UC Berkeley chooses Google Apps over Microsoft Office 365 (updated)

University of California, Berkeley, that hotbed of civil unrest as well as academic achievement, has become the latest university to move from its old-fashioned e-mail system to the Google Apps for Education cloud.

The decision is part of the university’s goal to save $75 million a year in operational and technology expenses. Switching to a web-based email and calendar system will contribute about $500,000 annually to that savings, according to Shelton Waggener, the chief information … Continue Reading

Google Enterprise VP explains how Google Apps is being steadily adopted

Amit Singh, VP for enterprise at Google, is really high on Google Apps. Not just because it’s his job, but because many people are choosing it over Microsoft Office and he’s seeing real examples of how it works better.

Companies like Jaguar, Genentech and Motorola have already adopted Google Apps, and the company is picking up traction with more companies looking for cloud-based document and communication solutions. On stage at CloudBeat 2011, VentureBeat Editor-in-Chief Matt … Continue Reading

Got a Google Apps problem at work? Now, you can call tech support 24/7

Google is giving all its Google Apps for Business customers access to a 24/7 tech support phone line.

At the company’s all-day cloud event, Atmosphere, the company announced that the around-the-clock phone support would be available effective immediately. Separate support lines will operate for U.S. and international customers.

“To improve the experience of our customers, we now provide 24 x 7 phone support to small, medium and large Google Apps for Business customers for all … Continue Reading

Google+ features come to Google Apps accounts

Google Apps customers can now access social features on the company’s social network, Google+, the company announced today on its Enterprise blog.

Previously, users of Google Apps — the company’s enterprise suite of web-based applications for documents, email and more — were denied access to Google+ features like Circles, profiles and Hangouts because the service was only ready for use by individual accounts. That meant if businesses and colleges wanted to use Google+, they had … Continue Reading

Hands on with Office 365: a smart option for small businesses

If you’re a small business or startup, Microsoft Office 365 should be on your technology shortlist. It’s a cloud-based suite based on the world’s most popular office software that launched in late June. It will likely get small businesses and enterprises to start considering cloud software solutions if they haven’t already. Microsoft also hopes this offering can edge into the space Google Apps has had to itself for several years.

After testing the suite’s small … Continue Reading

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Google opens signups to test business version of Google+

Businesses should hold off on creating a profile on Google’s new social service Google+ and instead wait for an upcoming business version of the service, according to Google+ Ads Lead Christian Oestlien.

Business owners can hypothetically create a listing on Google+ using a consumer e-mail address. Business details are then filled into profile details, like first and last name, location and interests. But, as Oestlien explained in a video (embedded below) Wednesday, any profile that … Continue Reading

Google+ coming to paid Google Apps accounts?

New evidence suggests that Google is planning a full roll out of Google+, its new social service currently in beta testing, to Google Apps customers with the public launch of Google+ later this month. A Google OS reader reports accidentally gaining access to Google+ through his business’ domain name (Paralaus) after switching from his personal account to his Apps account.

“I was unaware that Google+ was open on another tab. I tried to reshare something … Continue Reading

Microsoft gives $250K to University of Nebraska to use Office 365

If you want to attract customers to a new product, sometimes you have to give out samples.

In a bigger-than-usual case, Microsoft has handed out $250,000 to the University of Nebraska to switch its e-mail, office, and calendaring programs to the just-introduced Office 365, according to InformationWeek.

Office 365, a suite of Microsoft’s well-known Office products tailored for the cloud, seeks to bring businesses and large-scale clients into the era of cloud computing. Making the … Continue Reading

Microsoft launches Office 365, its Google Apps killer

Microsoft caught up with the present today with the launch of Office 365, a suite of its well-known Office software tailored for the cloud.

Office 365 is an online-based service that shares similarities to Google Apps and Zoho, and it lets people collaborate on documents, spreadsheets and e-mail using a combination of subscription desktop software and web apps. Microsoft’s popular applications like Word, Excel, Exchange, and PowerPoint will now be able to be licensed month-to-month … Continue Reading

Google strikes at Microsoft with Office 365 criticisms

On the day before Microsoft’s Office 365 launches, Google has taken steps to preemptively keep customers from choosing 365 over Google Apps. In a blog post, Google Apps Product Manager Shan Sinha listed four reason Office 365 was a weaker offering than Apps. Google’s reasons included a higher price and a product apparently not designed for teams.

Microsoft Office 365 is a cloud-based service that’s similar to Google Apps and Zoho, which gives users the … Continue Reading

Microsoft brings cloud productivity to all with Office 365 beta

Microsoft’s cloud-focused Office 365, a subscription service that brings online Office apps and other Web tools to small businesses, has opened up to public beta testing today, the company announced this morning.

Office 365, which is expected to launch later this year, represents a major shift for Microsoft because it’s more than just another major Office release. Instead, it combines features like subscription access to desktop Office software (Office Professional Plus, to be exact); Office … Continue Reading

Salesforce makes 3rd acquisition in 2 months — productivity app developer Manymoon

Salesforce announced today that it has picked up Manymoon, a company that adds additional productivity and collaboration tools to web apps like Gmail and Google Apps, as part of a two-month-long spending spree that has now included three acquisitions.

Manymoon adds some additional functionality to Google Apps, such as the ability to create projects and alerts in Gmail based on information received in an email. It also has similar apps for the Google Chrome Web … Continue Reading

Cloud Sherpas raises $1.6M to sell Google apps to companies

Cloud Sherpas, a designated reseller of Google’s online application suite for enterprise customers, announced today it has raised $1.6 million in its first round of funding.

The funding is pegged to help the company sell its Google Application implementation to new markets. Cloud Sherpas will also use the funds to develop its own cloud offering, SherpaTools, which serves as a companion application that helps manage Google’s cloud software.

“This is mainly working capital, but we … Continue Reading

Microsoft brings its Office applications online with Office 365

Microsoft is bringing its Office applications online to compete with Web-based office software like Google Apps, the company announced today at a press event in San Francisco.

The new Office is geared toward small businesses, and businesses with remote employees who telecommute. It integrates cloud services like SharePoint and Exchange with its traditional Word and PowerPoint office applications, bringing everything online with a subscription service.

“End users aren’t going to see much of a difference, … Continue Reading

Google beefs up Apps security to win cloud customers

In any conversation about how applications and data are moving online, security is one of the first concerns to come up. That’s definitely something Google has had to address as its tries to sell Google Apps, its bundle of work tools like Gmail and Google Docs, to businesses and other organizations. Today, it’s taking big step to reduce the risk.

Product manager Travis McCoy said Google Apps’ main security issue is the same one facing … Continue Reading

Insync wants to win the cloud-storage race with Google's help

A Philippines-based startup called Insync is launching the latest version of its document synchronizing product today. It might seem tough for a company that you probably haven’t heard of to challenge better-known competitors like Dropbox, SugarSync, Syncplicity, but Insync is hoping to attract users with the help of Google, since the new product integrates with Google Apps.

Cofounder and chief executive Terence Pua said the closest competition comes from Dropbox, a service where users drag … Continue Reading

Google Apps makes new push for government customers

Google has been touting the government use of its business suite Google Apps for a while now, most notably signing up the City of Los Angeles (a process that has hit a few bumps). Today it’s ramping up that effort with a version targeted at national, state, and local governments, called Google Apps for Government.

The core product, namely the Web applications like Gmail and Google Docs, is still the same, as is the $50-per-user … Continue Reading

City of LA: Despite what you've heard, we still like Google

Google has been touting the government use of its business suite Google Apps for a while now, most notably signing up the City of Los Angeles (a process that has hit a few bumps). Today it’s ramping up that effort with a version targeted at national, state, and local governments, called Google Apps for Government.

The core product, namely the Web applications like Gmail and Google Docs, is still the same, as is the $50-per-user … Continue Reading