Implementing Google’s Gmail for my startup internet marketing business has allowed for minimal and secure IT management of my 8 websites (28+ email accounts). Supporting a mixed operating environment including Microsoft, Ubuntu, and MacOS, multiple browsers, and Microsoft Office document file formats, Open Office is possible and easier with a cloud computing environment like Gmail.

So why would you consider cloud computing like Google Mail for your business, especially an SME (small medium business)?

In two words: security and compliance. Email security, web security, and message compliance are the underlying benefits of strong business reasons for having your mail and office documents served through Gmail.

Compliance with security and retention requirements

Whether your organization is one person or thousands of people, you are faced with accounting, legal, and government regulations and standards that dictate acceptable levels of IT security and record retention for all electronic files and email. Gmail can help you ensure compliance and deliver real business benefits by streamlining email and document management. Implementing Google Mail is simply smart business. Some benefits include:

1) Organize and File (Archiving) your email the way you want.

Google uses tagging as a way to archive and organize your emails. You can tag an email with multiple tags. For example, an email from your accountant with tax information might be labeled “Corporate Tax”, “Accountant”, “IRS”, “Revenue Canada”. No more being restricted to having to choose only one file folder to move an email to.

2) Keep email conversations or threads linked together.

Appearing as cascading file folders, emails on the same topic (subject) will be kept together in your inbox or multiple archive labels you’ve assigned. Without looking for the email trail or email thread on a particular topic. They are visually represented as a group of stacked file folders.

3) has free unlimited storage repository for all your emails and messages forever!

At 7 gigabytes per Gmail user account and growing as of August 2008, Google Mail’s tagline is “you’ll never need to delete another message.”

Takin’ Care of Business, instead of IT or IT administration

Reducing the time spent managing your computer’s storage, security, backup, and recovery allows you to spend more time building your business. Manage all your email accounts entirely from one or two Gmail addresses. Once set up, Gmail offers this low administration environment.

4) No mail is downloaded or stored on your server, desktop, laptop or PDA. This eliminates any administrative stress or anguish associated with:

– search for emails stored and scattered across multiple client devices – some emails on your PC, some on your laptop, some on your PDA

– schedule backups of your email, contact list and documents

– recovery (and loss) of email and documents due to the loss, failure or theft of the customer’s device

– storage capacity expansion due to continued growth and retention of email and documents

– remote or mobile access to all your emails, attachments and documents

– manage, consolidate and keep multiple email addresses and personalities intact

– offsite backup of select files for SOHO or small business

Easy online document creation, management and collaboration

5) Use Gmail Online Office Suite to create, manage, and store your business documents, spreadsheets, and presentations. Read and write Microsoft Office format documents, as well as all variants of open documents. Safely stored on Google, delete HDD file storage and backup. No more MS Office license fees for Microsoft.

6) Store pictures and images using Picasa Web Albums. Manage your images on your PC using the FREE Picasa software: crop, adjust, special effects.

7) Online chat and messaging integrated, stored and managed just like your email.

Reduce complex email security threats to your corporate data

8) Google once again has a very smart spam filter which checks the content of each message and thus does not arbitrarily blacklist the email address, only the specific email due to the content. Emails are not downloaded to your PC or to an office application; therefore, there is no wasted bandwidth or risk of infected emails on your hard drive.

9) Google virus check it is also done away from your computer. All attachments are checked on the Google server for viruses and if infected, they are marked or moved to SPAM immediately. No infected email reaches your computer’s hard drive.

Traditional servers or computer-based email systems download ALL your email and pass it through an antivirus/spam filter on your computer. This is a waste of bandwidth usage (downloading spam) and, even worse, it exposes you to the additional risk of spam and virus-infested emails getting anywhere near the data files on which hard drives of your computer.

So why should you seriously consider using Google Mail for all your office needs?

– Full mobility in the office: through any browser, access your email, documents, images, chat

– Access from anywhere, at any time through any browser

– No backups of email, office documents or contacts required

– Manage multiple user profiles and email accounts in one convenient place

– Includes control of Anti-Spam and Anti-virus from your PC, Laptop or Server

– Free unlimited Gmail file space

– Next to No Mail Management.

Gmail is the perfect mobile office utility for small, medium and large businesses. Google Mail’s cloud computing environment will allow you to focus on the operations and growth of your business. Deploying Gmail’s cloud computing model for your email security and compliance makes a lot of sense.

Keep your head in the clouds!