Leveraging Google Apps for Small Business

Google Apps (short for applications) is Google’s web-based software suite positioned for small businesses and educational institutions. Google Apps can help your company take control of email, calendaring, document sharing, and more.

Written Oct 07, 2008, read 236 times since then.

Google Apps (short for applications) are Google’s web-based software suite positioned for small businesses and educational institutions. Their software suite essentially integrates Gmail, Google Calendar, Google Docs, and Google Sites…yup, that’s a whole lot of Google!

So what does this mean for the average small business? Having worked as an IT consultant for many a years, I’ve found most businesses are looking for an easy to use, reliable messaging and collaboration platform.

Messaging

I don’t care what you say, but everybody should have an email account. As a business your email shouldn’t be coming from a free email provider such as Gmail, Hotmail, or Yahoo. With so many fake emails streaming out of free email providers your legitimate email really should be coming from an account@yourdomainaddress.

Whenever I mention email my clients cringe. The most common reactions are:

We use Gmail and love it!
We don’t have the resources to maintain our own email server
That sounds expensive!

What if I told you the standard version of Google Apps offers email based off of the Gmail client; maintains the hardware and network; and offers nearly 3gb of storage, email archiving, POP/IMAP access, and virus protection for a low monthly price of zero dollars. That’s right, free!

In addition to all the features listed above, Google also handles all of your spam detection. If I were to give you one reason to switch, it’d be for the spam filters. Like most things, the key to defeating spam is knowledge; and with Apps, just as with Gmail the spam filtering is top notch (every time a Gmail or Apps user flags a message as spam, they’re helping every other user on the network).

Collaboration

In addition to email services, Apps integratesa few other applications that may be beneficial to your business.

Google Calendar offers a simple solution to scheduling. Getting your team together is as simple picking a time, and clicking send. Google handles all the invitations and RSVPs.

Google Docs is essentially an online Office suite. Create, edit, and share documents, spreadsheets, and presentations. All are easily saved and distributed with a few mouse clicks.

Google Sites allows anybody and everybody to share information. Whether you’re creating a website for internal use or you’re posting your weekly specials; Sites allows you to quickly and easily get on theweb…regardless of your technical knowhow.

How doe sit all work?

It’s all very simple to use once you’re up and running, though it may initially require the assistance of an IT professionalto get up and running. Once you sign up for an Apps account, you’ll need to ask your domain host to modify some domain records, particularly the MX and CNAME records.

It sounds crazy, but it’s not; all you’re doing is telling directing email and web traffic to Google’s servers. Once you’vedone this, you should be good to go! It’s also important to note that your services may need up to 24 hours to be fully functional.

In conclusion, Google Apps can help your company take control of email, calendaring, document sharing, and more. By leveraging Google’s infrastructure you can enhance your productivity withalmost no investment.

Learn more about the author, Jonathan Ng.

Comment on this article

Posted by Marc Thomas, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania | Oct 07, 2008

great article.
Posted by Roy Seney, Bellevue, Washington | Oct 07, 2008

Jonathan, good article...but my fear for my customers is that they put all their business data in the cloud and what happens when its not a cloudy day (internet is down, google is down (it happens), etc.)

Any word if google will offer offline access to their data where there is some local copies of customer's data? I really like the concept of cloud computing, but am nervous about putting all my customers' data into a remote server that we can't physically touch/fix/manage....?
Posted by Jonathan Ng, Seattle, Washington | Oct 07, 2008

Roy-

If the internet is down, you won't be able to access email anyways. Google offers POP and IMAP support, so you can bypass the web interface entirely.

I have all my mail running through OSX Mail, and have an offline copy as well.
Posted by Don Cooper, Chicago, Illinois | Oct 07, 2008

Jonathan,

Google Apps is great for collaboration but it still lacks the social aspect. IBM's new release of Bluehouse will be able merge social networking features with business collaboration tools.

http://enterprise-3.blogspot.com/2008/10/ibm-is-bringing-business-networking.html
Posted by Jonathan Ng, Seattle, Washington | Oct 07, 2008

Don,

There seem to be more and more people jumping on the SaaS bandwagon. Bluehouse is an interesting concept...we'll see if it works out.

There are a few featuers unique to Bluehouse, but for the most part, I'd choose a 37signals product like Basecamp.
Posted by Raina Steinmeier, Seattle, Washington | Oct 07, 2008

I switched my domain email to google and am finally free of spam. I use Outlook at the momen, via imap, to bypass the web interface. Until there is a good way to sync google calendar, contacts, and tasks, to my PC-based "smartphone" (which runs Outlook), this is an ok workaround. Truth is there's no single magic answer for everyone, but it does seem as though the only real reason to own one's own server anymore is to control the security of your information (and your client's information).
Posted by John Huddleston, Seattle & Bellevue, Washington | Oct 08, 2008

Great article Jonathan. It's all free, right? Is Google trying to get market share in office suites and then will charge? If not, where does Google make their money on this one?

John Huddleston
Huddleston Tax Accountants

Tax Preparation & Accounting in Seattle Bellevue Tacoma
Posted by Jonathan Ng, Seattle, Washington | Oct 08, 2008

Raina- The solution would be to swtich to a Mac ;) My email, contacts, and calendars all sync through Apps back through my computer.

Joh- Yes, it's free. Of course, you can upgrade to the "Premier Edition" for a small fee should you so choose. Your email will show ads if you access it via the web, I'd assume a portion of their revenue comes from ads.
Posted by David Busby, Seattle, Washington | Oct 10, 2008

Jonathan, Great post! And yes, Google absolutely makes their revenue from ads (and web-clips) they display while reading email or viewing the calendar. The Docs, Sites and Pages services don't have any advertising display.

The Google employees I've spoken to indicate the goal is to encourage users to upgrade to the "Premier edition" which has lots of cool features for businesses with more than 50 users. The Standard Edition can host up to 100 free accounts.

Edoceo - Business Technology
Posted by Chris Cliff, Lynnwood, Washington | Oct 12, 2008

Personally I think everyone should have at least one domain of their own that they run their email through. That way if you move from one ISP to another you never have to worry about notifying everyone that you have a new address.

Plus, I have never had any respect for businesses that use Yahoo or Gmail accounts for their main addresses. Seems just a little too cheesy.

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