New Features from Google Labs

As part of a continuing “series” of posts, here are some of the recent feature enhancements for Gmail from the teams at Google Labs. Title Tweaks — Changes the order of the browser title and tab title so that “Inbox (xx)” is first. This lets you see the number of unread items in your inbox […]

My First Feature Role in an Industry Webinar!

On April 15th, I will be one of three featured guests on a Webinar hosted by The VAR Guy and MSP Mentor. The VAR Guy Live:Google Apps and the Amazon Cloud – Real SaaS Opportunities for VARs? Click Here to Register. See you online!

Steve Ballmer Diagram’s Microsoft’s View of Cloud Computing

In an interview for a recent article in the New York Times, Steve Ballmer (Microsoft’s CEO), drew a diagram of Cloud Computing. Look at the diagram for yourself and let me now if you think that Microsoft “gets it”.

You can “Unsend” a message in Gmail

As part of Google Labs, Google released a new feature that lets users “unsend” emails. The feature holds emails for 5 seconds and provides a link to “unsend” the message. This feature is available to all Google Apps Enterprise Edition users with Google Labs active.If you do not have the Labs beaker icon, or have […]

Recent Updates to Google Apps

The following features have been added to Google Apps (multiple editions) over the past week or so. In Gmail: Mark as Unread Update:If you’re reading a conversation that had unread messages when you opened it, when you mark it as unread, Gmail will only mark as unread the messages in that conversation that were unread […]

New Google Site Features – Premier Edition Only!

Google has announced three new features in Google Sites that will make gadgets more useful for Google Apps Premier Edition customers: Start Page Template As a site owner, you can let users personalize areas of a site, such as an internal sales portal. This lets users select gadgets and other information for their start page […]

All MS Systems Vulnerable to Year-Old Security Hole

Once again, Windows systems (every supported version) is vulnerable to a significant security attack. As reported in ZDNet, Microsoft was alerted to the issue a year ago and has failed to provide a patch. Time again for IT staff to spend time and energy working around a security problem instead of on projects that help […]

Public Service or Extortion?

Earlier this week, the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) petitioned the FTC to force Google to shut down operations of Gmail, Google Docs, and other services (PCMag coverage here). Their justification was the resent security issue with Google Docs that impacted fewer than 0.05% of Google Doc users. Sounds like EPIC is very concerned about […]

Cloud Computing = Innovation Without a Budget

So you think your budget is tight? Just image being an innovative educator in the San Diego Unified School District. In his blog, Doug’s Dirt, Doug McIntosh explains the problem and his solution (hint: it includes Google Apps). Next, look at the Google Apps in the Classroom, a Google Site he created that tells other […]

New Federal CIO prefers Software-as-a-Service

The US has a CIO for the first time. In appointing Vivek Kundra the federal government’s first CIO, President Obama acknowledges the role information services can play in effective management and service delivery.Vivek Kundra, the former CTO of Washington D.C., is best known for moving the District onto Google Apps. In addition to big savings […]

Google Voice is Coming as an upgrade to GrandCentral

As reported in the Official Google Blog, Google is preparing to replace its GrandCentral voice service with Google Voice. Google Voice is designed to provide you with a universal number that will ring your office, home, and mobile numbers while providing a single voice mailbox and a rich set of features. For now, only existing […]

Smaller Collaboration Firms add Validity to the SaaS Market

Smaller companies, like drop.io, are coming out with innovative, feature rich offerings to strong reviews. While these solutions compete with specific collaboration functions, they do not yet offer an integrated communications and collaboration solution.

A Rational View of Google’s Recent Minor Security Glitch

David Schrag, author of Stop Buying Servers, offers a rational assessment of Google’s recent security glitch … read it here

Microsoft to VARs: Never Mind

In a major shift, Microsoft has changed its mind and backtracked from its decision to allow VARs to bill directly for SaaS solutions. Here is the story.

Google Docs now has Footnotes

Google Docs now supports footnotes! Here’s how …

Publish Results with Forms and Spreadsheets

When you create a form, associated with a spreadsheet, you can now elect to share results — a summary of responses — with your collaborators, or with everybody that fills in the form. Learn more here.

“Spreadsheet Lite” Improves Access from Mobile Phones

Google has added “List View” to Google Spreadsheets. List view is a basic, fast-loading view of a spreadsheet, with simplified editing features. It makes it easy to access Google Spreadsheets: On a slow Internet connection From some mobile phones When there are more than 50 users trying to access a spreadsheet at the same time […]

Google Spreadsheets Get Data Validation

Google has added data validation (lenient or strict) to Google Spreadsheets. You can now: Validate numbers, dates, and text. Prevent users from entering text that doesn’t match your criteria, or show them a comment on the cell when the data doesn’t match the validation rule. Add text to the cells you add validation to, to […]

Microsoft Changes Controversial SaaS Billing Policies

After a generation of confusing and frustrating licensing policies, Microsoft may actually be listening to its channel partners. Reported by ChannelWeb, Microsoft will let channel partners bill customers for SaaS services.

Google Starts Down Certification Path

Google announced that they are offering on-line courses and a certification test for Google Analytics. This is a good start in helping business owners understand if they are engaging qualified resources. We look forward to Google expanding the program to their other product lines. We also encourage Google to consider a practicum or customer references […]