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Google has been rapidly expanding its offerings for businesses and individuals in recent years. They’ve been aggressively expanding their apps, especially when it comes to apps on other platforms (like the Maps app for iOS). Google really does have a finger in every tech pie out there and they want to keep it that way. The world of business is no exception, and Google has been providing their Google Apps Suite for Business for some time. It’s constantly being improved and it has helped thousands of small businesses grow.

Google’s Apps for Business

Google has a great suite of apps available to any business willing to pay for their service and support. It can be completely worth it, depending on your business and your needs. You get four main services with Google Apps for Business: Gmail, Google Calendar, Google Drive, and Google Docs. These can solve your business’ communication and organizational needs, if you let them.
Currently, you can pay $5 per user/employee per month without a contract, or you can pay $50 per year per user with a one-year contract. Not sure if it’s something worth investing in for your business? Let’s take a look at what you get.
Gmail

Gmail came onto the email scene in 2004 as a beta service and in 2007 to the public. It’s free, but when you get it through Google Apps for Business, you get a specialized account where you can add users, have additional storage space, (25gb to be exact) and generally have more control over all options in the email suite.
It’s easy to transfer over a previous business email client – emails will be forwarded to your new Gmail address and it doesn’t take long to set up. The number one reason Gmail is great for business is that it never goes down. Yep. Never.
Ok, maybe if some apocalyptic event happened like Godzilla eating the internet would Gmail go down.
But realistically, you’re looking at one of, if not the most reliable email service on the market. Employees still have options for customizing how they handle their email independently, and can take advantage of all of the great features of Gmail. For me, having the ability to rapidly search through all of my email accurately is enough to justify switching over!
Google Calendar

Google Calendar is a versatile calendar system that you can use to organize your company and its employees. Once calendars are shared amongst employees, it’s easy to see when they are free for a meeting or any other reason to get together. You can get rather creative with the calendar, using it to schedule assignments, manage vacations, or prepare for projects by assigning tasks by date and time.
Google Docs / Google Drive

Google has recently merged its Google Docs offerings with Google Drive. The two make a powerful incentive for a business to switch to Google Apps for Business. If your business handles a lot of text documents or spreadsheets to get important work done, Google Docs has you covered.
With Google Docs, employees can collaborate in real-time over any document [Only registered and activated users can see links. ]. The cloud storage provided by Google Drive means any document is backed up and easily shared between any employee who uses Google’s services in your business. Additionally, you and your employees will have greater access to your documents. Mobile access is easy, as well as accessing from any device that has an internet connection. This gives you more flexibility, especially when working on the go.