The pros and cons of Google Apps

The argument for

1. Low up-front cost of only $US50 per user per year

2. Distributed data centres enable quick access to customer information worldwide

3. Search uses Google’s innovative technology — a company with a proven online heritage

4. Collaboration allows everybody to work together across multiple applications and common services

5. Open standards and simplified IT environment that leverages Google’s infrastructure instead of in-house architecture

The argument against

1. Information is controlled and maintained by Google, which forces a reliance on Google’s enterprise security and backup reputation

2. Many corporate requirements cannot always be met with Google Apps alone and require third party add-ons

3. No proven track record in meeting enterprise support needs

4. Lack of a clear product roadmap for companies

5. Google has experienced significant downtime, and has already broken its 99.9 per cent uptime SLA

Read more about Google Apps in the enterprise is CIO's indepth report, Going Google.