A few months ago I migrated all things Rev2 into Google Apps, and having a startpage, mail, documents, and calendar application at your finger-tips with your custom @rev2.org has been magical to say the least. Now, Google plans to bring this magic and make it easier for schools, teams, and businesses to use the Google applications with the newly launched Google Apps Team Edition.
Notably without Gmail (which is what makes the whole thing a breeze), Google Apps comes with Docs, Calendar, Talk, and Startpage. The way it works is that users’ supply their company, team, or school’s e-mail address and go through the regular process of registering by entering their name, e-mail address, password, captcha, the regular deal. When activated with the original address (so, for example, Google knows I really am a Rev2 employee), users are given access to the features.
Yes, it’s nothing new, nothing world-changing, nothing teams and businesses could try otherwise with the regular Google Apps service. What it does, however, is make getting started, setup, and running a whole lot simpler and easier for mainstream users. Now, users can sign themselves up to their business’ or team’s Google Apps setup themselves and don’t have to pass the administrative hurdle of changing MX records or getting their whole company to switch over and causing the IT department to have a nervous break-down.
What Google is doing in the online office space has to be applauded — being one myself, they are rapidly switching over customers from the standard $400 desktop piece of badware to a new style of collaboration, work ethic, and productivity. If the future and revolution of web office is to be, Google is a front-runner no-doubt. Embedded below is the official demo video.
