What is Google Apps?
Google Apps is high quality, feature rich but easy-to-use eMail system hosted in the Cloud. When we say “in the Cloud” we mean it is an internet based application that can be accessed by a web browser. It doesn’t require any new hardware or any special software to be loaded on your computer.
Cloud based applications are becoming the standard approach these days, if you’ve got a gMail or Hotmail account, use eBay or use Facebook/Linked-in for example then you’re already used to running cloud based applications.
By far the biggest advantage to running your applications in the cloud is the flexibility it offers. Imaging being able to access your eMail & docs from any device anywhere in the world! It doesn’t even have to be your computer, all of a sudden you have your office with you no matter where you are.
Primary Features
Easy-to-Use and Intuitive Web Interface
Custom eMail Addresses (name@yourdomain.com)
Full Mobile Synchronisation for eMail, Calendar & Contacts (iPhone, Android, Blackberry, Windows Phone 7)
Up to 25GB of storage per account meaning you no longer have to worry about running out of space again
A 99.9% Financially Backed Uptime Guarantee
The Ability to Collaborate with Colleges or Customers on Documents in Real-Time
Cross Platform Compatibility (PC, Mac, Linux, Mobile, Tablets)
Your data protected by automatic backups and military grade security
Is a significant improvement to POP3/SMTP eMail
Access to the Google Apps Marketplace where you can integrate thousands of other productivity improving apps.
Editions
Google Apps comes in several flavours, these are the ones we support: -
- Google Apps (Free) - A fantastic replacement for a standard Internet or free eMail accounts or as a way to allow you to use your own domain name (instead of using a @gmail.com, @hotmail.com or @yahoo.com for example). It comes with eMail, Calendar, Contact and Docs and includes 10GB of eMail storage for free! You just have to put up with a few Ad’s running down the right hand side (as with most free eMail systems).
- Google Apps for Business – A full business class eMail system that competes directly with Microsoft Outlook/Exchange. It includes all the standard and advanced features a business may need whether you’re an only employee or have thousands of employees. Each account get’s 25GB of eMail storage and has additional management and integration capabilities required by business users such as mobile management. This is the standard choice most businesses go for.
- Google Apps for Education – All the features of Google Apps for Business but Free!!! It’s a ‘no-brainer’ decision for most schools and with significantly reduced management and implementation overheads, it’s becoming the standard for most schools now.
Who uses Google Apps?
The beauty of Google Apps is it’s scalability, it can be used by individuals all the way up to business with hundreds of thousands of users.
For the stat lovers our there - Over 4 million business use Google Apps Business, over 14 million pupils and teachers use Apps Education, and many many more individuals and charities use Google Apps Free Edition.
These numbers are growing everyday with some very well known brands ditching their old internal eMail systems and moving to a more reliable, easier to manage and more cost effective solution.
Users include Virgin Airlines, Cap Gemini, Jaguar, Land Rover, University of Westminster to name but a few and recently the Spanish Bank – Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria (BBVA) announced it was moving over 110,000 users to Google Apps.
To find out more you can view various case studies here.
Why use Vicon Solutions as a Partner?
Vicon is a leading Google Apps implementation partner and will help you understand how best to use the product and how to get the most from it. The majority of our Google Apps customers are looking to become more efficient and enable better mobile connectivity or are looking to reduce their internal support costs by migrating to a cloud based platform.
We’ve performed hundreds of Google Apps implementations from basic single user installs to schools with hundreds of student accounts. If you’d like to know more about us please give us a call and we’ll be more than happy to give you as much advice as you need.
Security
Your data is private and secure, with 99.9% uptime and best in class disaster recovery at no charge.
It’s your content, not Google’s. Your Apps content belongs to your business, your school, or individual users. Not Google.
Google don’t look at your content. Google employees will only access content that you store on Apps when an administrator from your domain grants Google employees explicit permission to do so for troubleshooting.
Google don’t share your content. Google does not share personal information with advertisers or other 3rd parties without your consent.
Google sometimes scan content. And for very good reasons, like spam filtering, anti-virus protection, or malware detection. Our systems scan content to make Apps work better for users, enabling unique functionality like powerful search in Gmail and Google Docs. This is completely automated and involves no humans.
Note that there are a few common-sense exceptions to the points above, like valid legal processes and maintaining the safety and security of Google’s systems. For more information, see Google’s detailed Privacy Policy, Privacy Principles, and Terms of Service.
EU-US Privacy & Compliancy
- The controls, processes and policies that protect user data in our systems have obtained a SSAE 16 Type II attestation and will continue to seek similar attestation.
- Google complies with applicable US privacy law, and the Google Apps Terms of Service can specifically detail our obligations and compliance with FERPA (Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act) regulations.
- Google is registered with the US-EU Safe Harbor agreement, which helps ensure that our data protection compliance meets European Union standards for educational institutions.
Version Comparison
| Google Apps (Free) | Google Apps for Business | Google Apps for Education | |
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| Targetted at | Individuals, groups and entrepreneurs can get up to 10 custom accounts like you@example.com for free. | Businesses can get the added controls and features that companies need from £33 per user per year. | Schools can also get many of the capabilities offered to businesses, but at no charge. |
| Messaging apps Gmail, Google Talk, and Google Calendar |
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| Collaboration apps Google Docs, Google Sites, and more |
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| Business security SSO, forced SSL, custom password strength requirements and more |
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| Additional business apps Google Video for Business and Google Groups for Business |
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| Business features 25GB email storage per user, BlackBerry and Microsoft Outlook interoperability and more |
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| Business support and reliability 99.9% uptime guarantee SLA and 24×7 support |
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