Why Google Apps for Work?

I thought I’d take a few seconds to talk about Google Apps for Work, and why we feel our client’s benefit from it.

What is Google Apps for Work?

Google Apps is a cloud-based productivity suite that helps you and your team connect and get work done from anywhere on any device. It’s simple to setup, use and manage, allowing you to work smarter and focus on what really matters.

Now, what does that mean?  Well there’s three main parts. Email, Collaboration, Sync.

The first, and most important is Email.  Everyone has it.  The question becomes how they use it.  We like Google’s solution because it allows our clients to harness the security, reliability and effectiveness that Google has continually refined through years of running GMail.  It also allows clients to have their phones, webmail and work computers all with the same email state at the same time.  No more managing sent items between three devices. While this is available through a lot of traditional options, when you consider the costs and the other features outside of email, the value becomes clear.

Collaboration is a big part of today’s workforce.  With remote office, on the go employees, sales, technicians, etc….  the idea of “going to work” is a much different one that it was even 5 years ago.  Google Apps makes having an office or central IT infrastructure  for communication less necessary.  With Hangouts for virtual meetings, shared calendars, delegation controls and the whole Google Docs/Drive suite, coworkers are able to be connected regardless if they’re down the hall or across the world from each other.  Being able to make some last minutes changes to a presentation from the office, while your colleague is about to walk into a sales meeting can be very powerful. Scheduling meetings with your entire office, managing boardroom schedules or just having shared documents available to employees from anywhere are just a few examples of the benefits of Google Apps.

Lastly, and to some, most importantly is the power of syncing .  Gone are the days of plugging your phone into your computer and waiting for iTunes to update your calendar and your contacts.  With Google Apps for Work, your computer and mobile devices are constantly synchronized grabbing and storing all information in the proverbial cloud.  Information on all devices is reliable, current and therefore more valuable to you.  It also makes the device itself less critical.  Lets face it, phones get dropped in bathtubs all too often.  With your data living in the cloud, you’re able to continue working if there’s a failure in one of your devices.  It also give your IT providers, like ZeroPing IT, the ability to remotely secure lost or stolen devices should the unthinkable happen.  All without you missing a meeting.

These are just a few quick reasons we love Google Apps for Work and we’ve been moving clients to the product in droves.  I recommend you take a look at the offering, and give us a call or email to discuss how your organization can benefit.

Windows 10 – Free Upgrade for One Year

Some interesting news out of Microsoft last week.  During a Windows 10 Live event on January 21st, Microsoft announced that Windows 10 will be a free upgrade to anyone who is currently on Windows 7, 8 or 8.1.  Which is good news for everyone.  These days Windows PCs are a mish-mash of Windows versions, with some computers still running Windows XP, which isn’t even supported by Microsoft anymore. Furthermore, it allows consumers and businesses to buy PCs as needed and not be worried about being left behind.

I’m curious if this is just Microsoft recognizing that having everyone on a similar platform makes sense in today’s world, or if they’re just admitting they let us down with Windows 8 and this is their way of saying sorry. I guess we’ll find out when Windows 11 comes out.

We’ll be looking forward to getting every one of our clients upgraded.  Hopefully the upgrade processes is as relatively painless as a Mac OS X upgrade.  However even they aren’t perfect.

Allow me to share an interesting article with you from Forbes about why this is a great move for everyone, especially Microsoft.