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Google Apps vs Microsoft

As a Sr. Systems Engineer, I'm always looking to make things more efficient and cheaper for the company... So, I've been reading a lot about the improvements in Google Apps for Business... and then I look at the price. On the surface, it looks super awesome and that it'll save the company tons of money... Am I missing something?

I have an infrastructure of about 300 people. We're in the process on deciding to move to XenDesktop7 so that users have everything available no matter where they are. If I can do the same thing in Google Apps, for a lot less money, is it time for me to rethink our upcoming changes?

My question is: Is moving to Google Apps for Business from Exchange 2010/2003 and Server 2008 a viable option at this time for a company of 300? (or does Google need to do more work?)

Also: Does Google back up data stored in Drive or do you need 3rd party apps/software?

I appreciate your feedback as this is more of a philosophical discussion but it does/will impact my company's infrastructure.

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regmigrant

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Allen Falcon

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Paul Wagner

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Both had great answers and feedback. I think it all depends on the human aspect: what are people willing to handle in terms of change? While I would greatly enjoy the cost savings and administrative ease, moving everyone away from Outlook, Word and Excel is a TALL order that I don't think can be filled. Also, one of my divisions relies entirely on linked Excel docs. How could I migrate an entire datastore full of Excel docs that are linked across to each other without breaking anything? I could, but that would require hiring developers and I would lose all of my cost savings... so like you @regmigrant, I think we can't actually make the shift (even though it would be really nice). I'm talking with the team about just moving messaging on the back end (replacing Exchange) but that might not look too pretty when all end users are still on Outlook... this is probably a more viable option for people with flat setups... anyway, I hope this post helps someone make a decision for their environment as well.