Tech for the Local Church
Posts tagged google apps
How To Upgrade Google Apps to the FREE Non-Profit Edition
Oct 14th
NO ADS, TOTAL PRIVACY, SHARED CONTACTS & MORE
Three good reasons why you should choose the non-profit edition over the standard FREE (with Ads) Google Apps version you may be using now. Instructions after the break… More >
Dr. Google-Love (or How I Learned to Stop Worrying, and Love the Apps)
Oct 12th
The headline reads:
(dateline: the Cloud) — Incremental Improvements Add Up to Revolutionary Innovation
As if we needed another reason to recommend that everyone give a listen at the first possible opportunity to our podcast interview with Brad Stark (we shamelessly and repeatedly plug this episode [#4] ’cause Brad’s expertise and information are just that good), here we are again with another.
Make that 4 others. Yes, 4 reasons, and all of them are 9s.
‘Google Apps’ Loves You, Church, and Has a Wonderful Plan for Your Data
Oct 8th
Improve organizational operations
Raise awareness for your cause
I heard some good news the other day that I wish someone had told me long ago. It’s something that every church staff, para-church team and any other not-for-profit organization can receive as a great blessing, and it might even be a game-changer which helps us get God’s Good Word of Hope out more easily and with great effect.
Brad Stark of Appirio.com puts it like this: “Every dime saved on communications and data-management software costs by using Google Apps can go to the Kingdom instead … and that’s a LOT of dimes!” So true, and Google Apps for non-profits is already helping ministry groups all over the world.
But is it helping your ministry? If not, maybe you have the same problem I had. I knew Google Apps, but I needed the Google way explained to me “more adequately.” I had no idea that their slug-line was something they wanted me to take personally:
You are changing the world. We want to help you.
Shards are for Sharing: Google Apps (esp. for Non-Profit Organizations)
Oct 6th
Brad Stark is a Google Solutions Architect (is that one of the 10 greatest job titles ever, or what?!) at Appirio.com, and one the MANY things I learned about Google Apps– for non-profits, including churches– in our recent interview with him (podcast episode coming soon!) is that “shards” are a very good thing for cloud-users who are glad to no longer worry about data-recovery, back-up redundancy plans, happy instead to enjoy all the benefits of flexible, multi-user accessibility to documents and data-security with none of the latent web-security issues we have heard so much about.
How can that be? Shards! That’s how.
Podcast 004 – Google Apps for Your Church? YES! An Authority Speaks.
Oct 6th
LISTEN TO THE PODCAST HERE:
Subscribe Here: http://portablesermons.com/ministryvault
Or Here: http://itunes.apple.com/podcast/ministry-vault/id382190586
Brad Stark has helped some of the largest BIG enterprise companies switch to Google Apps. He explains the benefits of Google Apps, the difference between the paid and free versions of Google Apps, and answers questions about the main concerns in the minds of many churches considering a move to Google apps. A few show links after the break … More >
Safe and Saferer: Google Apps are Good(er than ever)!
Oct 4th
When ‘good’ data management and security protocols aren’t good enough for some people, they must be made ‘gooder.’ And ‘gooder’ can only be made ‘gooder-est’ when ‘safe’ is made ‘saferer’.
And ‘saferer’ is exactly how to describe what Google Apps is doing with data security in the very ‘cloudy’ extended forecast for us all here in Internetville.
Not all clouds are the same, and this helpful article, Is user data safe in the cloud?, points out several significant security concerns with some forms of cloud-computing. The upshot is that the cloud itself is not inherently secure (no big surprise there), because not all cloud-based business is done with secure protocols. This only news in the sense that some of the causes and effects — the implications for unsuspecting, perhaps too-trusting users– are explained in non-tech-geek clarity.
All of this very practical information invites a closer look to see what IS secure and reliable in the cloud. Once again, we can say hello to our little friends (you guessed it): Google Apps.
Cloud-Computing: Eternal Security?
Oct 1st
No, not quite, but it IS about as close as we can get our data to it in this crazy, mixed-up, fallen, and virus-ridden world– both analog and digital …
“To cloud or not to cloud” is no longer the question. The plain truth is: the use of cloud-computing for every kind of data management, development, storage, access, sharing, back-ups and protection IS, and, while the experts are quick to say that it can still be improved, those who know best make audaciously bold– but verifiably-accurate– statements like this (courtesy of Neil MacDonald of Gartner by way of Scott Campbell at CRN.com):
Cloud Security Is Better Than What You Have Today
“Who Will We Send (Online), and Who Will Go (Do Tech) for Us?”
Sep 28th
While we are busy deciding what technologies to use as ministry tools, it’s important to remember that we need people (both staff and volunteers) to supervise, implement, and develop the technology to productive effect in the Kingdom.
We might have the best (or most expensive) programs and systems that money can “buy,” but they won’t work unless we have people to use them and make the most of them.
A recent listing for an online magazine position prompts another round of discussion in the Google-Apps-are-Church-Management-tools discussion which Brook Drumm (fearless leader here at M’Vault and at portablesermons.com) started.
It appears that, increasingly, the question of whether “to cloud or not to cloud” is already be a moot point. If the business world adapts (much of it already has) to web-based applications– leaving on-site network systems behind– then they will be seeking employees with cloud-based information management talents and training. Schools will meet that market demand by supplying a prospect-pool of graduates– adepts– comfortable and familiar with these tools as a matter of course. This is the new basic skill-set.
Not only are the tools of data management shifting to the cloud, the workforce must necessarily follow. This workforce includes the brothers and sisters in Christ who minister alongside us by means of technology. And Google Apps is the leaps-and-bounds-ahead leader in the field.
Is Google Apps Church Management Software?
Aug 21st
During the last MinistryVault.com podcast recording (coming soon to an itunes near you), we got into a discussion of the tech that pastors use everyday to be more efficient. We – ok, I – talked at length about All-In-One church management systems versus Google Applications. For those who missed it or want a brief, “ICanHazLinks2ShareW/MyChurchTreasurer” summary, here’s a quick recap of what is out there and how Google measures up.
More >
Are You Using Online Surveys?
Aug 17th
Feedback is critical to leadership and making sound decisions. But most leaders don’t have the time to poll more than a few individuals for their take on an event or new idea. Keep reading for some great online survey tools! More >
Google SYNC is Mobile Bliss
May 6th
If you are an iPhone user (instructions for other phones here) and have Google Apps as your email suite, you MUST start using Google Sync. I was hesitant to do so – having gone through a bad experience with other contact-syncing services. But this was completely different – it actually works! More >
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