I have recently started recommending and installing Google Apps solutions for real small clients who do not have a real need for and/or cannot afford a Microsoft Exchange solution. With this in mind, I wanted to take a few minutes to explain why and when I think Google Apps is the right solution.

In my opinion the target company for Google Apps is a small 1 - 5 person shop that does not have a real client/server domain. This means they do not have a file server and are not willing to purchase one. Normally startups fall into this category. If they are willing to purchase a file server I will always recommend Microsoft Small Business Server 2003 which includes Microsoft Exchange Server 2003. I of course only recommend the Small Business Server version to clients that are not large enough to require Microsoft Server 2003 Standard or Enterprise.

Google Apps gives you the following features:

• Company Name Based Email - To me there is nothing worse than seeing companyname@hotmail or any other non-custom domain email addresses (companyname@aol.com is the absolute worst thing you can do). With Google Apps it is very easy and cheap (sometimes even free) to have your email address be - yourname@companyname.com.

• Gmail Interface - Google Apps uses the Gmail interface that is easy to use and many people are already familiar with.

• Web Access - With Google Apps you can access your email from anywhere that you can get on the internet.

• Collaborative Calendaring - Google Apps includes Google Calendar which gives you the ability to share appointments and tasks with other team members. This is really important for service based companies.

That is just a few of the features Google Apps offers and I am not saying that you do not get those features with Microsoft Exchange Server. I am however saying that you can get those features for a very low cost ($50/year per user).

So for startups and really small companies Google Apps offers a very cost effective solution that still gives them many of the features of a real enterprise based collaborative software solution like Microsoft Exchange server.

Just to make sure I am clear, I do recommend Microsoft Exchange Server for companies that can afford it and/or are bigger than just a few users.