Note: This is the first of a three-part series on Google Apps, its advantages and how it fits into my workflow.
I was not an early adopter to Gmail or Google Docs. My reasons were not from fear of “big brother”, though those are valid concerns.
My reasons were much simpler:
- I had an email address and liked Mail.app just fine.
- I was accustomed to using Microsoft Word and iWork.
It was not until necessity — or at least a minor annoyance — came along that I seriously considered joining Google’s ever-expanding empire of users.
This site is hosted by BlueHost, with whom I am extremely satisfied in most ways. The only way in which I was not satisfied was with email. First, the email was often buggy or slow. I had connection issues both through Mail and through the web portals.
So I began looking for new ways to host my email. Enter Google Apps.
What’s in Google Apps? You get:
- Gmail. If you don’t know what Gmail is, then stop reading and move on. Nothing to see here.
- Google Docs. Powerful online office tools to create text documents, spreadsheets and presentations. (Think stripped down versions of Word, Excel and PowerPoint or Pages, Numbers and Keynote.)
- Google Calendar. Online calendaring system that offers multiple calendars and sharing options.
- Google Sites. You can build simple webpages with this tool, but I’ve never tried it.
- Google Start Page. Some people love start pages, and this is a good one if you do. It’s iGoogle for your site or business. I don’t use it, though.
Google Apps provides two editions for users. The standard edition is quite powerful and is free. The Premier Edition is extremely powerful and costs $50 per user per year.
At the same time I was looking for a replacement for my email needs, I was doing the same for a client. My client’s needs included multiple user accounts and document sharing, the latter of which we were looking at an expensive server solution.
Thus, I elected to give the premium edition a try for both setups. So far, I’ve been most satisfied with both my personal set up and the one for my client.
In Part 2 of this series on Google Apps, I’ll talk about reasons to use Google Apps and some reasons why some people are hesitant to make the jump. In Part 3, I’ll explain how Google Apps fits into my workflow, including how I utilize Microsoft Office and iWork.
