Google Apps for Business: Why It’s a Smart Choice, Especially If You’re a Small Business

For many small businesses, Google Apps for Business is the perfect fit. One of the most obvious benefits is cost. At only $50/user/year, you can manage upfront costs by buying only what you need. Google Apps is ‘cloud computing,’ meaning everything is performed and accomplished online over an internet connection, you don’t need to spend money on:

• Expensive computer hardware such as a server or powerful desktop machines
• Additional energy costs associated with running powerful computers
• Special HVAC to maintain equipment performance
• Additional office space, racks and furniture to store equipment
• Installation, set-up and maintenance costs associated with computer hardware and software
• Software purchase and updates
• Storage and Back-Up solutions
• IT department and Tech Support

Instead, for a fixed cost you get a comprehensive suite of powerful communication and collaboration tools, including:

• Google Docs (web-based documents (like Word), spreadsheets (like Excel), drawings and presentations (like Visio and PPT)
• Gmail + Postini (archiving and e-discovery)
• Google Calendar (share project calendars, integrate with Gmail and popular calendar programs, mobile access)
• Google Groups (for internal or client projects: share docs, calendars, folders, videos)
• Google Sites (build collaborative sites for project workspaces, team sites, intranets, more)
• Google Video (video channel that hosts and streams your videos across any operating system means you don’t have to share via email or burden IT with a complex on-site video solution)
• More Apps: Google Reader, Blogger, Picasa Web Albums, AdWords
• Storage: 25 GB per user of email storage (Blackberry, iPhone and MS Outlook interoperable)
• Business Security: SSO, forced SSL, custom password strength requirements
• Business Support & Reliability: 99.9% uptime guarantee SLA, 24×7 support
• Google Apps Marketplace: you get access to a large variety of additional enterprise applications, such as Intuit Quickbooks, Fedex, and so much more, that help you with your most common business functions like sales, marketing and finance. Many applications can directly interoperate with Gmail, Calendar, Docs and contacts, helping you to do your work faster and more efficiently.

For added functionality and flexibility, what we do for customers is integrate Google Apps for Business with custom development work we provide, such as a corporate branded website application, ecommerce solution, or extranet, making everything accessible online 24/7  from a secure, centralized custom Dashboard. This option provides you with the most control and options for managing a wide variety of business tasks online, particularly useful when you have satellite offices, an external sales force, or employees working from their home office.

Bottom line is you just can’t beat the cost. For roughly .14 cents/day/user Google Apps for Business provides you with most, if not all, of what you need, leaving you free to safely set aside funds for custom development work and other marketing and business development initiatives.

Want to hear what others say?  Click here to visit Google’s Business Apps Client Stories page.