A Beginner’s Guide to Google Apps for Business

If you’re looking for cloud-based productivity suite, Google Apps for Business is a strong contender. In fact, this powerful multi-functioning software should be on your short list.Productivity suites needs no introduction. Thanks to many years of using Microsoft Office and the like, small businesses basically run off of this ubiquitous program package. What makes Google Apps for Business different? Three things. First, it combines business class software with client technology, meaning that you can access your documents anywhere at any time, as long as you are connected to the internet. Second, it’s relatively inexpensive, and it can be scaled up or down as users are added or deleted. And finally, it’s very collaborative so you can work on projects in real time with co-workers in multiple locations.

What Makes Up Google Apps For Business?

Google Apps for Business has several main components. Briefly, these components are: Gmail, an email program that is searchable by content and supports notifications for text, video and chat; Calendar, an interactive way to organize your schedule, share it with others, or even post it online; Hangouts, which syncs video chat with other Google apps; Sites, a website building and hosting platform; and Google Drive, which incorporates Docs, Sheets, and Slides (the Google version of word processing, spreadsheets, and presentation-building programs) with online storage that syncs your documents to the cloud and allows you to share and collaborate in real time.

Google Vault, an optional addendum, gives users a place to archive and store their valuable data, complete with search function. Other features of Google Apps for Business include web analytics, advertising, and other technical, web-based functions.

The Benefits of Using Google’s Productivity Suite

Unlike traditional computer-based productivity suites, Google Apps for Business supports, and even encourages, simultaneous long-distance communication. And although people are sometimes scared off by the seeming insecurity of cloud-based computing, Google Apps for Business offers strong safeguards for data security and storage. It also provides more stability and less downtime than non-cloud-based productivity software. Why?

• As you work on documents, Google automatically saves changes and backs up your files.
• The software is stored in the cloud, not on a physical computer or isolated server. This means that you can access it anywhere, from any internet-connected PC, Mac, smartphone, or tablet. It also means that your data is not limited to one physical location, so catastrophic data loss is much more unlikely.
• You can control exactly who views, edits, and receives documents.
• Since almost every conceivable business need is addressed within the Google Apps ecosystem, the need for multiple passwords and redundant software is eliminated.
• Google Apps starts with 30 GB of storage, and additional space – up to 16 TB – can be bought as needed for a nominal sum.
• Google Apps for Business is guaranteed to have an uptime of 99.9% with built-in disaster recovery. That makes it much more reliable and secure than most computers. It also means that any troubleshooting or IT issues will be handled by Google, reducing problems for an in-house IT staff.
• Google’s security is based on a two factor authentication method. This means that passwords and data alike are safer.
  

Is Google Apps for Business the right choice for your organization? If you need a reliable, scalable, and flexible productivity service that integrates well with all kinds of online business programs, it is a strong contender for first place.