Sam R. Hall

Note: This is the second part of a three-part series on Google Apps, its advantages and how it fits into my workflow.

I discussed in this post what Google Apps includes and why I chose to use it. Google Apps provides a lot of advantages and a few disadvantages. First, let’s take a look at the hesitations I had with Google Apps.

Reasons not to use Google Apps

1. Privacy is a major concern. This is probably the number one hesitation of 90 percent of people who consider switching to Google Apps. Certainly, there is reason for concern. You are putting your information in the hands of someone else, in this case a company who generates ad revenue by scanning email and documents of their users. If you have sensitive information of a proprietary nature, you should give serious consideration to Google’s privacy policies.
2. You have limited ability to work offline. Google Apps is primarily an online service. While Gears will allow Firefox users to work offline, Safari users are not so lucky. The easy workaround is to download Firefox and have it available if needed, which is what I do. Furthermore, I’m rarely in a situation where I do not have access to the Internet.
3. Do you feel comfortable working in an online environment? Some people do not. And for those people, this may not be for you. But what you’ll find in my setup (in Part 3) is that I do very little online work. Most of what I do is integrated into my offline life.

That said, let’s look on the bright side of things. Here are my reasons to use Google Apps:

1. Gmail is the most powerful email system out there. OK. So that may be a subjective statement, but in my experience it is the truth. While spam filters, rules, forwarding, etc. are not unique to Gmail, nothing I’ve come across — not Mail, not Thunderbird, not Entourage — does them quite as well. 
2. Gmail mobile interface rocks. As you’ll see in Part 3, I don’t use the Mail application on my iPhone 3G. I use Gmail’s mobile interface. It’s that good.
3. Collaboration is easy and extensive. By using Google Docs, you can collaborate with other users in your domain. If you have multiple users, you can designate with whom you want to share so that not everyone has access to everything. 
4. Easy access to documents from virtually anywhere. If you have an Internet connection, you should be able to get to your documents, email, calendar, etc. No having to dial in to a work server or any of the like. Just log on, and voila.
5. Google Calendar makes scheduling easy. Just like Google Calendar, you have options for multiple calendars, sharing abilities (full schedule, free/busy, etc.) and the nifty daily itinerary feature, which I absolutely love. Every morning by 6 a.m., there it is in my inbox.
6. It’s cost effective for individuals and small businesses. At $50/user/year, you can’t very well beat this option for small operations. Plus, depending on your needs, you can save all that cash you would spend on Microsoft Office.
7. Technical support is a cinch. If you are using the premium edition and want Google to serve as your domain’s email server, then you have to change a few technical specs. Don’t be concerned, though. If you can’t do it, your site host can. Past that, the most complicated part of Google Apps is adding users, and that’s as easy as signing up for a website. No need to worry about network problems (unless you can’t get online…).

Not everyone’s workflow is the same, and thus not everyone will use Google Apps the same. As I said, it has its limitations, and I’ve accommodated those in my workflow. I’ll share a bit about those in my next post of this series.

In Part 1 of this series on Google Apps, I discussed what is included in Google Apps and why I chose to use it. In Part 3, I’ll explain how Google Apps fits into my workflow, including how I utilize Microsoft Office and iWork.