Google Apps in action

For the past couple of weeks, I have been setting up Google Apps to see how easy they are to use and to understand how good they are.

I have been using Google Docs, Spreadsheets GMail for some years now and I have always liked their ease of use and speed.

But, I have never, until now, taken my expereince of them further than basic use. Having set up hosted blogs with WordPress and configured them to how I wanted them to look and running,  I was hoping that it would be just as easy to set up Google Apps so that I could have a shared calendar, group email, and a wiki using several domains I own.

I was surprised at just how easy it was to set up the technologies. I, firstly set up the domains with the 'adventuretravelling.co.uk' as my main domain with two other domains 'under it'. This was easy to do with step by step instructions in the set up process. It was simply a matter of chaning the DNS records with the ISP (1and1) through which I had bought the domains.

The next step, email setup, was just as easy to do. Instead of using the IMAP and POP3 email system with 1and1, I changed email server details on 1and1 with the setting provided by Google (and following their instructions to the letter).

Within an hour of starting, I had configured all of my email accounts and domains so that I now have a great array of features and tools which only companies with an IT department and a host of servers in a temperature controlled server room could have achieved a few years ago.

The beauty is that setting up the Google Apps has not cost a penny.

In addition to the standard applications available to you in the free edition I have used, you can quickly add on a range of free or very cheap applications built by other companies to help your small business with other business activities. These applications integrate with your Google Apps so you, for example, set up a social CRM and (customer relationship management) system very well, very quickly and easily.

I have hooked up signed up for MailChimp to help me with my mailing list for my adventure travel website, Two for Africa, which updates subscribers with an email when I post a new entry onto the diary section.

Furthermore, I can now see all emails through my GMail application on my Android phone (a Samsung Galaxy S II) for my personal GMail account and my business accounts. It's seamless and easy to set up.

I am very impressed with Google's cloud computing system. Small businesses are going to like the advantages and savings they can make using Google Apps.