Managers are increasingly using technology to ensure the smooth running of their team. As manager you are responsible for making decisions regarding technology so why not suggest switching to a cloud service such as Google Apps? Learn how to implement change in business with our Change Management course.
Google first introduced its solution to cloud computing, Google Apps, in 2006. Since then, people all over the world have moved to the cloud to experience the premier services of Google Apps. Businesses, in particular, have migrated to the cloud, taking advantage of the Google Apps for Business platform.
Taken together, the advent of the cloud and Google Apps are evolving the communication and collaboration needs of businesses of all sizes. And in today’s fast-paced world, your business can’t afford to fall behind on this new technology. Here are the apps your business can’t live without:
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Gmail
Countless people use Gmail for their personal email accounts, so why not bring this familiar service into the office? With Google Apps, users get custom email addresses (user@company.com) and Gmail accounts on a unique domain. Gmail provides users with 25GB of storage, which is 50 times the industry average, threaded and prioritized emails, which groups all emails with the same subject line together to eliminate inbox clutter, and IM and video chat directly in its service. The Gmail service also includes a Google-powered search to quickly find archived discussions. Using Gmail makes communicating with others organized and easy.
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Google Calendar
On the surface Google Calendar may look like any other calendar, but it actually contains more functions than other calendar systems because of Google Apps’ sharing capabilities. Google Calendar allows users to create events on multiple calendars, program email and SMS reminders, and send out RSVPs to events. Users can also share specific calendars with others, which comes in handy for scheduling appointments. When employees are trying to schedule appointments with one another or clients, they can simply share a calendar and the recipient can schedule the meeting by viewing the calendar owner’s availability.
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Google Docs
With Google Docs, users can create a variety of files including documents, presentations, and spreadsheets. Users can then share these files with others, a feature which not only eliminates the need for email attachments, but that also greatly enhances collaboration. With shared files, multiple users can simultaneously edit the same document from any location, making working with others easier than ever. In addition to being able to work on the document with others in real-time, users can also leave comments for others and can track a file’s revision history to see who made what changes, and when. Employees can also create templates in Google Docs in order to streamline everyday tasks.
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Google Sites
Google Sites enables users to easily create intranets or websites for the entire company or team projects. Members of a Google Site can put Google Docs, calendars, deadlines, reminders, tasks, and responsibilities on the site. This tool provides groups of people with a central and organized location for a particular set of information.
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Google Groups
Users can also create Google Groups to improve the communication among a specific set of people. Employees can send emails to or share documents with a group, rather than typing in each individual name. Group members can also reply to emails sent to the group on behalf of the entire group, which makes correspondence easy.
Because Google Apps is hosted entirely in the web browser, all of the information stored in these apps is accessible from any web-enabled device in any location. All of the apps listed above, in addition to others, come standard with Google Apps for Business, which runs at $50/user/year. But you can go to the Google Apps Marketplace and add even more apps to your Google Apps suite, making the benefits of Google Apps to your business infinite.
This blog post is brought to you by Cloud Sherpas. Cloud Sherpas is a leading Google Apps cloud service provider. As a Google Apps Authorized Reseller and Google Enterprise partner, we have migrated over one million users across all major industries from legacy, on-premise messaging systems to Google Apps, helping organizations adopt cloud computing to innovate and dramatically reduce their IT expenses. Get to know our company by checking out our Google+ page at cloudsherpas.com/plus.