Google Apps: Experience
On Habré more than 500 topics about Google Apps, mostly news, but there are actually no real feedback on the use of these applications. I want to fill this gap a bit, well, and popiaritsya a little :) We have been using the Google Apps application for more than a year, so we can see the pros and cons of judging the pros and cons.
The application includes six services: mail, calendar, service for working with documents, instant messenger, service for working with web pages and service of videos (intra-corporate YouTube).
I'll tell you more about the advantages of the solution:
In short, because it is convenient. Our team is highly distributed geographically across different cities. Colleagues constantly travel around on business trips, and it is really convenient for us to work without being tied to a workplace, to organize collaboration and communication with colleagues, to plan the implementation of work — it is especially convenient to do all this not in a dozen different programs, but in one flexibly customized for individual web requirements. service. Google Apps is a practical implementation of the concept of a virtual workplace.
Here are a few words from my staff about the advantages of the solution:
“One of the main reasons why Google Apps is convenient for us is the ability to integrate with our Exchange server. On Linux, there are actually only 2 ways of working with mail on such a platform:
“Mail: always works. Even if other Google services are falling off, mail doesn't stop working. Own corporate mail remains far behind in this regard. Google Docs: allow you to read .doc, .xls, txt and other popular formats. It is especially useful that you can read the document attached to the letter without downloading it to the machine. Google Calendar: duplicates reminders via email and SMS. It is especially convenient to set up two notification methods at once, so that later, when parsing the mail, once again check the desired event ”, - Egor Kovyazin (lead developer). For me, the main feature is still the availability from any place of fairly frequent business trips.
')
With all the advantages, the solution from Google is where to strive. The main disadvantage in my opinion is a smaller amount of functionality compared to desktop systems. Of course, 80% of users use only 20% of the functionality, but what should users like me do? The second thing I wanted to note is that this integration is not so good with other applications.
A very good principle: "Use what you sell yourself." In addition to direct use in daily activities and sales , we also implemented several projects using the Google Calendar API: the product is designed not only for end users, but also for customization.
Summarizing all the above, I’ll just say: after a year of active use, we made the unanimous decision to renew the subscription to the service.
If there are specific questions about the use - my colleagues and I will be happy to answer in the comments.
Materiel
The application includes six services: mail, calendar, service for working with documents, instant messenger, service for working with web pages and service of videos (intra-corporate YouTube).
Why google apps?
I'll tell you more about the advantages of the solution:
- Availability of any of the services at any time of the day from any computer or mobile phone with an internet connection.
- The well-known Gmail mail , with the ability to configure forwarding, work in safe mode, connect many useful widgets. Convenient special client for mobile phones.
- A multifunctional Google calendar , setting up reminders for mail and sms, the ability to "superimpose" the calendar on the calendar of colleagues, to plan events / time off / leave for six months / year in advance.
- The ability to work with documents of all popular formats, the presence of all the latest versions of documents is always at hand.
- Google Talk messenger - the ability to conduct group chat, save history.
Why did we choose this solution?
In short, because it is convenient. Our team is highly distributed geographically across different cities. Colleagues constantly travel around on business trips, and it is really convenient for us to work without being tied to a workplace, to organize collaboration and communication with colleagues, to plan the implementation of work — it is especially convenient to do all this not in a dozen different programs, but in one flexibly customized for individual web requirements. service. Google Apps is a practical implementation of the concept of a virtual workplace.
Opinions
Here are a few words from my staff about the advantages of the solution:
“One of the main reasons why Google Apps is convenient for us is the ability to integrate with our Exchange server. On Linux, there are actually only 2 ways of working with mail on such a platform:
- Outlook Web Access (whose interface is significantly inferior to the usability interface of usability);
- MS Outlook via Citrix. This method is not always suitable for speed.
“Mail: always works. Even if other Google services are falling off, mail doesn't stop working. Own corporate mail remains far behind in this regard. Google Docs: allow you to read .doc, .xls, txt and other popular formats. It is especially useful that you can read the document attached to the letter without downloading it to the machine. Google Calendar: duplicates reminders via email and SMS. It is especially convenient to set up two notification methods at once, so that later, when parsing the mail, once again check the desired event ”, - Egor Kovyazin (lead developer). For me, the main feature is still the availability from any place of fairly frequent business trips.
')
A spoon of tar?
With all the advantages, the solution from Google is where to strive. The main disadvantage in my opinion is a smaller amount of functionality compared to desktop systems. Of course, 80% of users use only 20% of the functionality, but what should users like me do? The second thing I wanted to note is that this integration is not so good with other applications.
Eating your own dog food?
A very good principle: "Use what you sell yourself." In addition to direct use in daily activities and sales , we also implemented several projects using the Google Calendar API: the product is designed not only for end users, but also for customization.
Summarizing all the above, I’ll just say: after a year of active use, we made the unanimous decision to renew the subscription to the service.
If there are specific questions about the use - my colleagues and I will be happy to answer in the comments.
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/104848/
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