Google has today introduced a premier edition of its Google Apps software tools. Imaginatively titled ' Google Apps Premier Edition ', the suite builds upon the basics of the free version of Google Apps whilst tailoring features towards businesses.
Interestingly, if you enter the seach term "Google Apps Premier Edition" into Google, we noticed that the search engine returns zero results , but despite that blunder we assure you the launch is genuine.
Google Apps Premier Edition is available for $50 (£25) per user account per year, and includes phone support, additional storage, and a new set of administration and business integration capabilities.
The original service launched free of charge in August 2006. It's a suite of applications that includes Gmail, Google Calendar, Google Talk, VoIP, and the Start Page feature for creating a customisable home page on a specific domain.
"Businesses are looking for applications that are simple and intuitive for employees, but also offer the security, reliability and manageability their organisations require," said Dave Girouard, vice president and general manager of Google Enterprise.
"With Google Apps, our customers can tap into an unprecedented stream of technology and innovation at a fraction of the cost of traditional installed solutions."
Benefits of paying for the business package include getting 10GB of storage in Gmail as opposed to the 2GB free service, 99.9 per cent uptime which guarantees minimal disruption to online services, the option to disable Google Ads and also the ability for businesses to further customise the service for unique environments
Google also announced today that all editions of Google Apps now include Google Docs and Spreadsheets. In addition, Google Apps now supports Gmail for mobile on BlackBerry handheld devices.
