Moving to the Cloud is a multi-step process. Gmail is the easy first step. Email is the core communication mode for every business and school. Tens of millions of users at more than two million businesses and thousands of schools rely on Gmail and Google Apps. These organizations have taken the first step to Gmail and Calendar, and have moved to next step, using Google documents, spreadsheets, presentations and Google Sites. Now they always have the latest version of the software because it is automatically upgraded on the server. No more need to email copies of documents, worry about version control, or struggle with reconciling edits and updates from coworkers.
Gmail, Calendar, Docs, Sites and all Google Apps were designed as cloud-based services from day one. Google’s web-centric approach allows any application to work seamlessly on any device with a browser, allowing users to work when, where, and how they want. No more need for constant upgrades, security patches and bug fixes required by client based software.
Many software companies agree the web-centric approach is the way to go and are building their new applications on modern web-based architectures and open standards. Google uses open, standards-based APIs like OpenID for Single Sign-On and OAuth for data access. Many of the protocols used by the APIs in Google’s stack have been designed by the open community. This means many developers already have the necessary skills to integrate with Google Apps, and customers have more choice, and seamless integration with Google Apps.
Developers can build their applications using any technologies and hosting platform of their choice. Want to build using Java? Great. Ruby or PHP? Fine with us. .NET? Sure, we do that too. We're also agnostic as to where developers host their applications – they can be hosted on developers’ own servers, on Amazon EC2, on Google’s App Engine, or on another cloud hosting service. No need to worry about proprietary tools, vendor lock-in, or proprietary cloud architecture lock-in.
Today businesses and educational institutions can build their entire business infrastructure on cloud-based apps from hundreds of software companies available on Google Apps Marketplace. We are an open marketplace so you can even find apps that compete directly with Google products such as SlideRocket presentations and Zoho CRM, giving customers more choice.
Cloud-Based Business Apps - The next step in moving to the Cloud is adopting business infrastructure apps. Hundreds of independent software vendors (ISVs) have built cloud-based business applications that integrate with Gmail and Google Apps. Now you can run your whole business on modern cloud-based applications, and enjoy seamless integration with Google Apps.
Here is a small sample of business applications available on Google Apps Marketplace.
Accounting / CRM
FreshBooks is the leader in online billing and bookkeeping. Send, track and collect payments quickly. Great for teams, freelancers, and subscription services.
Intuit Online Payroll Run payroll anywhere you can sign in to Google Apps. Access payroll or paychecks from Google calenders. Print checks, pay taxes, E-File, and get free help.
MyERP An online business suite that includes CRM, Sales, Accounting, Projects, Purchasing and Inventory. Fully integrated with Google Apps, Gmail and Calendar.
Concur Breeze is designed specifically to help small businesses take the hassle out of expense reporting, allowing your employees to spend more time making your business successful.
Project Management
Smartsheet - online project management tool takes an easy-to-use spreadsheet to the next level with features such as a Gantt chart, collapsible sub-tasks, and attachments and discussions on any row.
Manymoon Team collaboration application for Google Apps. Attach Google Docs to tasks, projects and events. Add project information to shared Google Calendars.
Insightly Track leads, proposals, opportunities, projects and manage files, all through an easy to use interface.
Scheduling / Booking
Tungle.me A scheduling application which lets business people publish availability, accept appointment requests, and plan meetings – making scheduling meetings easy.
Checkfront A powerful booking platform that allows businesses to manage their inventories online, centralize reservations, and process payments.
Timebridge Meeting Manager TimeBridge helps you quickly find a time to meet, conduct a phone or web conference, and more.
Sales & Marketing
MailChimp Make it easy to send email newsletters to your customers, manage your subscriber lists, and track campaign performance.
SurveyMonkey Powerful, yet simple survey creation. Fast & flexible response gathering. Intelligent reporting and analysis.
ExpressPlanner Robust event and registration management solutions for organizations that hold many events per year.
Workflow
RunMyProcess State of the art work-flow, business process and integration capabilities to Google Apps. Design, connect, deploy and measure day-to-day or complex work-flows within days.
Cordys Process Factory Create work-flows, automate business processes, build situational and mash-up applications – all in a rapid and cost effective way with zero coding.
Everything You Need To Run Your Business – There are hundreds more business applications available on the Google Apps Marketplace. Find Admin Tools, Document Management apps, Business ProductivitySecurity & Compliance apps, and many more.
Every week more business apps are added to the Google Apps Marketplace. If you can’t find an app you want please send us a suggestion.
My group at Google created this B2B business apps marketplace a few months ago. We think many business applications are moving to the Cloud, and we want to connect our users to these business app developers. If you would like to add your business application to the Marketplace, see this site for more information. Leave a comment or send me an email if you need some help.
Subscribe - To get an automatic feed of all future posts subscribe with the buttons above right, or to receive them via email enter your email address in the box in the right column. Please enter your Comments. Scroll down to lower right comment box. You can also Follow me on Twitter @DonDodge
Recent Comments