Google Apps has been receiving some stiff competition from Microsoft’s Office 365 Business Suite. Both companies are hoping to court small business owners and large corporations alike, with collaborative features, flexible pricing plans and promises of expansive document compatibility, but Google Apps may ultimately win out in terms of cross-platform sharing. Google Apps for Business takes a unique approach to collaboration in the cloud by allowing anyone with a Google account to login, access, edit and share documents with other users, which can drastically reduce the likelihood of lost time due to permissions complications. Should your company need an outside party to review or add data to a project critical spreadsheet, Google Apps makes it as simple as having your contributor login to a document via their gmail account.

Pricing

In terms of pricing, Google Apps offers two straightforward options. Subscribers can choose the flexible plan, which costs $5 per user per month, or opt in for a full year at $50 per user per year. Both versions of Google Apps grant users an impressive 25GB of e-mail storage and an impressive array of out-of-the-box syncing options for commonly used business products. For example, Google Apps is directly compatible with Microsoft’s Outlook e-mail program and calendar, making for smooth transitions should some of your users already base their collaborations on these programs. Meanwhile Google Apps flexes its mobile muscle by providing direct support for Blackberry’s Enterprise server and related handhelds.

Platforms and Features

Google stresses the fact that Google Apps for Business provides support for a full-range of today’s most commonly used mobile products. Android, iPhone, BlackBerry, Windows Mobile, Nokia S60, and SyncML products are compatible with Google Apps for business, allowing users to auto-pull data from mail, contacts and calendar apps to their devices. This is handy for users that spend most of their time away from the office but still need to be in touch via gmail and receive assignments through the calendar app.

Google Apps for Business accounts also provide advanced e-mail management features for administrators. Powered by the popular e-mail tool Postini, Google Apps Business accounts allow admins to search a centralized company e-mail archive and to place holds on certain e-mails or groups of communications in order to comply with litigation holds or corporate retention policies.

There are a number of communication features at work in Google Apps for Business that most general gmail users will recognize. Instant messaging your contacts from your inbox is snappy and an easy way to pose quick questions to team members, while advanced features, such as translation bots that allow chatting employees to speak in their own native tongues, make collaboration all the more seamless. For extended conversations, some users might prefer the video chat functionality which takes place in the same window as the instant messages, within the gmail interface. The video chat application is lightweight and reliable and great for quick face to face meetings.

Simplicity and Ease of Access

Google Apps for Business achieves another win in its overall “feel”. Sleek, intuitive and pared down to the essentials, it’s easy to bring even non-tech-savvy employees up to speed on Google Apps quickly. The company’s genius for search runs throughout the apps, meaning necessary documents, essential calendar events, and important contact information is simply a search string away at all times. The simplicity of this system is, in fact, the source of its power. All of Google’s cloud based business apps allow users to find what they are looking for and share it with their teams within a matter of seconds. Offering flexible, low pricing options, powerful search-ready applications and industry leading security and uptime standards, Google Apps for Business is a strong choice for small and large businesses alike.

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