Strategies: Google's got a great price -- free -- on office apps

— -- To run any business, you need a few critical tools: email, word processing, a calendar, probably a spreadsheet and presentation program. The standard of all these office programs comes from Microsoft. But even buying it at a discount, the Microsoft Office Small Business program costs nearly $400.

What if you didn't have to pay for that? What if you could buy the cheapest computer on the market or use any old computer, not worry about software, and still get those functions taken care of — and taken care of well — without spending an extra dime?

You can. Google has a suite of services called "Google Apps" (for Applications) that may well replace your office software as well as give you new tools for collaboration. All free.

Google Apps is part the move towards "Software as a Service (SaaS)" or "cloud computing" (because you store your information in the clouds). If you have a Gmail, Yahoo, MSN, AOL or other account, you're already used to this concept. Your email is stored somewhere "out there" on the Web rather than on your own computer or server.

I've become a big fan of "cloud computing" for small businesses (look for an upcoming column on the topic) because it eliminates that pesky and expensive problem of tech support.

Google Apps is worth checking out (www.google.com/apps). Google Apps gives you a bunch of tools, including:

• email • word documents• spreadsheets• presentations• calendars• websites • videos • photos

One of the great advantages of Google Apps, besides being free, is that it's easy — really easy — to collaborate with others. You can allow others to either view or edit your documents — whether spreadsheets, presentations, word documents — just by clicking the "share" tab. "Collaboration is what it's all about," Dave Girouard, President of Google Enterprise, told me.

In our office, I've got a project manager in Hawaii, designer in Iowa, distributor in Maryland, account manager in Berkeley, and we're based in Palo Alto, California. We share documents, and, frankly, we often have problems opening attachments and keeping track of who has the latest version, and anyone who receives an attachment could edit it and share it without our permission.