Editing Shared Files Within the Cloud
Depending on a document’s size, complexity, and project guidelines, at times several users will need to edit the same document’s contents at the same time. As you might guess, depending how (and how many) users are editing the document, managing edit changes to the text can be challenging for the collaborative-editing software. In other words, if two users edit the same section of text, it becomes tricky to determine which user’s edits to apply.
CASE 7-5 Google Docs for Document Sharing
Google Docs provides users with web-based free access to a word processor, spreadsheet, and presentation program—yes, Google Docs are meant to compete directly with the Microsoft Office tools.
By default, the documents that you create using Google Docs reside in the cloud. That said, if needed, you can easily save your documents to a local file on your computer’s disk, print your documents, or share the document’s contents with other Google Docs users. To share a Google Docs document, you simply email a link to the document to the desired users.
FIGURE 7-8 , for example, illustrates a presentation on cloud computing that was created using Google Docs. The user can access the document using various devices.
FIGURE 7-8 Accessing a cloud-based Google Docs presentation from different devices.
Google and the Google logo are registered trademarks of Google Inc., used with permission.
Case Study: Discuss pros and cons of using Google Docs for business-based documents. Compare and contrast Google Docs with Google Workspace.
CASE 7-6 Microsoft Office 365 in the Cloud
In Chapter 2 , “Software as a Service (SaaS),” you learned that Microsoft Office 365 provides cloud-based implementations of Word, PowerPoint, and Excel to users for a monthly fee. Given the popularity of the cloud-based Google Docs, Microsoft responded with cloud-based versions of its office productivity tools. Using Office cloud tools, you can create a Word, PowerPoint, or Excel document, upload and edit your existing documents, or share your documents with other users for viewing or editing. FIGURE 7-9 shows a PowerPoint presentation created using Microsoft Office applications in the cloud.
FIGURE 7-9 Microsoft Office lets users create and share (for simultaneous editing) cloud-based Word, Excel, and PowerPoint documents.
Used with permission from Microsoft.
To share a web apps document with another user, you simply email the user a link to the document. Depending on the permissions you have set, the user can view or edit the document’s contents.
Case Study: Discuss the pros and cons of a business using Microsoft Office 365 applications in the cloud.
CASE 7-7 Microsoft SharePoint Online
For years, many companies have used Microsoft SharePoint to provide a centralized document repository. Because the SharePoint user interface is similar to other Microsoft applications, users quickly come up to speed, and employees who move from a different company using SharePoint have only a small learning curve.
In Chapter 2 , “Software as a Service (SaaS),” you learned that Microsoft now makes its Office suite of products available to the cloud through Office 365. Within Office 365, Microsoft offers the cloud-based Microsoft SharePoint.
The advantages of Microsoft SharePoint in the cloud include the following:
Ease of sharing documents
Centralized storage for key team documents
Ease of document searching and referencing
Support for internal and external company sites
Centralized storage for company reports and data
Case Study: Discuss how Microsoft SharePoint differs from other web-based document sharing utilities.
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