Google Apps for Work vs Google Docs/Drive

[mabrowndog]

We've been using Google Docs in a publishing venture, but the frequent connection issues that occur (seemingly at the worst possible time) have reached a tipping point, especially as we look to scale up. So we're searching for other options, even it means paying for something that is now a free service.
 
Has anyone here used Google Apps for Work? How does it compare to GDocs in terms of up-time and page loading? Is it worth the money?
 
And I might as well ask: Are there any other shared document editing platforms folks have had success with? Almost everything we do is word processing, occasionally with embedded tables. Multimedia gets added elsewhere for publication. Compatibility with Windows, Mac, iOS and Android is required.
 
Thanks in advance.

 

[AlNipper49]

I hate google apps personally. I use Evernote for this kind of stuff.

 

[Traut]

I love google apps for business. Huge bang for like $5 a month. I know Nip hates it but I've found google apps support to be responsive and my problems to be minimal.
 
Though like Nip, I have a raging Gronk sized boner for Evernote. For what you're doing, consider Evernote. Evernote's functionality continues to grow. They just added a work chat feature. And their user interface is about 10 years ahead of google.

 

[crystalline]

I use both Evernote and Google docs.

The one killer feature of Google Docs is collaborative editing, they have really nailed a very hard problem. As of a year ago, Evernote was just creating double notes when two users edited at the same time, letting you resolve by hand. I've noticed they now have a locking scheme, which is an improvement but still nothing like Google documents, where you see everyones' changes online and never have to deal with conflicts.

I find Evernote has better image markup features (while its still difficult to get attachments to be the right size, they've improved over the last year.). Most of what I do benefits from image markup and is edited by mainly one user so I use Evernote. Anything that's mostly text that many people will edit, I use Google Docs.

 

[Traut]

For collaborative editing I'm all about using Word and Dropbox.

 

[ScubaSteveAvery]

With Evernote, can multiple people be in the document at one time while it's being edited? Or is the "lock" feature only for one person at one time? Also, are there syncing delays with Evernote? We usually hand off documents pretty quickly, so if one person is finished editing, we'd like the next editor and/or author to jump in a few minutes later.  The speed of syncing is, I think, very important to us. 

 

[crystalline]

For collaborative editing I'm all about using Word and Dropbox.

 
If you need Word, you need Word, and Dropbox is an ok way to share.  As of a year or two ago, Dropbox was also creating double copies if two editors happened to save at the same time.  This is an extra problem because leaving a Word doc open can cause it.
 

With Evernote, can multiple people be in the document at one time while it's being edited? Or is the "lock" feature only for one person at one time? Also, are there syncing delays with Evernote? We usually hand off documents pretty quickly, so if one person is finished editing, we'd like the next editor and/or author to jump in a few minutes later.  The speed of syncing is, I think, very important to us. 

 
No, lock means one at a time or you get the conflict.  Syncs happen in 30 secs or so, but often have to be initiated manually, which can be a pain.

 

[saintnick912]

Google Apps for Work is (more or less) the same underlying product as regular Google Drive/Docs.  You do get better priority on support, but the product is not going to be drastically different.
 
Curious what kind of errors you're getting, I had Apps for Work at my two previous employers and have used Docs from my home computer and can't recall having problems though I'm not the heaviest user.