Susan B. Cline

iThe first question I always get asked during my Google Apps presentations is about security and privacy. Google has put together a comprehensive FAQ list for questions about security and privacy. These articles are easy to understand for the non-techy folks.  I am not a security expert but I do trust Google with all of my professional and personal email and calendar communications.  When I speak to clients about security and privacy I often compare Google Apps with an online banking website.  The way that your online banking data is stored in your bank’s data center is similar to the way that Google stores stores Apps data.

The following video was created by Eran Feigenbaum, Director of Security at Google.  In this video EF explains why cloud computing is a secure way to store your data.

I’ve been working with the good people at Lynda.com to publish a series of video based courses on Google Apps. The name of the series is “Google Apps Essential Training” and the first course in the series, “Google Docs”, was just published last week. You can view the first couple of videos on the course for free without a subscription. The complete course is four hours long and tells you everything you need to know to get started with Google Docs.

Here is the course description:

Cloud computing applications are becoming an integral part of personal and professional computer use. In Google Apps: Docs Essential Training, Susan Cline shows how this web-based application allows users to create documents, spreadsheets, presentations, and forms that are stored online and accessible from any computer. She demonstrates how Google Docs makes managing multiple copies of a document worry-free, because every version is stored securely online in the Doc List. She also describes how to grant viewing and editing rights, and then easily publish and share documents with anyone. Exercise files accompany the course.

Lynda.com finds experts form around the world to create high quality online training videos.  The subscription is only $25/month and the training library contains over 600 titles.  This is really a fantastic deal and great way to learn new software on your time and at your own pace.