According to a recent survey by Accredited Supplier Google Apps is set for growth amongst the small businesses of the UK. Google Apps is the suite of programmes Google provides for free on line including word processing, spread sheets and presentation software. In the poll of 1,400 Microsoft customers 13% were going to switch in the next 12 months with 22% undecided. Not switching companies came in at 36% with 29% 'not aware'.
The release of Windows 7 is not looking like a big deal with small businesses with 62% saying they are not going to upgrade and 30% unsure. Not good news for Microsoft.
I have previously blogged about going over to Gmail and Google Docs. Gmail is great and it continues to prove a more productive email client than Outlook. Google Docs does not offer all the features of the Microsoft Office products but has the attraction of being available from any PC, using only a browser and is ideal for collaberation. The efficiency gains that can be had from Google Apps will be important for any small business.
This can only get better with the launch of Google Wave with the APIs developers are working on now will mean the ability of a small business to update Web sites, social media such as blogs and social networks using just a browser will it a simpler and quicker process. The easier it is to update the more often a business can do it. From a search engine optimisation point of view a Web site that is updated more often will be treated as more relevant and therefore rank more highly.
