Picasa Web Albums, AdWords and more
Business security SSO, forced SSL, custom password strength requirements and more
Additional business apps Google Video for Business and Google Groups for Business
Business features 25GB email storage per user, BlackBerry and Microsoft Outlook interoperability and more
Business support and reliability 99.9% uptime guarantee SLA and 24/7 support