Worried about your Google Apps data?

The most common question or hesitation for SME business when it comes to switching email platforms to Google Apps is whether or not the platform is secure. People often become uneasy when they think about having their important business data in the Cloud and no longer residing in their offices.
At the same time, every second day there is a news release about large businesses having their data hacked leaving the many of us feeling uneasy. It is ironic that while businesses are fearful of the Cloud not being secure enough to store important data, it is often the data stored on the servers in the offices most at threat. My experience over the last 10 years with data security in SME businesses is that they are low if not lacking. Their businesses are usually wide open to internal and external threats typically through the way they have set up remote access to their computers and servers.
The beauty of the Cloud based system particularly through Google Apps is the responsibility of securing your data is shifting from the business owner to the service provider. Google Apps takes security very seriously and is the businesses no. 1 priority. As a multibillion dollar organisation, they have the best security experts and systems in place to keep their customers data secure. Take a look at this video which explains Google Apps security
A few other concerns are in relation to ownership and access to data. With Google Apps, all client data stored with them remain your own. You are free to access and download the data at all times and stop using Google Apps altogether if you wish. Instructions on how to download all your data can be found here.
Google confirms that all data stored with them remain your own which means 3 vital things:
- Google won't share your data with others except as noted in Google’s Privacy Policy.
- Google keeps your data as long as you require Google to keep it.
- Finally, you should be able to take your data with you if you choose to use external services in conjunction with Google Apps or stop using Google services altogether.
The only time Google can access your data is when:
- In strict compliance with Google’s Privacy Policy and your Customer Agreement
- For the purpose of providing technical support, an administrator from your domain may choose to grant the Google Support team permission to access accounts in order to resolve a specific issue.