Articles
Articles on Google Apps and the collaboration market are written by the dozen every passing day. But some persist, their themes relevant even as Google Apps and the market change. Others are important as they chronicle. This page such authoritative and widely respected articles by expert journalists and bloggers.
_________________
Office/SharePoint and Google Apps: Skinning the same cat?
There’s room enough in this town for both Microsoft and Google to compete in the enterprise…Isn’t there?
by Christopher Dawson
ZDNet – My dad always used to say that there’s more than one way to skin a cat. Since I hate cats that resonated nicely with me. Regardless of how I feel about felines however, it is one of those truisms that applies almost universally to meeting IT needs and requirements.
Present a problem to one IT analyst, programmer, or project manager and you’ll get one solution. Present the same problem to another analyst and you’re going to get something different, which may or may not satisfy the requirements better than the first solution.
**********
The Trouble with Going Google: Four Reasons Why I Got Out
Google Apps doesn't work for all companies. Here, two customers who left Microsoft for Google Apps, then switched back, discuss their pain points.
By Shane O'Neill
CIO — Having been in the enterprise productivity apps game for only three years, Google has made impressive strides with Google Apps, its Web-based messaging and collaboration suite.
Since the 2007 introduction, Google has gone from zero to more than 2 million business customers with high-profile examples including Jaguar Land Rover, Motorola, Konica Minolta and fashion conglomerate Roberto Cavalli.
Google has also won Google Apps deals with government agencies such as City of Orlando and City of Los Angeles (where all is not rosy) and sold state-wide school district migrations in Maryland, Oregon, Iowa and Colorado.
Google Apps' big draw is still price. For $50 per user, per year companies get 25GB of e-mail storage through Gmail along with Google Calendar, Google Talk and Google Groups. Collaboration apps such as Google Docs, Google Sites and Google Video are also included. As part of the deal, Google promises 99.9 percent uptime reliability and 24/7 customer support with Google Apps.
But Google Apps doesn't work for everyone.
**********
