3 Ways Your Enterprise Can Use Google Sites

Intranets, team collaboration sites and document archives powered by Google

While Gmail, Google Calendar, and Google Docs capture much of the Google Apps spotlight, it seems only appropriate to shed light on Google Sites — another key component of the enterprise suite.  An exploration of the discussions on Twitter reveals a community abuzz with the innovation and functionality of Google Sites.

Google Sites is an enterprise wiki that all Google Apps users can benefit from.  It’s easy to use, quick to deploy, and nicely integrated with the rest of the Apps suite.  Companies that adopt Google Sites cut additional expense from their IT budget while increasing their employee’s productivity, further leveraging their investment in Google Apps.

1.  Company intranets. Traditional intranets provide enormous value to organizations, but fall short in terms of collaboration and ease of use. With only a handful of authorized editors, a traditional intranet doesn’t allow a general user to contribute content, making it a challenge to keep content fresh and important resources up-to-date.  Google Sites is inherently collaborative and simple to use, and with its robust permission schema, offers a platform to build an intranet for your users managed by your users.

2.  Team/project sites. Forget about complex SharePoint sites or cludgy Lotus QuickPlaces — there is a better way for teams to share information and stay connected.  Cloud Sherpas makes heavy use of Google Sites in every client engagement, creating a central resource for both internal and external team members to share files, keep meeting notes, and track progress. And with native hooks into other Google Apps modules, sharing calendars and other team resources is a snap.

3.  Archives. Much like your company intranet, the value of your archives depends heavily on how easy it is to recall files from its depths.  For traditional file shares and document repositories, this is achieved by mandating a rigid hierarchy, which as we all know, is very difficult to maintain over time.  As one might expect, an archive supported by Google would naturally come with Google-powered search.  The many of you familiar with Gmail should realize how much a difference it would make to be able to search through thousands of files in your archives with the ease that Google search exhibits in Gmail, especially if you forget the exact file name or location.

To get more out of your Google Apps deployments, Cloud Sherpas is developing a suite of Google Apps productivity tools.  The first product in our suite is the Google Sites Bulk File Uploader. Go ahead and try it!  Because I think we can agree that no one should be charged with the cruel and unusual punishment of manually clicking, finding, and uploading hundreds or thousands of files, the Google Sites Bulk File Uploader allows you to easily transfer an unlimited number of files and folders to Google Sites with just a few clicks.

You can download an evaluation version and see how easy it is to move files to Google Sites.

TechCFO, a financial services consulting firm, used the Google Sites Bulk File Uploader to migrate a large document repository from Microsoft Exchange Public Folders (an archive system without a search function!) to Google Sites.  Once the documents arrived in Google, they were indexed and immediately searchable.  The Bulk File Uploader helped facilitate what otherwise would have been an arduous task and turned an unused file share into an indispensable resource for their growing organization. Read the case study here.

So this was our effort to convince you that Google Sites is worth a first date, and that we have the tools to help you get more out of your deployments.  Stay tuned, because this Friday we’ll be announcing an upgrade to our Bulk File Uploader that will give you additional flexibility and control over the file transfer to Google Sites.  It’s a simple concept, but the payoffs are great.

Want more proof that you’ll love the Uploader?  Take a screenshot of you using the free evaluation version and twitpic it to us.  Starting… now, if you’re one of the first five, we’ll give you or your company an Express license for free!  So save yourself the normal cost of $295, and move 100 files or folders to Google Sites for free!

Oh, I suppose this requires you to follow us on Twitter.

Google Apps Jumps Microsoft Hurdle

Google Apps Sync for Outlook offers choice; Need for Exchange significantly diminished.

On Sunday, PC World claimed that IT decision-makers were still reluctant to leave Microsoft, and writers for BusinessWeek.com scoffed Monday that Google Apps is still not a threat to Redmond, but a stunning announcement from Google on Tuesday has propelled Google Enterprise past what was arguably the most common excuse for Microsoft shops not to use it.

In an unprecedented resolution between SaaS advantages and legacy product familiarity, Google Enterprise has developed the Google Apps Sync for Microsoft Outlook. Now, IT departments reluctant to abandon the familiarity of Outlook can offer users a choice — they can either continue to use Outlook or adopt Gmail, while Google Apps, behind-the-scenes, eliminates the Exchange server and floats the former infrastructure into the cloud. The impressive end result boasts two considerable advantages:

1. High capital expenses associated with purchasing Microsoft server licenses and hardware disappear, as do the operating costs of maintaining this legacy, on-premise infrastructure.

2. End-users determined to stay on Outlook now have that option, although Google is confident that the majority of employees, especially those already familiar with Gmail, will choose Google Apps over the Outlook interface once they experience what Google Apps has to offer.

For an employee like Sherry Arp, though, this option to remain on Outlook is invaluable. Sherry Arp, an Avago Technologies employee that transitioned to this Outlook-Google Apps system, describes the process as “seamless” and adds in this interview that, “It was just like Outlook. I didn’t have to learn anything new.”

For Bob Rudy, vice president and CIO of Avago, Google Apps Sync for Outlook “eliminates the last hurdle or mindset for letting go of [Microsoft] Exchange or the Exchange mentality.” In the clip below, he firmly advocates the product, stating that it saves the company $1.6 million a year.

Dave Girouard, President of Google Enterprise, also mentioned on Tuesday’s announcement that Google has more than 1.75 million businesses and 15 million users already benefiting from its expertise in cloud computing. The plug-in for Microsoft Outlook has eliminated what was perhaps the largest remaining deterrent to the switch from expensive Microsoft Enterprise Agreements (EAs) to Google Apps, and the impending growth now seems virtually limitless.

Google’s own explanation of the product:

If you’re still reading, what are you waiting for? Capitalize on this breakthrough. As a authorized reseller and leading Google Enterprise deployment partner, our job as Cloud Sherpas is to help your organization seamlessly make this transition.

Let’s talk about the switch. We’re ready when you are.

Corporate America Joins the Netbook Revolution

By Ned Smith
June 11, 2009

Netbooks, the mighty-mites of mobile computing, are becoming the sales colossus of the computer industry. Though margins are thin for manufacturers (hardware and software alike), these smaller, less-expensive siblings of the ubiquitous notebooks carried by millions of road warriors are the one ray of hope in this slough of slumping technology spending. And they’re increasingly becoming the portable computer of choice for peripatetic professionals.

Once dismissed as cute novelty devices, netbooks have grown up fast. “It appears that netbooks have already made the leap from consumer toy to business professional,” says Gloria Barczak, the chair of the marketing department at Northeastern University’s College of Business Administration. “According to some sources, netbook sales in the first three months of 2009 (5.5. million) were greater than last year’s hot new product, the iPhone. Expectations are that the netbook market will grow by 80 percent in 2009 with Gartner predicting that by 2012 annual netbook sales will be over 50 million.”    

Economics and the advent of cloud computing have made this evolution possible. With the recession, Barczak explains, “Customers, both consumers and business, are looking for an inexpensive device that performs the primary functions they need — Internet browsing, e-mail, typing documents and sharing some digital media. In addition to their functionality, netbooks are low price, very portable due to low weight and typically have longer battery lives than some laptops due to lower power requirements. So overall they are convenient, affordable and functional. They appeal to a wide variety of users — students, senior citizens, parents and even business people who may be tired and hurting from trying to type e-mails on their Blackberries or iPhones.”

Netbooks, which trace their DNA back to Nicholas Negroponte’s One Laptop Per Child project to create inexpensive laptops, have come into their own and gained a growing cohort of enthusiasts because of the blossoming of cloud computing. It is the enabling technology that has helped netbooks reach a tipping point to make the leap from toy to tool. “As more applications move to the cloud and all you need is a connection and a browser to get work done, netbooks become hugely valuable and cost effective for almost any business,” says Jason Throckmorton, a co-founder of bi-coaLaunchsquadstal tech PR company Launchsquad. “Netbooks running Linux and free application suites like OpenOffice could be a real game changer when it comes to economics and productivity.”

In a survey conducted by market research and consulting company Techaisle,, nearly a third of small and midsize businesses said they were looking at netbook purchases as they consider upgrading their core desktops and notebooks.

The confluence of cloud computing and netbooks is the perfect digital storm that drives the business model for Cloud Sherpas, a pure-play cloud computing integrator headquartered in Atlanta. “Cloud computing is our bread and butter,” says Michael Cohn, CEO. “The specific technology we do is Google Apps. Our consultants are using netbooks as their primary work stations. We have to eat our own dog food, so to speak, so we live and breathe on the cloud. We are a truly server-less environment.”

For Cloud Sherpas, the cloud computing/netbook combo is not a hard sell. “Our customers who are also embracing Google Apps in general are asking us about netbooks because they see us walk in with these little netbooks that practically fit in your pocket,” says Cohn. “And we’re able to administer their entire system from them, and we’re able to do e-mail, create documents and spreadsheets and collaborate in real time.”

Netbooks and the cloud aren’t for everyone, Cohn admits. “A netbook is not the right tool if you’ve got to run tons of software on your machine. That’s not what it’s designed for. If you have to run Office on a desktop, that’s going to suck up all your resources. But if you’re using tools like Google Apps, there are a lot of advantages with a netbook.”

It’s all a matter of tradeoffs. “We’re either going to spend three times as much on a laptop and have to lug it around, or we can spend $300 on a netbook and not even feel it in a backpack. If an organization can operationalize its IT to the point where they’re finally embracing cloud computing, using netbooks in a no-brainer.”

Cohn predicts that netbook use will be adopted function by function, rather than company wide. “There are certain functions where netbooks make much more sense,” he says. “Netbook for a sales guy, a consultant or a road warrior is a no-brainer. But I don’t see graphic designers, for example, jumping on the netbook bandwagon quite yet because they require all this heavy software like the Adobe suite to be installed.”

The allure of netbooks has even fanned the flames of technolust in the august provinces of white shoe law firms. Browning Marean, a partner in the San Diego office of DLA Piper one of the world’s largest law firms, has bailed on laptops in favor of his Aspire netbook sidekick. “I’m on the road just about every week,” he says, “and I do a lot of presentations. Using the Aspire as a substitute works perfectly well. It projects just as well as a full-fledged laptop and I can do 95 percent of the things I need to to do. When you’re on an airplane and that pesky person in front of you decides to recline, you still have some room to work with your computer.”

Because of their low price points (generally $300 to $400), Marean says, “Netbooks are really becoming consumables.”
Though the first wave of netbooks was driven by the Linux operating system and Taiwan-based hardware manufacturers, their increasing popularity has made them a force — and market — that must be reckoned with. Hardware manufacturers and software developers sitting this trend out do so at their own peril. Though late to the game, Microsoft retaliated by offering netbook makers a bargain-basement version of its old Windows XP operating system. Redmond promises that its next OS, Windows 7, will run on netbooks when it hits the market this October.

It had better. Acer and Asus, two Taiwan netbook titans, said June 2 that they will launch netbooks that run on Android, the free operating system Google originally created for cellphones. Will Apple be next?

Stay tuned. It’s getting interesting.

(Editor’s note: This was written with Google Docs on an ASUS 1000HE netbook.)

Ned Smith is a New York-based writer who reports on business and technology. He can be contacted at nedsmith@gmail.com.