Review of Google Apps

Following from my post about Software As A Service, I promised to review the Google Apps Beta service once I had used it for a while and put it through its paces. You need to try something for a couple of months before you find the problems! An example of this I recently hit was some great hardware I got cheap. Turned out it wouldn't work in Vista as it promised because it had a dodgy firmware version. Thankfully I got a refund no probs.

To recap, Google Apps is a customisable, brandable, free service from Google that provides email, calendar, chat, website, word processing and spreadsheet functions. It is planned to compete with Microsoft Outlook, Word and Exel.

So the question, should you give up your normal office applications yet and migrate to these software as a service alternatives? In a word NO!!!

See my other article for discussions of the principles. My conclusion then was cover a couple of potential problems yourself and it is a great idea.

The main advantage with services like Google Apps is they run within any web browser on any machine. This is also the biggest disadvantage. Web browsers, as the name states are small limited programs that visually display web sites, and let you navigate them. However this restricts the possible functionality of all websites. They are designed to prevent anything you look at from accessing your computer. This is why a website will never compete with a normal program running on your PC.

A lot of the functions in Office 2003 are available in Google Apps. Due to limitations of what is possible in a web browser, the features are much harder to find and use. The ways you can edit a document are not as sophisticated as is possible in Word. The next version of Office will move the barrier higher as Google get nearer and nearer to where it was. As an example a web page cannot be controlled by voice commands in the way it will be possible to control a word processor running on your PC.

I do uneqivically recommend the email features of Google Apps. It is head and shoulders above using the normal POP service provided by your internet company. The reasons why are described next - be warned its a long list :)

1. Google email will work with your domain name. Find a better service and you can leave without changing your email address!
2. You can create an unlimited number of email mailboxes, email aliases (think nicknames that forward to one of your other email mailboxes) and email lists (an alias that forwards to any number of other email accounts on the web).
3. It's quick. Email is delivered immediately its sent. My old email service could take 10 minutes to send a test message to myself.
4. 2Gb of storage per mailbox. You will have to try very hard to exceed that. I have just checked my PC and all my email from the last 5 years is only 1.5Gb!
5. All email mailboxes are filtered for spam by Google at their end. In other words you don't have to download everything to your computer and delete the ones your computer decides are spam. The spam filtering is free. And it is extremely good. I now get 2/3 spam messages a month compared to 10 a day with my old spam system (cloudmark) which was hot compared to most. Nothing important has ever been marked as spam in error. You can use the google web interface to review spam messages and release any you actually want.
6. Nothing is appended by google to sent or received messages.
7. One way you can access all your email mailboxes is from any web browser. This can be customised free to show your company name and logo if required. There are unobtrusive ads on this web page (same as in google search) unless you upgrade.
8. The other way is over an encrypted connection from your usual email client such as Microsoft Outlook. Normally, anything running on your network can eavesdrop when your mail program routinely looks for email. Every time you check for email your email account password is sent completely unprotected. I have never come across a service that allows secure email collection before. Outlook has a checkbox to turn it on if supported at the other end. This stops your password and your emails being eves-dropped.
9. It is usually not possible to use any outgoing (SMTP) service other than the one provided by your internet company for security reasons. Again google provide enhanced encryption and security for outgoing messages that works over any internet connection.
10. If you wish, all email (incoming and outgoing) will be kept on the google servers after you have retrieved it. It can be put in an archived state which effectively makes it disappear until you search for it. We all know Google for search and this is a great feature.
11. When accessing email in a web browser all related incoming and outgoing messages are grouped as a conversation so they appear as one large message.
12. There are loads of options for conditional filtering or forwarding of email.

In summary - it is good!

If you studied the above you will understand that at no point did you need to go to Google in a web browser. The email side (including the web browser email interface) of Google Apps is clearly ready for mainstream release. It is good enough for use in any size business. The rest is not. The web interface is unusable by all but the most advanced user. It is hard work. For example some calendar screens have two save buttons, one at the top and one at the bottom of the page. Press the wrong one and it doesn't save. The interface is very inconsistent between different parts of the applications. I could not recommend this aspect of Google Apps. Even sharing any access to a document between members of the same group was next to impossible.

Once it is out of beta testing and the interface is refined I will have another look. At the moment forget the features other than email. I have lots more niggles, and loads of features the system badly needs to be properly useful in a shared environment, but as its beta I'm sure Google will fix them and it would not be fair to detail all of them here.

To sign up go to http://www.google.com/a/ It's all totally free! You can even try the premium service free. This gives you more storage, ability to turn off the ads in the web email interface, an uptime guarantee and access to technical support. All the problems I raised they just logged them to be fixed by the developers.

Chris

Living with HD TV!

As I have a HD ready TV and Hi-Fi system I have been unable to resist getting a HD input source to test it :).

The early versions of the two HD DVD systems were awful according to all the reviews. Rebuying all my favourite films on HD disk would be expensive, if indeed they were available.

My media PC is no-where near powerful enough to play HD content downloaded from the net (It's a Pentium 3, 1Ghz - Great for music and normal def video playback). I can't get cable so my only possibility was Sky. I have stated my opinion about them in one of my first articles on my blog.

Basically I have switched my ADSL to Sky. I now get twice the speed (16Mb) for £10 a month, saving me about £12 by cancelling my old deal. Add to this the fact Sky now give away Sky+ free with Sky HD, that means we can get both products for £10 - it used to be £20. Therefore I get HD, recording and better broadband and still save £2 a month! I also got a good deal on my Sky HD hardware. Before christmas Curry's did an offer that you got the system installed for £200 (normally £360) when you made a certain purchase. This included my Sky HD set top box with full recording abilities. My opinion of Sky is improving!!

Before I continue with TV, my Sky broadband has been good. The free hardware is shipped completely configured, so once my old kit stopped logging in I plugged in the Sky router and it all worked. I have tested their technical support and was not impressed, but as its working at the moment I am very happy with it! The free Sky router is better than my old 3com one!

All the mags who reviewed Sky HD when it was launched concluded you need hi-def and once you see the picture, you'll never look back. I was scepticle. Was it really that good?

The first thing that hit me was the audio! All of a sudden a normal program like Planet Earth broadcast on BBC had stunning top-quality surround sound. During a filmed thunder storm I could hear rainfall all around me. And the HD pictures when Sky decides to broadcast them at full quality are breathtaking.

The new series of Last of the Summer Wine has been made in high def. When the men are chatting over a drink in Ivy's cafe the picture appears nearly 3D. The picture is so clear, your eyes can pick out the background and the subjects as if they are on different planes. Barry was sitting on his stairs chatting and I could inspect the wall paper and see what a bad job had been done of hanging it and how dirty it really was.

I do enjoy it. I now want more and more programmes in HD! As with most normal channels on Sky the HD channels have around 10% new content in a week, the rest is repeated episodes that were broadcast last week. Even the HD box office channels have very few new movies in a month. No need to repeat them so often Sky because we can all record them!

However, not all the material broadcast on the 10 Sky HD channels is made in HD. Some is up-converted, and most on Sky One HD is broadcast as-is eg, the Simpsons. The picture is no better than the quality from a normal Sky box and upconverted.

That brings me nicely onto my next point. Upconversion. All TVs have a 'native resolution' which is basically the number of rows of dots its display is made with. Normal TVs have 576 lines, and the two forms of HD are 720 and 1080 lines. When a 720 line display receives a picture in 576 it has to 'interpolate' the picture, which means converting the picture and making up the extra 150 lines with the goal of making the end result look better.

The market is awash with cheap DVD players that offer upconversion. I can't see the point as I already have an upconversion system inside my projector? Reviews of early HD ready TVs from a few years back concluded that a standard resolution LCD TV with good processing technology produced better results than a cheap HD-ready equivalent with poor processing.

How does a proper HD input compare to a decent standard definiton input for example, my progressive scan DVD player? In my opinion it actually does compare. The upconverter inside my cinema projector, the Hitachi PJ-TX200 really works well. The quality of the picture from a normal DVD of computer animated Disney films like Ice Age is almost as breath-taking.

As with normal resolution broadcasts, not all HD programmes that are broadcast are the same quality. Not all programmes have surround sound audio. I wish there was a proper labelling system made public that stated how hi-def each programme actually is. Fast motion on DVDs and the better quality HD broadcasts is fine. However some programmes the motion is decidedly dodgy. As the connection out of my Sky receiver is always 1080i then processed by my projector the issue must be at the Sky end.

I do like Sky+ (Sky's personal recording system). When I see something in a TV guide I want to watch, I switch the tele on and program it to record. Then when I have time I flick through the list of stuff that is recorded and pick what I want to watch. If my mood changes or I am interrupted I can stop it and come back to it. If I leave a live programme to check my cooking and take longer tending to something than a minute, when I get back to the TV I can rewind it, without needing to remember to ask it to record! You can now also set bookmarks within your recordings - very handy when you get to the best bit in a really good hi-def programme. I did have an accident that deleted everything from my Sky+ disk. Luckily within 2 weeks I had re-recorded most of the programmes I lost!!

To sum up, could I live without HD now I have had it for 2 months? Yes, but I'd rather not!! The picture is good, but a standard definition input to my HD projector still more than holds it's ground. I really enjoy full-quality 5.1 Dolby digital surround sound when a TV programme supports it, though not all do yet. I'm also very happy with the combined deal on offer from Sky!

Chris

Software as a service

Wow that title is the latest buzzword!

Every IT Director who mentions that will be in for a good pay rise from his impressed boss!!

To define Software as a Service it is the idea of renting your IT software, or even your IT hardware for a monthly fee. All you have to do is pay each month, and you get the IT facilities you have been promised by your service provider. For example Google have just launched their beta (not yet finished) Google Apps service. All one needs is a web browser connected to the internet anywhere in the world, and you can access a good word processing and spreadsheet service. All your work is stored on Google's systems.

It is in contrast to buying the products needed and installing them for an upfront capital fee, and then having access to them forever (in theory) for no more charge. For example, buying a PC and printer, buying a copy of Windows software, an office application suite and a finance program.

Reportedly, "Google are firing an arrow" across Microsoft's ship with their recent launch of Google Apps, Google Docs and Spreadsheets, and other integrated features. They are reportedly aiming for the Microsoft Office user base. I will be reviewing the specific service from Google Apps very soon in another post on here. The features are promising but are not very well integrated yet.

For now I want to talk about the principle, the advantages and the disadvantages of software as a service.

I have no doubts this is going to become a very large market. How much a provider can charge people to use the service remains to be seen, but when normal competitive market forces take charge I don't think the fee to each user will be much. The Google Beta is available free at the moment.

For the home user, the concept of accessing a good word processor cheaper than buying an office suite is going to be too good to true. If your PC gets a virus your documents are safe and secure and cannot become infected. If your PC breaks, you get a new one, plug it into the internet and all your favourite programs are available instantly. On your lunch break at work you can write a personal letter. When you get home you can print it and post it on your personal stationary. No need to worry how to take it home. No need to worry about backups. You don't at the moment but you should!

For the small business (say less than 10 employees) an added advantage is that everyone can find and share the documents easily. No need to pay a consultant to configure a file server, make the disk available to all your network clients and train everyone how to save onto the file server's disk. How many times have you searched all the computers in the company to track down something written by someone who is out the office, or no longer with the company? Google is famous for search, and needless to say you can easily search all your company's files. No need for all your staff to be in the office. They can use their broadband link at home to access all the company's documents. It is even possible for more than one person in more than one location to edit a document at a time, a feature called collaborating. Bill in the UK and Eric in Germany can both work on a joint report very easily and efficiently.

For the larger business I expect you will need your own IT department to provide a customised service specific to your company's needs. Applications that employees can access will all be thoroughly tested and controlled to ensure they can be supported and can meet the needs of the company. You will want to take your own backups so you are confident they are safe and are managed to your standards. For example you will keep a backup from every day within a month. Then from the 1st day of every month for 3 years. Then backups from 1st January and 1st July will be kept forever. These will all be in fire-safe locations. Should anything be needed from a backup you know how long it will take to locate the correct media and restore from it. I still think some large company's will use internet based services for specific tasks, such as collaborating with remote workers, then copying the file to your company servers once they are complete. Accessing your internet filestore would be something of a lot of value to a competitor!

In summary there is a lot of benefits of this new idea, aside from spreading the cost monthly and not having old computers that are too slow to be any use in 3 years.

I have two principle concerns.

The one I will mention first is program updates and new versions. People don't like change. With bought software you are in control. You don't want the new version - simple, don't buy it. With a managed service the provider can and will change the service. They don't have to ask you, and if you don't like the new version, tough! You are tied to a contract and all your files are on their system.

My second is a very big concern. With legs and lots of hair! Longevity.

After you have written a letter you save it. Why? So you can access it again in the future to save time if you have to send it again. So you can copy it if you need to send a similar letter. So there is a record and you don't need to print a spare copy on paper and put it in your cupboard. Ask yourself how long you may want to go back in time when you search for something. If a company answered anything other than 'forever' to this question I would be very worried! When I started in IT I worked for a very large consultancy company. Half my time was spent trying to get documents off superceded systems, 5 1/4 floppy disks written by Wang's because people had a need for them.

What happens in 3 years time when there is a new technology? Google will not have customers for the old 'service' anymore and could switch it off. Bang. All your work has gone. How do you get it back? They will probably promise a migration path to the replacement service, but they don't have to and probably wouldn't disclose the charge for this in advance. What if the company providing your service becomes the next Enron and goes into administration? The chances are slim but it IS possible. More likely, suppose I have a billing dispute with my provider? If I don't pay they can lock my service!

Google do offer a 99.9% uptime guarantee to premium (paying) customers. Ah that's good it won't ever go down. Dig into the guarantee a bit deeper. If it does go down what then? Well you get a few free days extra service IF you know it went down and IF you claim! So you have lost a vital report that could mean the difference between win or loose in a multi-million dollar law suit. Who looses out? What is the uptime guarantee worth? 20p!! No, the guarantee was only for email, not the documents service. It also guaranteed uptime, not that your files would be safe. Plus the service credit cannot be converted to cash. If they lost my data I would be off to someone better in a flash.

In short, you are no longer in control of where and how your data is stored, and you are just hoping that it will always be there when you want it. Trust me on this. It won't. No-one will offer a guarantee worth having to promise availability in 10 years unless I pay a fortune for it.

These concerns are still an issue with some bought software that has to 'phone home' when it is installed. In 10 years its phone home call won't be answered. You will be stuck in a time limited trial version. Check you can do what you want in trial mode with your programs before relying on them.

I'm amazed no one else has picked up on this problem, and I'm gonna try and get some answers to it, if there is one. My advice? When a new format is released, print all your important old stuff onto paper quickly! At least you can still read that in 50 years time when we no longer have electricity and everything is powered by fresh air! There is nothing in the IT world that can guarantee that. You think there is a computer in use today that will still work in 50 years time? I'm taking bets :) Got to make up for the global pension shortfall somehow lol.

Did I mention my specialism in IT was Business Critical servers (working on a 4 hour from problem to fix helpdesk with one of today's largest IT manufacturers), High Availability, Backups, Fault Tolerance, Disaster Recovery and Contingency planning?

Chris