

Computer Sciences, the third-party contractor implementing the system, has agreed to pay a preset penalty payment should a breach occur. The LA contract offers Google a chance to demonstrate their ability to cope with large scale data handling, storage, and security. Users could keep Windows XP, switch to Macs, or a use a humble machine with a lightweight Linux distribution and retain the same office applications. There is less need for fast PCs or OS upgrades.Staff activity and access can be logged and monitored more effectively.Losing a PC, whether by breakdown or negligence, has less of an impact: the data is securely stored online and backed up automatically.There will be fewer issues with multiple versions of the same file being shared between personnel.

Groups of authorized users can work on the same documents at the same time.


Many users develop their IT skills on MS Office.Critics argue that Office users only utilize 10% those features, but that 10% differs from person to person. Feature-for-feature, MS Office beats Google Docs by a wide margin.For many companies, it is the primary reason for purchasing a PC. MS Office is one of the most entrenched business applications.Google’s ambition is to lure companies away from their dependency on Microsoft Office. Perhaps it’s the first sign that cloud computing is being considered as a serious proposition by major corporations. The deal is a massive boost for Google as it attempts to compete with Microsoft, IBM and HP in the business arena. The council voted unanimously to replace several of their current IT systems with Google Apps and GMail instead of competing offers over a dozen other IT suppliers. Los Angeles City Council has approved a $7.2 million deal to use Google’s applications for its 30,000 personnel.
