Is Google Apps right for your small biz?

You likely know by now that Google has renamed and upgraded its small business “office suite”, now known as Google Apps. In the official announcement, I think Google goes a bit overboard in its enthusiasm:

Now, I’m excited to tell you that our baby has finally graduated and is entering the business world. Google Apps Premier Edition is a new version designed to take on all the challenges presented by businesses with complex IT needs.

Please. All the challenges? Like, when I’m on an airplane and I need to run some calculations in Google Docs & Spreadsheets … oh, but I can’t because I’m on an airplane and not connected to the Internet. That’s known problem #1. Other potential problems would include things like security and privacy, not to mention customer service. The new paid version of Google Apps does offer phone support, but how good will it be? Hopefully, great.

If you do a lot of collaboration, Google Apps may be the perfect fit, and the premier edition certainly has the pricing right: At $50 per account per year it’s affordable to anyone and everyone. But before you sign up, make sure you know what you’re getting, and what you’re getting into. I don’t think it’s something that will replace your traditional office software anytime soon, but it might be a good supplement.

Background: Read Google Targets Small Biz, August 28, 2006, about the launch of Google Apps for Your Domain.

[tags]google, google apps, small business[/tags]