Google Apps Launches Premier Edition

A while back, I proposed that Google Apps can help cash-strapped young Filipino entrepreneurs establish virtual offices using existing cybercafé infrastructure. Putting my money where my mouth is, I implemented Google Apps for one of my concerns, Pinoy Cosplay.

Proving what’s good for the goose is good for the bigger goose, Google has released a Premier Edition multinationals are willing to pay for.

Features unique to Google Apps Premier Edition include:

* 10 GBs of storage per user – Offers about 100 times the storage of the average corporate mailbox, eliminating the need to frequently delete email.
* APIs for business integration – APIs for data migration, user provisioning, single sign-on, and mail gateways enable businesses to further customize the service for unique environments.
* 99.9 % uptime – Service Level Agreements for high availability of Gmail, with Google monitoring and crediting customers if service levels are not met.
* 24×7 support for critical issues – Includes extended business hours telephone support for administrators.
* Advertising optional – Advertising is turned off by default, but businesses can choose to include Google’s relevant target-based ads if desired.
* $50 per user account per year – Simple and affordable annual fee makes it practical to offer these applications to everyone in the organization.

It isn’t just the geeky smarty-pants companies trying this stuff out. Charter customers include GE and P&G. While I’m surprised Google didn’t throw in IMAP support — most corporate email is IMAP — 10GBs per user is still quite generous. Also beefing itself up for the enterprise, Google Spreadsheets is about to get charts.

You can try the Premier Edition for free until April 30, 2007. Until now, Google Apps has strictly been the province of small-to-medium scale enterprises. By entering the large enterprise space, Google Apps now steps into Microsoft Office turf.

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