15% Yes
85% No
The Big Question is an initiative between Computer
Weekly and recruitment consultancy PSD. Each week we put the Big
Question to top IT professionals to get their take on a current
talking point.
The launch of Google's Apps Premier Edition last month
extended Google's web-based office productivity software suite to
businesses. However, among the IT professionals polled for this
week's Big Question, few are even using the consumer version of
Google Apps.
One respondent, Alan Marsh of Allmi-Care, said, "The work
laptops came with
MS Office Pro, and at home I use the free
Office.org suite, so I have not really considered Google Apps."
Among those that had used Google Apps, there was widespread
enthusiasm for its functionality.
"Where it really comes into its own is on collaborative
projects," said one IT professional. "With Google Apps, we can
collaborate on documents and maintain a shared 'to do' list. It has
become a vital part of my toolkit."
He added that without the tool "we would have been emailing
spreadsheets to each other several times a day and still never been
sure that we were all working on the same version. So it was become
a vital part of my 'toolkit'."
Others said that also functionality of Google Apps was limited
the ability to access it through a web browser was invaluable.
"While the tools don't have the depth of functionality that the
Microsoft applications offer, the fact that I can work on my
documents on any machine - at home, at work or in an internet cafe
- is a huge plus."
And Peter Arwin of LHS International added, "Google Apps is
cheap and it works. In time, I do think it will become a via
alternative to other office products."
Related article:
Google offers Apps
for business
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