Google Apps hosts one big team talk over the web

Google Apps Team Edition launches today and offers a way for workers to slip a hosted apps service into their workplace.

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Google Apps Team Edition is a free service that lets people within the same email domain collaborate easily with Google Apps, a package that includes Calendar, Docs, Talk and Start Page.

This could help Google in its efforts to lure more people off desktop applications sold by Microsoft and onto the mostly free web-based apps Google offers.

Unlike instant messaging (IM) applications, which open communication to anyone on the web using a compatible IM app, Google Apps Team Edition lets you share with people only in your same organisation.

Google's standalone hosted apps for consumers haven't really made a splash in the corporate world, largely because of the security threats posed by how easy they make it to share sensitive work data with people outside the company.

So Google created Google Apps, a free Standard Edition and a Premier Edition that has a fee. These editions give an administrator control over how the apps are used, allowing for services to be disabled, new services like Gmail to be added, and integration with apps for things like single sign-on. Google offers security and government regulation compliance services through its Postini acquisition.

Jeremy Milo, senior marketing manager for Google Apps, said: "People are already using the consumer [hosted Google] apps in the workplace, like they did IM a decade ago. We're trying to bring more security by introducing the notion of domain awareness."

The Team Edition offers a compromise for workers who want to use the apps in a company that isn't already using Google Apps or if the company lacks an IT administrator. An administrator can always step in and switch from Team Edition to Standard or Premier if they want. And a new domain can be acquired through the Standard Edition for $10 for those who need a uniform email domain.

With Team Edition anyone can open an account and start using the apps with anyone within the organisation. For instance, a group working on a team project could use Google Apps Team Edition and be able to access the shared documents from any computer over the internet.

Milo said: "Google Apps Team Edition is another on ramp" to web-hosted apps. "They are one more way for businesses to get comfortable with computing in the cloud and anywhere, any time access to critical information."

Original article: Google Apps Team Edition aims to move companies to the cloud from CNET News.com