I love bacon, but this post isn’t about bacon.
It’s about Google. Or, more precisely, Google Apps for Business, which I entrust with delivering my business email. Which it turns out is a really, really smart decision.
I woke up the other morning and discovered that my Web site was down. Completely inaccessible.
My Web site is down. But you can find me here on Twitter. Or email me at daria @ [my web domain] .com. Thanks! pic.twitter.com/Lg4tGXTypt
— Daria Steigman (@dariasteigman) August 12, 2014
A call to my hosting company and I discovered that the problem had also taken out their Web site. (Somehow that made me feel better.) The non-technical explanation was that a giant router that they use to talk to their servers wasn’t routing anything. And, because it wasn’t their problem to fix, they had no timetable for a resolution.
It turns out that a lot of people also lost access to email. But I didn’t because my email is routed through Google instead of through OneWorldHosting. It didn’t occur to me then, but having different core pieces of my online presence running on different platforms is a good practice.
See? Google saved my bacon.
Speaking of Google Apps, did you know that there are over 190 million people using Google Apps?
Three more cool facts about Google Apps.
I attended a presentation on Google Apps a few weeks ago at Google’s Washington offices and picked up a few useful nuggets.
Android For Work: This new enterprise-level feature lets you separate your corporate data from your personal data on your smartphone. This is a next step in the bring-your-own-device (BYOD) evolution because it’s supposed to enable companies to wipe just the business data from your phone if the device is lost or stolen (or you change jobs).
Your words are private: A big concern for privacy advocates (and for me, too, though I finally just gave in), is that Google scans most Gmail in order to better understand its users and to deliver relevant advertising (see below). Google does not, however, scan the email of Google Apps subscribers.
No ads: Okay, I knew this one already. But it’s still nice not to see the advertising at the top of my inbox when I log in every morning.
Do you use Google Apps? How has it helped you and your business?
Photo by Ed Yourdon (Flickr).
