Each upgrade represents a significant investment in licensing, migration time and user training.  To make matters worse, some software vendors require an upgrade by discontinuing support on products as soon as 24 months after release!

For those looking to break the cycle of software upgrades there is an option: a move towards Software as a Service (sometimes called Cloud computing). A prime example of Software as a Service is Google Apps. With any web browser Google Apps users have access to a suite of products that are very competitive to Microsoft Office. No installation, no security patches and more importantly, no upgrades!

In addition to controlled costs and easy scalability, one of the major benefits of Software as a Service is the ease of obtaining updates. In fact, new Google Apps features are rolled out almost daily, but there is zero impact on the user as upgrades are done on Google’s Servers. The next time a user logs in new features are available. It’s that simple. No upgrades, no overtime, no risk of losing data. Since the changes are done on a regular basis vs a completely new interface every few years no user retraining!

Given the prospect of staying on the software upgrade cycle and considering a move towards Google Apps what makes sense for your business? If you are struggling with this question, or other ways to effectively manage your technology, we encourage you to contact us at 858-270-3595 x 1 to learn more.

Some highlights from their post:

• Important decision. 15 proposals were submitted. The top four candidates gave oral presentations to city officials. The City Council unanimously chose Google Apps.
  
• Improved collaboration. Much of the city’s work requires multiple people – even multiple departments – to work together. With instant messaging, video conferencing, and simultaneous review and editing of documents by multiple people, employees will have better tools to work together on projects.
  
• Easier remote access. In a fast-paced city government, people often need access to work information when they’re not at work. With Google, employees will be able to access their information from any computer with an internet connection, as well as from their mobile phones.
  
• Expanded storage. With Google, we can provide employees 25x the email storage they have today, saving them from having to make difficult decisions about which emails to keep or delete.
  
• Cost savings. Moving to Google will free up nearly 100 servers that were used for our existing email system, which will lower our electricity bills by almost $750,000 over five years. In short, this decision helps us to get the most out of the city’s IT budget.

 Forms allow any Apps user to create a custom form for gathering information. Forms can be used for anything, from vacation requests or ordering lunch to complex business processes or client surveys . The sky is the limit. Below is a screenshot of creating a sample form:

Notice above the different types of questions. Forms are very easy to create. Forms can be emailed, require sign-in to use or made public for use by anyone. Each completed form will become a row in a spreadsheet and alert notifications can be set as needed.

Here is an example of the form created above:

Here is an example of the spreadsheet this form creates with one submission:

Once a form is created it is very simple process to create graphs from the data. These graphs can then be posted online or shared privately. The ability to share data collected via a form so easily is a very powerful feature. As an example I’ll share data from a form I created to track a diabetic dog’s blood glucose.

Diabetic dogs require accurate tracking of blood glucose, insulin doses and food over long periods of time. Our vet was regularly asking for this information so I made a form, used the spreadsheet data to create a graph and then made the graph public and shared the link with my vet. Now the vet can get real time updates on my dog’s diabetes by visiting the chart I published online. Think about the potential for your business. How could you use this functionality? Track client responses? Gather sales inquiries? Employee feedback? Executive dashboard? Here are the examples from my spreadsheet.

The form:

The data:

The graph (click for big):

When a form is submitted the spreadsheet and graph are updated in real time! What metrics in your business could you track on a daily basis that could make a difference for you?

Since Google Apps Forms are online applications all that is needed to use these powerful tools are a Google Apps account and a web browser. In fact, most of the time I use my iPhone to fill out the form to track my dog’s diabetes. See screenshot below:

With the recent news about Microsoft and T-Mobile losing client data many people are quick to judge all Cloud services as less than trustworthy. This is not true! Don’t judge all companies by the bad experiences of some that make headlines. However, always do your due diligence. We’ve done our due diligence regarding Google Services and we want to share it with you.

The #1 question we get from clients regarding Google Apps is will their information be secure? The answer is yes thanks to the Google File System (GFS), datacenter design and built in privacy/procedural controls.

GFS is Google’s revolutionary way of storing data. If you save a file to Google’s Servers that file is saved into the cloud. That means pieces of that file live on thousands of Servers and each piece of data is stored in multiple places. The only way to access that data is through Google’s interface. GFS is scalable, fast and very secure. From Google’s own website:

Google Apps data is fractured and obfuscated across multiple servers and disks, making it human-unreadable. Data is replicated in multiple data centers for redundancy and consistent availability.

Physically, each Google Datacenter uses the latest technologies to manage power, cooling and connectivity. You can view a tour below (warning: lots of technical jargon).

Notice the large containers that can be easily moved to relocate hundreds of Servers at a time. Did you catch the part about 45,000 Servers in that one Datacenter? From Google:

To reduce exploit risks, each Google server is custom-built with only the necessary software components, and the homogeneous server architecture enables rapid updates and configuration changes across the entire network when necessary.

Lastly, Google has procedural and privacy controls to protect user data stored on their Servers. There is Google’s Privacy Policy which states that users always own their data. Also, Google has established the Data Liberation Front, a team of Google Engineers dedicated to making sure you can always move your data in or out of Google’s Services. Google’s theory, you own the data and can access it at anytime, even to move it away from Google. This info is taken directly from Google regarding security:

People – Google employs a full-time information security team including some of the world’s foremost experts in information, application, and network security. This team is responsible for the company’s perimeter defense systems, security review processes, and customized security infrastructure, as well as for developing, documenting, and implementing Google’s security policies and standards.
Process – Security is part of the Google DNA. Each application is built from the ground up with security in mind. Google applications go through multiple security reviews as part of the Secure Code development process. The application development environment is closely restricted and carefully monitored to maximize security. External security audits are also regularly conducted to provide additional assurance.

As you can see above, your data is exceptionally secure from a data redundancy, physical and procedural standpoint on Google’s Cloud based services.

We are excited to be on the cutting edge of this technology. We offer a full array of services to assist businesses in making the transition to Google products. Contact us for more information!

Now hold on, let us clarify this statement. We currently manage dozens of Exchange Servers which will not be going anywhere anytime soon, but we are taking a stand that if a client needs to upgrade their system or is looking to purchase their first Email solution that our company policy will be to recommend Google Apps.

Simply put, Google Apps is a more cost effective and better solution than Microsoft Exchange. Since the year 2000 there have been four versions of Microsoft Exchange: 2000, 2003, 2007 and now 2010. Each version had a steep learning curve for admins, increased hardware requirements for installation and very little benefit for the average company. In addition, users were locked into using Outlook as the primary client (which hasn’t evolved much at all in 10 years!). This Microsoft forced upgrade path cost clients a lot of money and didn’t provide much benefit over previous versions. (For those of you who cannot bear to think of not using Outlook, see our previous blog post about Google Apps Sync for Microsoft Outlook)

Google Apps provides 10x the storage, a built in best-in-class SPAM and AntiVirus filter and includes Google Docs and Google Sites! Also, users get the power of Google Search for their email and the flexible and powerful GMail client interface.

The GMail client interface is truly one of the hidden gems of a migration to Google Apps. It is speedy and customizable. It can be melded into just about any workflow and with our training, it will transform your relationship to Email. That last sentence is so powerful we’ll repeat it. We will transform your relationship to email!

So, we are saying NO to Microsoft Exchange and YES to Google Apps. If you are ready to work smarter and take back control of your Email, then contact us today!

Click here to learn about Network Velocity’s service offerings for Google Apps or to register for one of our webinars.

Here’s one example of the nationwide Google campaign. (I find it amusing that Google, the king of online advertising, is using billboards to advertise their products)

We can’t write enough about how Google is changing the Information Technology game. Most of our recent blog posts have been about Google because Google continues to make big news!

As soon as we saw the ability for Chrome to make application shortcuts we suspected Google would take it to the next level with a fast and thin Chrome based Operating System. The speed with which they moved this forward was a surprise. We can’t wait to get our hands on it!

Google’s rapid innovation continues to drive the world toward a cloud based computing world. As more systems become connected and additional functionality moves to the Web there will be less need for local computing power. Small and fast netbooks can now perform many business critical tasks if those tasks are web based. The key for business decision makers is to position your business correctly to leverage the right mix of traditional computing vs cloud computing to maximize ROI on IT investments.

Contact us to learn more about how we can help your business.

The move signals a more aggressive stance by Google in their pursuit of Google Apps business clients. With recent improvements in integration with iPhones, BlackBerries and Microsoft Outlook Google is flexing some business centric muscle by declaring Google Apps ready for production environments.

From our experience and the experiences of the clients we’ve migrated, Google Apps is a compelling alternative to the traditional Microsoft business solution for businesses of all sizes. To learn more contact us at 858-270-3595.

Google has dropped another bombshell with Google Apps Sync for Microsoft Outlook.  This is big news! Google Apps Sync for Microsoft Outlook allows users to use Outlook as their interface to Google Apps hosted email. While we consider the Google interface to be superior to Microsoft Outlook, this option will ease the transition for many organizations looking to switch.

Congrats to Google as they continue to move closer to providing a seamless path to transitioning to Google Apps. Learn more in the video below.

UPDATE: 06-15-2009 See this article from CRN regarding Google Apps Sync and Microsoft Email.

This deal signals the capabilities and cost savings large organizations are finding with Google Apps. Those same types of savings are available to businesses of all sizes.

More about our view on Google Apps for business is available here.

The full Google story is available here.

Congrats to all involved in this rollout and welcome to the Google Apps family.