Google Apps exceeds government security standards
According a new report by Unisys, Google Apps for Government exceeds the government's own security standards. This is in stark contrast to claims made a couple of months ago by Microsoft and others that they did not. Unisys concluded that the use of two-factor authentication met these standards, enabling federal workers to access their email and data outside of the government's network. This is part of an effort to save $3bn in the next five years by eliminating around 800 federal data centers. Read the entire article here.
Google to offer 24/7 phone support
One of the biggest barriers for users of Google products is that when a service fails, there's nobody to call. While most of Google's products are very stable compared with desktop or enterprise equivalents, nevertheless it's essential to have an escalation procedure when things go wrong. Currently there are support forums and bulletin boards available for users of their free products and 24/7 phone support for users of Google Premier, although this only covers critical problems that prevent access to the system. Network World reports that Google enterprise chief Dave Girouard is about to change all this with the advent of 24/7 ...
30 Days With Google Apps
PC World's Tony Bradley is currently on day 22 of a challenge to use Google Apps in place of Microsoft Office for a full 30 days. Bradley's series of articles touches on a number of topics that are central to the Google Apps experience. Rather than looking at the platform as a free or cheap alternative to Microsoft Office, it really offers an alternative way to share and collaborate while representing a large percent of Office features that most commonly used. Among some of my favorite of his pieces in last three weeks include: How to manage when the cloud or internet is ...
A peek inside Google Apps security
Google released this video which covers some of the physical and data security protections taken at one of their data centers. This is the first time Google has provided a detailed video illustrating some of the lengthy measures taken to provide the multiple levels of security taken to protect customer data.
Tools to save your Microsoft Office files in Google’s cloud
As much as I'm a huge fan of Google Apps' office alternatives, there are times when I need certain features only available in the Microsoft Office platform. The biggest problem is that I can only save these files to my local computer or network, when I really want the convenience and reliability of Google's file storage system. There are two great tools that can help achieve these seamlessly. Both show the file system in your Google Apps account whenever you use the the file dialog (from opening or saving files from Office). Gladinet: Gladinet integrates with a range of different cloud services, ...
Google Apps minor releases this week
Unlike traditional desktop software, Google is able to update its browser-based office suite in the background without interruption to users (or overnight planning by IT departments). Here are some of the changes that have been rolled out during the last week: Administrators now have the ability to control if users are allowed to install Google Cloud Connect for Microsoft Office. Two labs features in Gmail are graduating to the standard application. These help prevent missing a person on an email (this is achieved by looking at groups of people you regularly email together) and an additional check to make sure you have the ...
Google Makes Android More Enterprise-Compatible
One of the concerns about Android for Enterprise IT Managers has been the lack of security controls available, compared with those on the Blackberry on iPhone. Google has just announced a series of changes designed to woo the favor of corporations concerned about security on mobile devices: Security: You can now secure a phone running Android 2.2 or later remotely by locating it on the map and sending instructions to reset the password or obliterate the data on the device. Encryption: Data on the phone can be encrypted by Google Apps administrators to effectively secure it against users without the necessary credentials. Phone Book: ...
A few small upgrades to Gmail
Google is rolling out a number of small fixes to improve the user experience in Gmail. These include:
How To Lock Down Google Docs
From a great piece on CIO.com about how two firms locked down Google Apps, Shane O'Neill discusses the approach taken by two firms to increase the security of the platform for their users. Key background points from this article: Google Apps currently has a very small share of the enterprise market, but a much bigger share in education and government organizations, principally because of budget cuts and the need to do more with less. Both organizations' IT directors said that, learning curves aside, they had no regrets about moving to Google Apps. One IT director was a happy Gmail user who wanted better mobility ...
Google Docs Spreadsheets Become Sophisticated
Google Docs Spreadsheets used to be a fairly primitive tool with the "killer app" being the ability to share and collaborate in real-time. As Keir Thomas writes in PC World, Google Apps developers have started tackling some of the most requested features from users, such as the ability to select non-contiguous rows and the addition of the AutoFilter. As they start to build-out some of this useful Excel features, this makes the transition for users from Microsoft Excel to Google Docs Spreadsheets all the easier. But Google isn't looking to replicate Office online - it's really about getting users comfortable with the ...
Now available on Amazon.com!
