Eight Reasons Why Google Apps Rocks

Google is responsible for changing much about the Internet and the way we look at it. A somewhat recent development by Google is Google Apps, an exciting collection of applications that will once again change the way you interact with your computer, with your clients, and with your business in general. Google Apps is here to bring simplicity and a mobile structure to your life, and here’s how:

Google Apps Sounds Great, But What is It?

Google Apps is an application that aims to free you from your computer dependency. It includes a number of programs that you can run from any web browser, regardless of the computer you are on or where you are. As long as you have the Internet, you have Google Apps. All of these programs are web-based and they run from Google’s own database. The only requirement is that you have a Gmail e-mail ID.

The programs that Google Apps offers are the types of software that you may use on a daily basis:
A calendar
A document storage and sharing system
GTalk
Other programs that you would find in an office suite like spreadsheets, rich-text word processing, presentations, forms, and drawings

In short, it is the perfect replacement for an office suite when your offline professional programs are not available to you, which means that business owners can now take their documents with them in their smartphones, iPads, and any other non-computer computing devices out there. Google Apps also comes with plenty of storage (7.5 GB) for your e-mails and accounts, so you don’t have to worry about filling up anything too quickly.

How this Helps You in an Emergency

If you’re running late for a meeting, or if your battery is dead or if your hard drive suddenly crashes, or even if you just forgot your laptop in some unreachable place, Google Apps has what you need in terms of word processing, excel workbooks, powerpoint presentations – you name it. All you need to do is import your .doc, .xls, or .ppt into Google Docs, and voila! Google will provide you with a slightly aesthetically modified document or presentation.

A Nation of Collaboration

One of the greatest benefits of Google Apps is the ease with which you can collaborate on information and data within a team. For instance, if the head of a company needs to make a spreadsheet and collaborate with someone across the world concerning the information on this sheet, they can just pop over to Google Docs, create a spreadsheet which includes the data they need to share, and share the Google Doc with their intended collaborator or collaborators, even if that person doesn’t have a Gmail account. You do not have to send and resend files over and over again, which can get very confusing after a while, especially if a project has more than 2 people.

What This Means to You if You Own an Online Business

Google Docs makes inter-office collaboration substantially simpler. If a project manager needs to share plans, or make changes to plans already in the works, or make notes or suggestions to a design team, for example, they can do so with ease. Likewise, the design team working with project manager can receive those notes in real time, and respond in turn. In short, Google Apps makes real time communication, edits, and amendments to projects a reality.

Just to elaborate on how Google Apps lets you spread the information, the option of real-time editing allows you to share a file with up to 50 users for free in your chosen network. The premium, which costs a whole $50 a year, allows unlimited users plus bigger storage and programs. This is an excellent tool for everyone, ranging from independent users to small businesses to large corporations and institutions like universities and hospitals.

Other Benefits of Using Google Apps

No Installation: You no longer have to worry about installation. This is web-based and the moment you download it, you are ready to go.

Free: Just like almost everything else on Google, these apps are free. You will save money that you would have otherwise spent on purchasing software for different office suites. This is especially true for small- and medium-sized businesses that spend a lot of money to get all of their computers the same software. In addition, you do not need to put in more money for yearly upgrades.

Range of Mobility: Then there is the advantage of mobility. You won’t be dependent on your computer to access your important files. You don’t have to worry about compatibility issues either. All you need is an Internet connection.

Google Apps offers storage that allows you to put important files on to the web and keep as many emails as you need without worry. Continuing with this cornucopia of benefits (because Google Apps isn’t already good enough as-is), you can get Google to host your website’s email through their servers. It’s a Gmail account, but it has your domain name tacked on to the end. If you’re looking for a great and affordable way to create your own customized email addresses without buying a server to host all of the emails you receive, then just get your design team to set up a custom account through Gmail and you’ll be on your way to a more trustworthy business email.

For small businesses, Google Apps also has many enterprise solutions to manage your sales, marketing and so on. While these apps can’t be the only thing you rely upon to handle all of your duties, they provide an excellent supplement when you need them.

With each new development, Google is shaping the way to a virtual, web-based world where you can interface and collaborate with other team members in real time from anywhere on earth. Whether you work from home or run a Fortune 500 company, it’s worth trying these innovative and free applications that will help in the development and growth of your company.