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Google is a serious internet powerhouse that offers many different features besides just your normal search (Gmail email, Google Analytics, etc.) but one of the features that I have used the most (besides my Gmail account which I check religiously) is Google docs. Google docs is a web-based data storage service that allows users to create and edit documents in real time and then save them to a Google server. Users can create word processing documents, spreadsheets, and presentations, among other things, which can be shared and edited by multiple people at the same time. Google allows each person to use 1 GB of storage for free and then starts charging for additional storage space.
The benefits of this service is that it prevents data loss and keeps the revision history. This is helpful when multiple people need to collaborate on one document. Documents can then be tagged and archived so you can keep them organized if you have multiple documents being worked on at one time. This “software as a service” has been popular with students and educational institutions in particular, however it could also be applicable to business projects. The fact that one document could be available to multiple people who are working on a document facilitates the ability to do business and work on projects in multiple places and across time zones.
I used Google docs a lot for group projects in many of my classes. I can see why it is so popular in educational institutions. During many of the projects, our group would assign colors to each group member and any changes we made would be denoted in that color. We would edit and re-edit each others work until we came up with a finalized document. This principle can be applied to businesses as well. There have been many technological advances that have made it easier for business to be done all over the world. Technology has blurred the lines of time and space and Google docs contributes to this movement. The service that Google offers is particularly useful to businesses not only because it allows many people in many different areas, but it allows one document to be updated by multiple people and keep all of the changes without losing data. Hallelujah. There is nothing worse than editing a document someone in your group sent to you, only to check your email and see that it has already been edited by someone else and it’s not even the same document. It’s like you were trying to take a step forward towards getting a project done and now you are 2 steps back because you need to re-read the new document and then send it off in hopes that someone else doesn’t beat you to the punch. It could also be useful for managing documents that only you are working on. For example, if I am working on multiple things for work that I want to take home without having to worry about remembering a flash drive, I can do that. And then, if I want to take that same document and send it to my boss to approve or edit, I can do that. In fact, my boss could even open it on his iPhone and re-save it and get it back to me faster than if he had to wait to get home to his PC, save it, and then re-send in an email. If nothing else, Google docs simplifies the process of creating and updating documents for individuals or groups of students or co-workers while keeping the document and not losing any data, and that’s helpful enough for me!
