Fortune/CNN: Is Microsoft the Next GM?

In a recent contributed blog post on CNNMoney.com, Jay R. Galbraith, president and founder, Galbraith Management Consultants asks, “Will Microsoft become the General Motors of software?” Whether you are a fan of Microsoft products or a detractor, this is an interesting read.

Google Docs Viewer for PDF, PPT, and TIFF Files

You can now view and embed online documents in your browser without downloading and using an application. Google Docs Viewer allows you to view certain files online. Enter the URL of a PDF, Powerpoint or TIFF document in the Viewer and we’ll display it directly in the browser with no download required. Get the details […]

Getting Docs Out of Google Docs … and More

When considering cloud computing, one of the questions we often here is “How can I get my data out if I decide to change services?”. Over the past few months, Google has confirmed its commitment to ensuring data portability. This week, they delivered on this promise with export capabilities that let you export multiple files […]

Google Sites API Opens Up New Capabilities

There’s now a new Google Sites Data API in Labs that allows client applications to access, publish and modify content within a Google Site. With this new API, Google Apps administrators can: Retrieve, create, modify, move, and delete pages, comments, attachments and other content. Review the revision history across the Site. Monitor all, add, modify […]

More Consistency Across Google Docs

One of the legitimate criticisms of Google Docs has been that the menu options and user interfaces differ between Documents, Spreadsheets, and Presentations. Just released, Google has updated Google Docs to minimize the differences between the apps. Learn more and see the updated menu bars here.

Setting up Push Mail for iPhone and Windows Mobile Devices

Push mail is now supported on iPhone and Windows Mobile devices using Google Sync. Learn how to access the new features here.

Improved Sharing and Publishing Controls for Google Docs

Users of the Premier and Education Editions now have improved controls over access controls and publishing for Google Docs. Administrators can now determine if users are allowed to publish documents, spreadsheets, and presentations to the Internet. Get the details on how to manage the settings here.

If You Love Your Site, Set it Free

When managing permissions in Google Sites, you can make others owners, collaborators, or viewers. You now have the ability to remove yourself completely from site permissions. As such, you can fully hand over ownership to others. Get the scoop here.

Directory Sync and Suspended Users

Directory Sync allows mid-size and larger organizations to manage Google Apps user accounts through Active Directory or other LDAP servers on the internal network. The latest Google Apps Directory Sync version (1.6.7) now supports suspend user functionality and other new use cases to make deployment easier such as: The ability to sync users as suspended […]

Flowchart Shapes and Text Formatting in Google Charts

If you work with drawings in Google Docs, you will be pleased to learn that you now have more flowchart shapes and the ability to format multi-line text boxes. While not revolutionary, these incremental changes improve usability. Learn more here

Major Enhancements to Google Forms

Google Forms have always been a convenient easy way to gather simple information, but have lacked some of the features found in commercial survey tools. We are happy to share that this is changing. With several recent rounds of updates, Google Forms have are maturing. The first round of enhancements include: A new Grid question […]

Blackberry Add-On Adds Value for Gmail Users

Blackberry offers an enhanced Gmail plug-in that gives you the following capabilities: Archive a message Add a star to a message Add a label to a message Report spam email message Perform local and remote searches View related messages conversation view These features work within the plug-in but do not effect email in Messages application. […]

Administrators Get More Control Over Chat

Two new features let administrators secure and manage Google Talk chat sessions. Enable/disable their user’s ability to chat outside the domain. Enable a setting to automatically accept chat invitations between users in their domain. These features are only available in Education and Premier Edition (a few more reasons to upgrade).

Google Apps Improves Cloud Integration to Internal Services

Google recently released an update to Directory Sync with the following features to support new use cases that make deployment easier, including: The ability to sync users as suspended from LDAP The ability to suspend a user in Apps, when the user is deleted from LDAP Contact us for more information, or if you want […]

Collaboration with Google Sites Just Got Easier

Several recent updates to Google Sites greatly improve their use and value for collaboration. The ability to copy an entire site More control over the search box to do things like search across multiple sites The “recent announcement” gadget now allows you to control how much text is shown in the post summary. You can […]

Translate Google Docs — 42 languages

Collaboration across languages and cultures is easier when you speak the language. Google Docs now supports translation across 42 languages. Learn more here

More Task Features

If you use Tasks in Google Apps, you can now email task lists. With the ability to have multiple lists, emailing task lists makes delegation easier.

Most Companies Underedstimate the Cost of Messaging

Do you know how much you really spend on email and related services? A September 2009 study by Osterman Research finds most businesses under estimate the full cost of messaging services, often by more than 50%.

Google Postini Service Update: 10/14 11:45 AM ET

The following is the latest status report regarding the Google Postini Service problems, as of 4:45 AM ET this morning: “We experienced an issue that caused significant delays to inbound mail delivery for users on System 7. Postini Engineering and Operations have resolved the issue, and mail delivery rates have returned to normal. Engineering and […]

Look Past the Price Tag

The online backup market is a mess! Companies are coming out of the woodwork offering great deals on backup services. With cloud-based disk space providing cheaper storage, the downward pressure on price seems unstoppable. For businesses, where do you begin? As recovering consultants, we always advise businesses to start with requirements. Why are you creating […]