Architekwiki
  • WIKI
  • Start Here
  • Resources
  • Other
    • Reading List
    • OFFPLAN
    • Details
    • About
    • Sign Up
    • Terms of Use
  • WIKI
  • Start Here
  • Resources
  • Other
    • Reading List
    • OFFPLAN
    • Details
    • About
    • Sign Up
    • Terms of Use

Architekwiki

A Resource For Architects
Subscribe

Why I Like Google Apps For Work

4/3/2016

 
Google Apps
​We got our first email system when we moved into a building where an IT consultant was also a tenant. He wired us into his system and we used his domain name. The monthly cost was affordable and there were no maintenance headaches or costs. It was 1993 and Al Gore had just invented the Internet two years before. We were ’on it’.

Over time all those drawing attachments started clogging up his email server, so we got our own email server with our own domain name. The cool factor balanced out the costs and hid the fact that we were stepping out on a slippery slope.

​It took a few years for the real aggravation to set in. Server upgrade with new software licenses (per user), occasional mysterious downtimes that usually meant a bill for $400-$600 to fix it. Modest but consistent annoyances became part of being connected. 

Finally everybody on the planet got email. That meant that a whole lot of jackasses now had email. A jackass plus email equals spam. By 2008 each of us were receiving 200 emails a day - 95% spam. I was spending a half hour per day sorting and deleting - and that was after developing special tactics for efficiently sorting and deleting. Mondays were a nightmare. 

There was a solution. Buy a spam filter for just $15/user/month. If it wasn't 2008 and the start of the great recession, I might have done it. 

Instead I found Google Apps.

Here’s what I like about Google Apps:
  • Cost - $5/user/mo. Period. Zero additional cost.
  • Image - A new custom domain is included. Now you can look like a business. Or use your old domain. 
  • Storage - 30 GB of cloud storage for email and files. Share files. 
  • Backups - Automatic backups.
  • Anywhere Access - Log on from anything that has Internet access. 
  • Finding stuff - Add Labels, more than one if you like. Search for a name, domain, phrase, whatever - it's Google! Use filters to file, forward, tag, etc.
  • Always On - 99.9% uptime and 99.9% aggravation-free time.

Bonuses
  • Drive is a storage area where you can use folders like any server, and share those folder if you wish. The 30 GB you start with is often adequate, but Google offers the lowest cost for additional storage.
  • Calendars integrate with email and can also be shared. Create a shared office calendar.
  • Docs is Google's answer to Word. It is free and has all the features that I ever used, so it's bloat-free. Easily export to other file formats even while making the document an attachment.
  • Sheets is an Excel-lookalike.
  • Sites is the ability to create in-house websites for projects, intranet, etc.
  • AddOns! There are some really amazing third party apps that extend the use of Docs and Sheets. Merging or splitting cell contents. Bulk email merges. Sorting by color. Gantt charts. And on and on.

Google Apps For Work Is A Solution For So Much More Than Just Email.

Get out of the IT business.
Picture
I used Google Apps for my architecture firm and use it for Architekwiki, too. The cost is minimal, and you don't give up anything. If you want to try Google Apps, use my links. I will receive a small commission if you remain a user for several months. Thank you.
​
See this link for More Posts About Google

If you would like to receive articles like this by email, Sign Up here. 

Follow on Twitter @Architekwiki


###

Comments are closed.
    Resources

    Start Here

    Picture

    Picture

    Trello-PM

    FeeCalqs

    Picture

    Terms of Use
    Your use of Architekwiki is implicit agreement with the 
    ​
    Terms of Use.

    RSS Feed


    Categories

    All
    Business Development
    Communications
    Concepts
    Design
    Detail
    Estimating
    Finances
    Legal Issues
    Management
    Miscellaneous
    Money
    MyCorbu
    People
    Planning
    Process
    Projects
    Records
    Services
    Specifications
    Standards
    Time
    Tools


    Archives

    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    June 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012

    Resources
VISIT ARCHITEKWIKI'S RESOURCES
Picture
Architekwiki | Architect's Resource | Greater Cincinnati | (859) 444-4560
© 2012-2020   Architekwiki​