Why I no longer use Microsoft Outlook

Like so many modern entrepreneurs, I’m completely dependent on my laptop. I actually have two–my “desktop” laptop that basically stays tethered to my desk, and my little-bitty netbook, which theoretically should do little more than Web browsing and email-checking but which I subject to all kinds of complex tasks. Hey, I multitask all the time, so why shouldn’t my equipment, too, right?

Anyhoo, as someone who works primarily on the Web and whose business is largely dependent on Internet access, it was a no-brainer when I recently decided to dump Microsoft Outlook in favor of doing all of my email in the cloud. And you know what? I’ve never looked back.

Of course, it’s still technically on my laptop. It’s part and parcel of my MS Office Professional Suite  and can’t be un-embedded. However, it’s now gathering virtual dust in a corner of my hard drive, and I’m none the wiser or poorer.

Instead, I use Google Apps Premier, and if–like me–you work on the Web as well and consider it your “office,” I strongly recommend that you migrate your email to a service such as what Google offers. Google Premier Apps looks much like the standard, free Google account you’re probably familiar with, including the Calendar and Google Docs, except rather than an @gmail.com domain, this application allows you to use your own organization’s domain name, e.g., bill@mycompanyname.com.  Seriously, how cool is that?

Need more convincing? Try these reasons, and tell me they’re not compelling enough for you to abandon Outlook in favor of the cloud’s embrace:

1. Microsoft Outlook keeps your email right where you can’t reach it when you’re on the road: your computer. I hated having to wait until I got home to check my email. Sure, I could theoretically access it using a webmail service on my Internet-enabled smartphone, but I tried that trick and it proved too unwieldy. (Okay, so I have an aging and terribly inefficient Palm Centro, which is perfect for college students but not so much for business owners, but still.) With Google Apps Enterprise, though, Google’s stripped-down interface makes it super-easy to log in even on my clunky Palm and read my email on the go. I never have to miss a critical message from a client or a potential client. What’s not to love?
2. Microsoft Outlook allows you to do all kinds of things with your mail, from saving them to practically an infinite number of folders to creating HTML signatures. That sounds like an upside until you realize that, most good folks who use Outlook, you probably only use just a fraction of this very powerful communications tool. Good thing? Meh. I like simple. I like having choices, but not too many of them. (As I write this I’m already thinking about paying the local Aldi a visit and checking for myself just how cool it would
   

   Simple is good, especially for entrepreneurs.

   be to not be overwhelmed by a million different cereal options. But I digress…) Running a business as a solo entrepreneur, especially a business growing as quickly as mine is, is complicated enough without having to deal with equally complex software programs. I pride myself on my technical savvy, but there’s a limit to the amount of work and focus I’ll devote to something that’s only ancillary to my ultimate goal. Google Apps email pretty much mimics the traditional, free Gmail interface, meaning that it mirrors the laser-like focus on simplicity of the original Google mail program. Simple doesn’t necessarily mean limited either, as anyone who has a Gmail account can attest to. It’s definitely a powerful, fast and secure email program that does what I need it to do without cluttering up my life with bells and whistles that I’ve no time or desire to explore.

3. Microsoft Outlook isn’t cheap, since you have to purchase an Office package in order to get it. If you’re a student and can take advantage of the killer discounts your college or university offers you, you can get some serious savings, and you own the software. (Well, technically you own the license to the software, but you know what I mean.) Google Apps email, on the other hand, is a $50/year investment per user. If you’re a nonprofit or an educational institution, you could qualify for even cheaper fees (nonprofits of fewer than 3,000 employees can get it for free).

To be sure, there are some hiccups to migrating your email to Google Apps Premier. Setting it up, for example, can be a little tricky. It took me a couple of hours to do it myself, and the fact that my web hosting company and domain name company are two entirely separate entities only exacerbated the problem. Still, it was definitely worth all the effort. I can be traveling–which I hope to do, and soon!–and be able to access my email no matter where I am in the world, regardless of whether or not I have my laptop or smartphone, so long as I have Internet access somewhere.

I totally understand that not everyone is as much a Google fan as I am–what’s wrong with you people?!–but there are other services out there that offer much the same option as Google does, and I encourage you to check them out. Free yourself from the limitations of PC-based software and explore the cloud. I promise you: like me, you’ll never look back.

Photo credit: “Computer Yoga 4,” by prisonerjohn on Flickr.

Tagged as: Small Business