Well, I've gone and done it now...background first:
been running my own server w/ IIS (web hosting) and Exchange system w/ Outlook on my computer (workstation and laptop). Tried Touch Down as Angus recommended, but it wasn't working easily enough, so I took the plunge w/ Google Apps Premier which now serves as the email host and coordinates Email, Contacts and Calendar functions and has a 'Sync' program to allow connecting through Outlook 2007 to ease the transition.
All of this is precipitated by the upgrade to an HTC Incredible (like the Nexus One??) smart phone. Finally, a good 3-4 hours of following the directions, changing settings and funneling another website's emails and another gmail account into the newly constructed Google Apps Premier account, I'm happy with the results.
The Email/Calendar/Contacts may be assessed through the internet browser by going to http://google.com/a/website.com, opening outlook (after installation of the google apps sync utility) or via the Android.
Email notes: all folders imported from Outlook on the home workstation were integrated properly. I don't care for the feel of the google internet interface. Outlook wins hands down on the comfort feel. I can more easily send emails from the other accounts through the google Gmail interface.
Contacts notes: what a nightmare-I am very comfortable w/ my folders of contacts in Outlook-as in a folder for Friends, a folder for Suppliers, a folder for...., but in Google Apps there is only one large general folder. You can set up Groups, but that seems to be more for mass sending of email (as in email groups), still it is a method of grouping. The groups that were setup in my phone did not propagate to the Gmail server or the home Outlook, so that's not an effective solution.
Calendar notes: Outlook's method of a Calendar is to have one calendar and different labels-I have made extensive use of labels such as an orange label was for my Personal appointments, dk blue was for my Bus Appointments, Grn was for Project Scheduled, and about 7 additional distinct settings; colors played a big impact on my calendar which makes it easy to quickly glance and find info. Google Calendar has the root calendar and additional calendars as you see fit to make. I have essentially pared down my Outlook Category labels and made each one into a Google Calendar. The Sync program that translates the online Google Calendar to my Outlook Calendar is a little funky-since the addition of so many Google Calendars, I had to choose to overlay the calendar's in Outlook. All appointments are always seen, but some may be muted which indicates it exists on another calendar (as in muted Dk Blue).
The good news: a change made to the Calendar and/or Contacts quickly propagates to the Google Apps Premier server and is reflected in the browser's email/calendar/contacts interface as it does on the Android (HTC Incredible in my case). The time to do so was around 1-2 minutes in my off the cuff example. The color coordination from the Google Calendar chosen from the browser did not flow through to Outlooks new Calendar appointment, but it did show up (without color).
Bottom line: for my business, I'm trying out the Google Apps Premier for email hosting as well as integrated calendar and contacts functionality, but do have concerns about all the data being 'out there'. Part of the package is filtrations/security from Postini, a wholly Google owned company, which will actually save an annual subscription to Cloudmark which I had been using to filter email to my Exchange email account.
Google Apps Premier costs $50/annually per account-you may set up a number of aliases. For example, you may use office@yourdomain.com as a collection point for all shady email address needs, then if it gets overrun by spam or 'stolen', you may delete it while not sacrificing your main email address. I have three but will likely add a couple more. One dedicated to your payroll and banking might not be a bad idea, incredible amounts of spam have been a way of life for many, many years while hosting my own Exchange server-maybe it will change w/ Gmail's solution
If you have made the switch, share your thoughts, from a contractors point of view :thumbsup:
been running my own server w/ IIS (web hosting) and Exchange system w/ Outlook on my computer (workstation and laptop). Tried Touch Down as Angus recommended, but it wasn't working easily enough, so I took the plunge w/ Google Apps Premier which now serves as the email host and coordinates Email, Contacts and Calendar functions and has a 'Sync' program to allow connecting through Outlook 2007 to ease the transition.
All of this is precipitated by the upgrade to an HTC Incredible (like the Nexus One??) smart phone. Finally, a good 3-4 hours of following the directions, changing settings and funneling another website's emails and another gmail account into the newly constructed Google Apps Premier account, I'm happy with the results.
The Email/Calendar/Contacts may be assessed through the internet browser by going to http://google.com/a/website.com, opening outlook (after installation of the google apps sync utility) or via the Android.
Email notes: all folders imported from Outlook on the home workstation were integrated properly. I don't care for the feel of the google internet interface. Outlook wins hands down on the comfort feel. I can more easily send emails from the other accounts through the google Gmail interface.
Contacts notes: what a nightmare-I am very comfortable w/ my folders of contacts in Outlook-as in a folder for Friends, a folder for Suppliers, a folder for...., but in Google Apps there is only one large general folder. You can set up Groups, but that seems to be more for mass sending of email (as in email groups), still it is a method of grouping. The groups that were setup in my phone did not propagate to the Gmail server or the home Outlook, so that's not an effective solution.
Calendar notes: Outlook's method of a Calendar is to have one calendar and different labels-I have made extensive use of labels such as an orange label was for my Personal appointments, dk blue was for my Bus Appointments, Grn was for Project Scheduled, and about 7 additional distinct settings; colors played a big impact on my calendar which makes it easy to quickly glance and find info. Google Calendar has the root calendar and additional calendars as you see fit to make. I have essentially pared down my Outlook Category labels and made each one into a Google Calendar. The Sync program that translates the online Google Calendar to my Outlook Calendar is a little funky-since the addition of so many Google Calendars, I had to choose to overlay the calendar's in Outlook. All appointments are always seen, but some may be muted which indicates it exists on another calendar (as in muted Dk Blue).
The good news: a change made to the Calendar and/or Contacts quickly propagates to the Google Apps Premier server and is reflected in the browser's email/calendar/contacts interface as it does on the Android (HTC Incredible in my case). The time to do so was around 1-2 minutes in my off the cuff example. The color coordination from the Google Calendar chosen from the browser did not flow through to Outlooks new Calendar appointment, but it did show up (without color).
Bottom line: for my business, I'm trying out the Google Apps Premier for email hosting as well as integrated calendar and contacts functionality, but do have concerns about all the data being 'out there'. Part of the package is filtrations/security from Postini, a wholly Google owned company, which will actually save an annual subscription to Cloudmark which I had been using to filter email to my Exchange email account.
Google Apps Premier costs $50/annually per account-you may set up a number of aliases. For example, you may use office@yourdomain.com as a collection point for all shady email address needs, then if it gets overrun by spam or 'stolen', you may delete it while not sacrificing your main email address. I have three but will likely add a couple more. One dedicated to your payroll and banking might not be a bad idea, incredible amounts of spam have been a way of life for many, many years while hosting my own Exchange server-maybe it will change w/ Gmail's solution
If you have made the switch, share your thoughts, from a contractors point of view :thumbsup: