Google for Work overview

Are you a business with more than 10 users on Microsoft Exchange? Ever thought of replacing that high-maintenance expensive Microsoft Exchange platform with Google Apps? You will find out that many organisations already have. The reasons are more than just email – Google breeds best in class software and provides it for free for many, […]
Last updated: September 3, 2014
  • Are you a business with more than 10 users on Microsoft Exchange?
  • Ever thought of replacing that high-maintenance expensive Microsoft Exchange platform with Google Apps?

You will find out that many organisations already have. The reasons are more than just email – Google breeds best in class software and provides it for free for many, to augment the Google Apps offering. Here is a quick Google Apps business overview, intro and some information you may not know about Google Apps.

In the last couple of years, Microsoft has created ads that target Google’s Gmail and Google Drive Services. The ads highlight the downsides of Google’s cloud-first tactic to productivity, which clearly contrasts the service-driven Microsoft Exchange.

In February 2007, Google launched Google Apps for Business, costing $50 per user account annually, with unlimited number of users. The director of Enterprise Applications at the IT giant says the number currently stands at 4 million customers with an addition of about 5,000 firms adopting Google Apps for Business daily. He pointed out that, for instance, about 96 percent of all the 20 Silicon Valley Startups to Watch use Google Apps for Business. The statistics are even more interesting when it comes to the education sectors and enterprises. Out of 100 top universities in the US, over 61 employ Google Apps for Business. A few strong brands that use Google Apps include Roche, National Geographic, Genentech, Casio, Virgin America and Salesforce. In 2012, the federal government tenders that Microsoft bid with Google saw the Google win 23 to the latter’s 10 according to the report.

Google Apps business overview video

These are the reasons why Google Apps give Microsoft Exchange a run for their money. First, Google will host all your mails, documents, calendars and other stuff on its cloud. Through the Gmail interface you are poised to get everything via the web browser. Even more enticing you will be able to use your client software, like Outlook – if you are a die hard fan – but it comes with a cost. To synch Outlook to Gmail requires a desktop plugin for Windows.

Pricing is a huge factor when it comes to comparing the two services. Google Apps are cheaper, convenient and easier that installing the Microsoft Exchange. For instance the Office 365 Small Business costs the user about $6 per month, translating to $72 a year, while Google Apps is $22 cheaper. The price charged in Google Apps has not changed in years, except for the discontinuation of the free limited version. Microsoft Exchange can be rented monthly or have it installed in your PC, which will come with its costs and risks. The only disadvantage of Google Apps for Business is that the office users may find themselves reverting to Office for the complex documents.

Though Microsoft has enterprise focused services for instance SharePoint, Yammer and Lync, Google has been able to establish a reliable mode that offers a best in class consumer services for free. A superb example is Google Hangouts. This multi person video chats linked to Google+ have been adopted by firms as an easy way of video conferencing or hosting panels, since users are able to broadcast a hangout. While the Hangout service is free, Google has restructured the pricing of items like Google Drive to meet the needs of everyday users.

Another interesting factor that put Google Apps ahead is the web-based mail. While Exchange offers storage of emails in its Outlook.com services this is not linked to the Outlook application in the Microsoft Office. In fact, they are two different software items with diverse back ends.

Thanks for reading!

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SixFive is a Google Apps authorised reseller. If you’d like some assistance in migrating to an email, calendar and document platform that is easy to use and will remove some headaches from your business, drop us a line, we’d be only too happy to assist you

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Duncan Isaksen-Loxton

Educated as a web developer, with over 20 years of internet based work and experience, Duncan is a Google Workspace Certified Collaboration Engineer and a WordPress expert.
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