Gmail is now offering a corporate version.
Starting Monday, Google will offer Google Apps for Your Domain, a free package of programs for businesses, universities and other organizations. Workers will be able to send e-mail with Gmail, Google’s two-year-old Web-based mail service, but messages will carry their company’s domain name. The package also includes Google’s online calendar, instant-messaging service, and Page Creator, a Web page builder.
It’s an interesting idea. The searchability and accessibility from anywhere of Gmail offers some significant advantages over an Outlook type setup.
At the same time, there are some serious drawbacks. For one thing, Gmail is often rather balky, likely because of its popularity. Some or all of it is either inaccessible or maddeningly slow several times a week. Firms might also be reluctant to have corporate information under the control of Google.
