Google Docs
Austin Ngau
ISM 158 4/15/2010
Spring 2010
What is Google Docs?
• Create documents,
spreadsheets, and
presentations online.
• Share and collaborate work in
real time
• Safely Store and Organize your
work
• Control access of who can view
your documents
• Securely access documents
anywhere with Internet access
• [1]
Cloud Computing
“With cloud computing, the software programs you use aren't run from your
personal computer, but are rather stored on servers accessed via the Internet,
typically within a web browser. The browser accesses the web-based application
and an instance of the application is opened within the browser window. Once
launched, the web-based application operates and behaves like a standard
desktop application; the only difference is that the application and the working
documents remain on the host's cloud servers. “
says Michael Miller from InformIT. [2]
[3]
[4]
Market Existence
• Back in November of 2008,
OpenOffice was said to be five
times more popular than Google
docs. 5% compared to 1%[5]
• In September of 2009, An IDC
surveyed 262 senior managers at
various businesses to conclude,
Google Docs is now widely used at
1 in 5 workplaces [6]
• A recent Forrester survey recently
showed that 87% of corporate
employees use email, 79% use
word processing and 71% use
spreadsheets. On contrast only
24% use web conferencing tools
and just 20% use documentsharing web sites like Google Docs.
[7]
Business View - Objectives
"The problem is people work on teams whose members aren't in the
same location, so the opportunity is to build better Web-based tools
to do that distributed work," says Ted Schadler, a Forrester tech
industry analyst. [7]
“Google making a few major bets: That what people want most is
real-time collaboration on documents, that they'll do it entirely in the
cloud, and that, when it comes to features, less is more.” quoted from
Thomas Claborn from InformationWeek. [8]
Business View - Benefits
• Up to 50 users with the given permission can view and modify
documents in real time. Users have an on-screen chat window to
help communicate with one another that also lets you view who
modified what and when.
• You can save your documents and spreadsheets to your own
computer in DOC, XLS, CSV, ODS, ODT, PDF, RTF and HTML
formats.
• No matter the file extension, users can store all their documents on
Googles “clouds” aka Servers. (Note: Up to 1gb, additional storage
for $.25 per gb per year)
• Highly accessible anywhere with an Internet connection
• Completely Free, good for companies on a budget
Business View - Cons
• Walking into a market which Microsoft if over 90% dominate in the
office productivity market
• Security over files, since they will be on Google’s servers instead
inside company firewalls.
• Not as robust as MS Word, which offers more formatting options,
more sophisticated styles and templates, more flexibility in page
layout, etc.
Business - Feedback
"Google Apps saves us millions of dollars over five years … provides us
with worldwide disaster recovery, unprecedented integration and device
independence."Todd Pierce – VP of IT Genentech [9]
“… everyone will benefit from Google's security controls, which will
provide a higher level of security for City data than exists with our current
system.“ Randy Levin – CTO City of LA [10]
“"With Google Apps, everybody is running the same copy because it all
comes from a central server. That's a more secure and a more powerful
way to run your business."Marc Benioff – Chairman and CEO Salesforce
[11]
Business - Reasons to Switch
•
•
•
•
•
[12]
Highlights:
Convenience
Price
Universal access
Collaboration
No upgrade Cycle
Business - Product
Although Google Doc is 100% free, for the more demanding users who require more
space and rely more heavily on security.. Google offers Apps Premier at $50 a year.
Which include the following:
• Features unique to Google Apps Premier Edition include: 10 GBs of storage per
user – Offers about 100 times the storage of the average corporate mailbox,
eliminating the need to frequently delete email.
• APIs for business integration – APIs for data migration, user provisioning, single
sign-on, and mail gateways enable businesses to further customize the service for
unique environments.
• 99.9 % uptime – Service Level Agreements for high availability of Gmail, with
Google monitoring and crediting customers if service levels are not met.
• 24x7 support for critical issues – Includes extended business hours telephone
support for administrators.
• Advertising optional – Advertising is turned off by default, but businesses can
choose to include Google’s relevant target-based ads if desired.
• $50 per user account per year – Simple and affordable annual fee makes it
practical to offer these applications to everyone in the organization. [13]
Sources
[1] http://www.google.com/google-d-s/tour1.html
[2] http://www.informit.com/articles/article.aspx?p=1315442
[3] http://www.makemylink.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/Global-Computing.jpg
[4] http://softwareforcloudcomputing.com/ms/005/img/cloud.jpg
[5] http://www.infoworld.com/t/applications/openoffice-five-times-more-popular-google-docs-514
[6] http://www.infoworld.com/d/cloud-computing/google-docs-widely-used-1-in-5-workplaces-132
[7] http://content.usatoday.com/communities/technologylive/post/2010/04/google-unveils-souped-upgoogle-docs-for-corporate-use/1
[8] http://www.informationweek.com/news/storage/reviews/showArticle.jhtml?artic
leID=24202374
[9] http://www.google.com/apps/intl/en/business/customers.html
[10] http://www.google.com/apps/intl/en/business/customers.html
[11] http://www.google.com/apps/intl/en/business/customers.html
[12] http://www.informationweek.com/news/storage/reviews/showArticle.jhtml;jsessi
onid=FB1WZRYSZJPSFQE1GHOSKHWATMY32JVN?articleID=224202374&pgno=3&queryText=&i
sPrev
[13] http://www.google.com/intl/en/press/pressrel/google_apps.html