Google Apps sees more than “3,000 signups a day” says Google chief

Google Apps, the search giant’s suite of cloud-based tools and services, is seeing more than 3,000 companies around the world sign up for the service each day, reveals Google chief Robert Whiteside.

Whiteside, head of Google enterprise for UK, Ireland and Benelux, highlighted that around three million businesses now use Google Apps for email, calendar and web services, a third of which are located in Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

The majority of customers are said to be small and medium sized businesses, many of which do not pay for the service. Google allows small teams to use the service for free and allows businesses to upgrade for additional storage, features and increased business support and reliability.

Whiteside says that cost should not be a limiting factor when deciding whether to move to Google’s cloud:

“Most companies are attracted to cloud computing initially because of its ability to reduce costs.

The reality is that the model of cloud computing transforms your working practices, [allowing employees to] collaborate with each other, connecting staff in different ways. The cloud allows you to solve new business problems.

The most successful companies will be the ones who use the cloud in new, innovative ways, in addition to running the cloud in their business.”