It’s sometimes hard to believe just how quickly Google rose to prominence in the online world. Even though the service is only about fifteen years old, they’ve grown at truly astounding rates to become, not just the best search, but one of the premiere providers of online productivity services for people and businesses at all levels.
Likewise, their “Apps” line of products only launched circa 2006, yet today they’re used by millions of people around the world. The collaboration opportunities in Google Apps are top of the line, and for many companies, are totally redefining how they do online collaborative work.
Chances are, none but the most locked-down operations anywhere in the world truly operate without Google being involved.
So where did all this come from? Let’s take a look.
A Quick History Of Google Apps
The most interesting aspect of Google Apps is that they largely developed organically from the services Google was already offering. There was no single moment where Google declared “let there be apps!”
Arguably, they began with the introduction of AdWords in 2000, marking the first point Google started selling services rather than relying on venture capital to grow. AdWords quickly spawned Google Toolbar, Google AdSense, and then Google Analytics in 2005 – their first “suite” of Google tools with moneymaking as their goal.
Google Apps itself first appeared in 2006, although at that time it was called Apps For Education and was marketed at higher learning institutions. That was also when Google Docs and Google Sheets first appeared. In retrospect, this makes sense of Google’s collaboration focus. Students and universities have more need for collaboration than many enterprises.
Late 2007 was when it became clear Google had ambitions far beyond simple education tools. Their Android OS was announced then, with Chrome first coming out about a later. These would become foundations for the total platform that Google envisioned: a cloud-based suite of productivity software that can be accessed from low-cost devices, and which doesn’t require local storage to run.
From there, it’s largely been a matter of expand their service offerings. Acquisitions like DoubleClick and YouTube, along with the introduction of Google Wallet and Google+, continued to tie their products together more tightly. Indeed some today now tend to complain about how tightly they’re bound together. Just try using Google services without G+ getting involved.
However, throughout the expansions, they’ve never lost their focus on usability and stripped-down functionality. While Google Apps generally offer less raw functionality than competitors like Microsoft Office, there are few companies in the business who are better at making software that anyone can use.
Google Into The Future
Today, Google Apps are used by millions of small and midsized businesses which value their ease of use, robust online storage and, of course, unparalleled collaboration offerings. Google Apps is becoming one of the most popular productivity suites in the world.
Is a move to Google Apps right for your company? Contact Bi101 for a free consultation!
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