Andrew Taylor on the Business of Arts & Culture
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The all-Google office?
Posted: February 29, 2008
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Computer software and servers have long been the (necessary) bane of the nonprofit arts. If you could afford the equipment and software, you couldn't afford to keep it current. Since not everyone used the network server for their updates, finding the current version of any file was an exercise in ''who had it last." And since tech support was rarely in the budget or in the cards, a responsive back-up protocol was often a dream, or lingering nightmare.
Over the past year or so, Google has been slowly evolving another way. As an antidote to your addictions to Word, Excel, and PowerPoint -- and even to an operating system like Windows or Mac -- they've been assembling Google Apps, a bundle of on-line applications that turn your web browser into an operating system, complete with most of what you need to get your job done.
In the middle of the e-mail program, calendar system, team web page, chat system, and search engine now lives Google Docs, a virtual bundle of a word processor, spreadsheet, and presentation software that's always updated, always backed up, and always accessible (assuming you can find an Internet-connected computer...and not even your own).
While this is sounding like a commercial, it's more of an enthusiastic observation. A scrappy and eager arts organization could now run a reasonably sophisticated business without Microsoft Office or its brethren, without a server, and even without a consistent computer for each staff member. Google would be your hard drive, your operating system, and your software team. You'd just need a reasonably stupid computer with a fast connection and a web browser, and that's getting cheaper by the month.
So, if you're just starting an office and wandering off to buy (or borrow) the software, ponder Google Apps for a moment. It may not be there yet, but it's coming on fast.