Syncing Google Apps with Outlook
Guide to Online Data Syncing Services
(Google Apps Edition)
In July 2009 Computerworld published a great piece on data synchronization methods involving Google, Yahoo, Windows Live, and other services. But I’m going to show my colors here and only cover tools that help you sync Outlook with Google products (especially Google Apps). Sorry if that doesn’t help your situation. For the rest of you, read on to learn about some nifty free apps to keep you in sync. As you know by now, in addition to staples such as Gmail, Google Talk, Google Docs and its Calendar, Google has developed a suite of professional or “enterprise” grade applications called, what else, Google Apps. Google Apps is my answer to the anywhere, anytime, practice; and is designed to play nice with office staple Microsoft Outlook. Google Calendar for instance syncs with Outlook via the free Google Calendar Sync tool as well as third-party tools such as Spanning Sync and BusySync. Mac users have it even better – the Address Book in machines running OS-X 10.5.3 and higher offers native sync support for Gmail contacts – no apps required. For businesses who want to sync it all, Google Apps Sync for Microsoft Outlook is available for $50/user/year; maybe too much of a commitment unless you run a mid-sized firm. A similar tool called Google Apps Migration for Lotus Notes helps businesses shift from Notes to Google Apps. For personal users on a PC, third-party tools include
Goosync, a server-based solution that supports syncing of calendars, contacts and tasks
KiGoo a downloadable application that offers syncing of calendars and contacts
SynContact, free software that syncs only contacts
And since Google supports Microsoft ActiveSync you can also sync an iPhone, iPod Touch or Windows Mobile. And since ActiveSync is natively supported there is no additional software to install. If you use a BlackBerry you can download a sync tool from Google to accomplish similar tasks. Okay, that’s it. Short and sweet. Hope you liked. If you have anything to add please add your comments below.
