I have been developing countless websites for over a decade now and I must admit it takes a lot of skills to make one considering the diverse languages and artistic ability a developer must have; but that is just half of the effort. The real challenge is collecting and maintaining the content of the company website.

I chose Google Sites (an application built into Google Apps) website builder for our intranet website and company website for several good reasons.

1. Very easy to setup and deploy.

If your already a Google Apps user, all you have to do is just create a new site and it will guide you to the entire process of setting up one. It will only take a few minutes to do this.

2. No programming skill is required.

Google Sites made it possible for ordinary users to make their own websites without the need for programming. All one need to do is click, drag and select their configurations of their choice. You save company resources by not hiring another developer top your your website.

3. Delegation of work.

This is probably the best feature of them all. You can assign a piece of a page to someone on your work group to develop and maintain. Say for example, a Product Catalogue page may be given permission and assigned exclusively to a staff in Marketing Department. This way, everyone in your company can collaborate online and jointly develop and maintain your website.

4. Integrates well with other Google services (such as Google Apps).

This is a welcome application for us Google Apps users. This means that we all need a single sign-on account to manage all other services including Google Sites web page builder.

5. Multi-purpose.

Google Sites is not only limited to creating company websites. We use this also for our company intranet that is not made publicly available to internet users. This may also be used for departmental intranets for bulletin boards for a specific purpose.

6. Focus on content.

Since no programming is required, users can now focus on making and maintaining content which is above all, more important than design.

7. Easy maintenance.

All Google Apps , Google Sites included, are hosted on Google’s server farms. Therefore, no extra manpower is needed or time required for you to manage these service. Everything is managed by Google.

8. Has just the right features.

Google Sites web page builder come with features that you will most likely need and not flood you with others that you seldom use. The simplistic design allows users to easily manage applications without all the useless clutter.

9. Secured.

Google Apps Pro version has built in Postini security service to add another layer of extra security to its already very secured environment.

10. Low cost – US$10

Yes, if you register your new domain on Google Sites, it will just require US$10 for one year subscription of the domain name. Google Service is free.

Note: See some example of the sites I made in Google Sites: www.kainoshealth.net

1. High Availability: A 24x7x365 Operation.

Most ‘cloud’ data centers are designed to be highly redundant. This means that your data are ‘mirrored’ across several servers that are spread out on different locations. Such setup ensures that when one of the server or data center that host your data goes down, it can still be available on another server without noticing any significant downtime. Besides the basic infrastructure, it is also supported by a promise or guarantee to all its subscribers to maintain a 99.99% uptime. This guarantee is called Service Level Agreement (SLA).

2. Has Enormous Computing Resource

Cloud service providers have invested millions on bleeding-edge technologies such as computer servers and networking equipments. These hardware has tremendous computing power and speed that is dynamically allocated when your computing requirements suddenly peaks.

3. No Expensive Computers Required to Purchase.

Since cloud computing are network-based services and resides on remote hosts, no special hardware purchases are required besides a basic internet connection. This alone is a huge cost savings to subscribers.

4. No Maintenance Needed.

Data centers of cloud service providers are well-manned by highly skilled engineers to do maintenance work. They operate 24×7 and are always on a stand-by mode in case something critical happens. It is just like having a team of engineers in your work place to manage your data!

5. Portable

You can bring your work with you anywhere you go where internet connection is available. More and more people nowadays telecommute and do their business online without leaving the confines of their own homes – fascinating isn’t it?

6. Very Scalable

This is one feature is a big welcome among SMEs. Service features and pricing scales up as your business grow thereby, paying only what you need instead of paying for a features that you seldom use.

7. High Quality Software Suite

Software applications that form part of computing service are always made with extremely high quality. These software are continually developed and maintained by an army of software engineers only to give you the best possible user experience.

8. No or Little IT Staff Needed

Cloud computing is a complete, all-in package IT service and that includes sparing you from hiring several IT engineers and programmers to maintain or develop in- house systems for you.

9. Well Supported

A 24×7 helpdesk support is available for you to ask assistance from at no extra cost.

10. It’s Either Free or Very Affordable

There are many free services out there that you can take advantage to increase your company productivity and web presence. One free SaaS that has proven its reliability is Google Apps – a web-based collaboration platform that manages emails, calendar, and other office productivity suites.