So on Monday Google released Sync for the iPhone. This is kinda a big deal for us at Park Chapel. Because I split my time between Communications and Technology, it is important to maximize my time and resources to get the best possible return.
Enter Google!
This past summer we began to tackle what we offer in the way of web services at Park Chapel. The second step in all of that was to overhaul our website (www.parkchapel.org). We partnered with a company called Speak Creative from Memphis. As a part of this project we decided to migrate our email to Google. The choice was based, in large part, on three major factors. The first is cost....FREE!!! The second was spam filters... FREE (more on this later)!!! The third was administration time and general overall management costs.
Well, our transition has been great! Not perfect, but great nevertheless. Besides minor hicups with outlook, and a few (very few) little quarky bumps, the move to Google Apps has been a wonderful situation. One problem that was kinda sticking out like a sore thumb for me however, was the lack of calendar support for the iPhone. Yes, both Apple and Google support the CalDAV standard but for some reason, Apple doesn't allow you to sync your CalDAV calendars to an iPhone OTA, nor does it allow you to sync via the cable. That meant the only way to keep them in sync was to use something like Nuevasync, a third party Exchange server that provides a free way to sync your calendars and contacts OTA. But who really wants to involve a third party in all of this? Why can't Google Mobile release sync for the iPhone???? This was becoming decently frustrating for me. I was working on it from time to time but the fact is, I didn't have the time to get serious about fixing it. SO, I continue to shell out $100 bucks a year for Mobile Me (a product I think should be free anyway) and I still wasn't really able to do much with it. But Monday that all changed!!!!
As I mentioned above, Google has finally released Sync for the iPhone!!!!! I CAN'T SCREAM LOUD ENOUGH ABOUT THIS!!!! This is huge! By using the Exchange support on the iPhone, Google now pushes email, calendars, contacts, and does a variety of things associated with those services. Oh man! This is a big deal to me! Park Chapel, for the first time, has the ability to keep our mobile devices in sync with what is going on at the office and we did so with..... NO REAL COST!!!! No time managing an Exchange server, no power consumption, no downtime (yet), very little management time.
I've never been an Exchange user or Admin but it seems like all I hear about is problems or about large amounts of time managing them. I love google because they provide lite exchange services for FREE! This is a MAJOR plus for churches. Granted, someone else is hosting your email.... which always begs this question "What happens if [blank]?" Well.... I don't know.... But right now, that is a risk that we are willing to take and a risk that might save other churches a lot of dough if they decide to take the risk as well.
For anyone who wants to take a look at Google Apps from the admin side, let me know. If you need help moving your data to Google or just want to chat about it shoot me an email. It has been great and I reccomend it to EVERYONE.
More to come...