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This is what my field IT network engineer emailed our folks in Central America in regards to the use of Outlook as an email when using Google apps.
We realized there is no longer a good reason to keep on using it, I know his email sounds like a commercial but it is genuine.
As you know Outlook implies PST files, that need to be backed up, copied once we reformat a computer, if it grows too big becomes a problem, if they are popping and the connection is slow or get interrupted they run the risk of Outlook restarting the download process again so they get duplicate emails and well i can continue naming issues. We are going to enforce the use of the Gmail interface since there is no excuse now that the offline feature is available. Here is the email he sent.
Hello,
Speaking of Outlook...the best option available would be to not use it and use instead the Google Apps web interface (start.yourdomain.com). Google Apps provides so many options and features and is constantly getting even better-you already have shared and private contact lists, shared and private calendars, high-speed secure email, shared docs and spreadsheets, intra-office chat and video, excellent search and organize capabilities, etc. and most of this is now available on mobile devices as well, and it is all synchronized. Google Apps gives you full and secure access to all of your emails, appointments, contacts, docs, spreadsheets, etc. from any Internet-connected computer in the world, most handheld devices as well--and you aren't tied to the computer that Outlook is installed on. Gmail has an Offline feature now that allows you to open Google Apps, read and compose emails, check your calendar, etc. on your computer with no Internet connection, and the way that Gmail allows you to organize and search emails is also superior.
When Outlook is used you lose all of these features and gain nothing in return. Outlook made sense when POP and IMAP were the only options for email access but now the web interfaces are much better and offer many more services than Outlook. In fact the only reason now to use Outlook is as a client to an MS Exchange Server like we have here in DC.
Would you guys consider switching to the web interface rather than using Outlook? If not, what are your objections? We are considering removing Outlook from the software package offered to future Field Offices and it would be useful to find out if there is any reason not to do this. Mario and I have talked about this several times and cannot find a single advantage to using Outlook, and many advantages to using Google Apps. Que opinan?
Saludos,
But ... this is the reply from the field
Rog,
You should be hired by Google as their chief sales rep!
My only experience with Google Apps is the first few months of the project start up when we did not have Outlook set up. For me it was frankly nightmarish to use Google Apps instead of Outlook. I could not wait to the day we’d have Outlook set up. I think the difference between your opinion and mine is that you are a professional and expert user of IT tools and see huge advantages to the set of options you mention. To a regular user like myself, I will normally not use 90% of the tools you mention and the key criteria for preferring one service over the other will be user-friendliness. In my opinion Outlook is one million times easier to use for the average user. The way Google Apps organizes your mail is, for me, to say it politely, horrendous and extremely unhelpful J. The labeling is unusable and the fact that mails are bunched together as opposed to just listed individually one after the other is very confusing. Once you have a lot of messages and several people named Joe or Maria, you don’t know who is who from the headline of the message, and it gets too confusing.
Also, everyone is just so used to Outlook that it would take some retraining and an adaptation process for many of us if we were to substitute Outlook for Google Apps. For me it’s not worth the change.
It might just be that I have not explored enough the options that Google Apps gives, but so far, my experience with it is definitely not positive.
That’s my two cents! J
And another one
Over my dead body!!!! Grrrr...
