I'm at my first company that uses Google apps and it's been a bad experience. There's so much about email and calendaring that Outlook/Exchange got right that it's hard to be without it after taking it for granted.
Using a native rich application is always going to be superior to building a web app on top of a browser. Once you're used to real applications, Gmail and the other apps aren't suitable for anything more than light usage. It's not just the features that are missing, it's UI responsiveness and usability. Hosting an application inside a browser is so awkward in ways that real applications aren't. I can't assume I can right click and get anything useful, I don't know if I'm going to get the browser's menu or the app's. The concept of a consistent menu bar you can access with hotkeys is gone. Online/offline will never be seamless and consistent across apps. And the input lag is intolerable.
Having all of my documents stored centrally is a real, but small, convenience to get in exchange for everything that's given up. And as far as cost goes, I'd prefer that any money my company might be saving be deducted from my paycheck if it would mean they'd get off of Google apps.
Using a native rich application is always going to be superior to building a web app on top of a browser. Once you're used to real applications, Gmail and the other apps aren't suitable for anything more than light usage. It's not just the features that are missing, it's UI responsiveness and usability. Hosting an application inside a browser is so awkward in ways that real applications aren't. I can't assume I can right click and get anything useful, I don't know if I'm going to get the browser's menu or the app's. The concept of a consistent menu bar you can access with hotkeys is gone. Online/offline will never be seamless and consistent across apps. And the input lag is intolerable.
Having all of my documents stored centrally is a real, but small, convenience to get in exchange for everything that's given up. And as far as cost goes, I'd prefer that any money my company might be saving be deducted from my paycheck if it would mean they'd get off of Google apps.