Be More Social with Secure Google+ Communities

Businesses often hesitate to use social media tools internally, fearing that information may be shared too broadly or outside the company in error.  Google has taken a major step to alleviate these concerns with the recent announcement of Secure Google+ Communities for organizations running Google Apps for Business, Education, and Government. Going forward, all Google+ communities […]

Cumulus Global in the News Recently

Cumulus Global is active in the cloud solution provider channel and markets.  Allen Falcon, our CEO, has been quoted several times recently in the trade and industry press. Nice Work If You Can Get It: The IT Talent Shortage Is More Serious Than You Think CRN: November 4, 2013 Our View:  IT talent is out […]

As XP Retires, Should You Go Virtual?

Next April, Microsoft ends support for Windows XP.  While your applications will continue to run, for now, XP will not longer receive security updates.  XP will no longer support all future updates to your applications, which can render applications inoperable. The logical next step seems to be upgrade, but at what price? Bringing a Windows […]

Easier Sharing of Google Docs; Watch Your Permissions

Google is making it easier to share Google Docs, Drawings, and Slides (not Sheets) with people outside your Google Apps for Business domain. Files shared outside your domain to an email address not linked to an existing Google Account can be viewed without having to sign in or create a new Google Account. If a file […]

QuickOffice is Free for Everyone

As of September 19, 2013, Google has freed QuickOffice for everyone.  The result? Anybody with a Google Apps account can edit MS Office documents — Word, Excel, and Powerpoint — stored in Google Drive using any Android or iOS device. While Microsoft is still attempting to lock users into Windows platforms in order to use […]

HIPAA Compliance with Google Apps Just Got Easier

One of the challenges using any IT service are external requirements for data use and privacy.  Among the most restrictive are those imposed by the Healthcare Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA).  HIPAA regulations intend to ensure data is private and protected from accidental or intentional breach, and is only shared as needed to ensure […]

Should You Backup Data in Google Apps?

When running systems in-house, the need for backup/recovery and backup/restore services is clear.  Organizations must protect themselves from system failures and other events that can corrupt or destroy important information.  With Google Apps, however, the highly redundant infrastructure offers great protection from data loss due to system failures. Why should you backup your data in […]

Breakfast With Google Apps and More …

We don’t often blog about events, but this one is unique. On Thursday September 19th at 8:00 am, you can join us at Google’s NYC offices — or via live simulcast — for Breakfast with Google.  While enjoying a full breakfast, you have the change to meet, learn from, and discuss Getting More from Google […]

Cumulus Global named to CRN’s Next-Gen 250 For Second Consecutive Year

Westborough, MA, September 12, 2013 – Cumulus Global announced it has been recognized for a second year as a member of the CRN Next-Gen 250. The annual list highlights up-and-coming solution providers that are new to the market, and take a smart and different approach to solution selling and integration. The Next-Gen 250 honors those […]

IT “Kitchen” Nightmares

If you have never seen “Kitchen Nightmares” starring famed chef Gordon Ramsay, you may be missing a great IT management learning tool.  In each episode, Chef Ramsay visits a failing restaurant, figures out what is wrong, and facilitates a turn-around.  While his style may be confrontational, his analysis and solutions look at all aspects of […]

Gartner Cloud Survey Highlights Risky Behavior

A recent survey by Gartner reported that only 38% of organizations surveyed use cloud computing. Gartner also reported that 80% of respondents, including 55% of those not using cloud computing today, plan to use cloud computing in the next 12 months. The survey, however, focuses on official cloud computing initiatives and may not consider the […]

Google Apps Vault for Education: Get the Coverage Your Expect

For schools, adding Google Apps Vault is affordable and easy. Pricing is based on the number of faculty, staff, and administrator accounts; student accounts are covered for free. But while Google Apps Vault for Education is purchased to cover all users on your Google Apps Domain, the admin settings do not provide this by default. […]

Google Apps Admins Win with Cumulus Global / BetterCloud Partnership

One of the challenges of cloud computing solutions is effectively managing the services. While most cloud services let you manage the service, they do not always provide tools that help manage how the service is used.  As a BetterCloud Preferred Partner, Cumulus Global offers organizations using Google Apps for Business, Education, and Government an admin-friendly cloud […]

Life in the eCity for Cumulus Global

On August 14th, Google Inc. (GOOG) bestowed Westborough, MA with the honor of “digital capital” of Massachusetts as a 2013 eCity.  Research firm Ipsos and Google analyzed how small businesses in communities across the state utilize the Internet to market and grow their businesses.  Factors in Google’s and Ipsos’ analysis included the number of small […]

Cumulus Global in the News in August

Cumulus Global is active in the cloud solution provider channel and markets.  Allen Falcon, our CEO, has been quoted several times recently in the trade and industry press. Forrester: Global IT Pushed to $2.06 Trillion in 2013 Unified Communication Strategies, July 29, 2013 Our View: Spending focus is on business value, not technology. Microsoft Mobile […]

Google Docs & Drive: Small New Features Make a Big Difference

Google continues to enhance the Google Apps suite with updates to Google Docs and Drive. In Google Docs: A new spell checker runs in real-time.  Marking misspelled words, the checker lets you review spelling via a traditional style tool, see spelling suggestions as you type, and setup automatic correction.   You can learn more here. […]

New Alerts Help Admins Manage Google Apps

One of the challenges of managing any computing service is tracking changes made to user accounts and services.  The same holds true for Google Apps Now, Google Apps Administrators can receive email alert notifications when changes are made to user accounts or services settings. User Alerts include: User suspended (by an administrator) New user added […]

Users Ask; Gmail Delivers New Features

One of the benefits of Cloud Computing, is that user-requested features can be developed and released quickly and efficiently.  Over the past few weeks, Google has done just that with the Gmail component of Google Apps for Business, Government, and Education. Full Screen Compose For those of us who like a  bit more room when […]

Google Apps Gets Modern Admin Account Recovery

Up until now, recovering a Google Apps administrative account password required setting a fixed secondary, off-domain, email address in the Google Apps Admin Console. Earlier this week, Google announced an upgrade to the capability, giving every super administrator the ability to recover their account password via email or mobile phone. For more information on adding […]

Cumulus Global In The News

Cumulus Global is active in the cloud solution provider channel and markets.  Allen Falcon, our CEO, has been quoted several times recently in the trade and industry press. IT Spend To Grow 2 Percent In 2013: Report CRN, July 2, 2013 Solution Providers Increasingly Focusing on Encryption Unified Communications Strategy, July 4, 2013 3-Click Cloud […]