Tag Archives: Google Apps Marketplace
Video: Google Apps Marketplace at One Year
Posted on 09. Mar, 2011 by Daniel Cawrey. 
0 Comments
Google’s Apps Marketplace is a specialized webapp market that is targeted towards those who use the company’s productivity suite. It has quietly hit the one year mark today, with over 300 applications that can help people organize and get more work done. You could think of the Apps Marketplace as “extensions” for the services many of us use for free through Gmail and Google Docs.
Google’s work in providing an alternative is not just another way for them to make money. Sure, that’s part of the goal (Google is a business of course) but it’s all about thinking about software in both the enterprise and in organizations altogether differently.
Instead of having to deal with information technology issues such as servers and upgrading software, Google Apps takes many problems associated with that model away and replaces it with a cloud solution that is more seamless for both users and administrators.
Yes, this alternative may not be the most optimal for some organizations, but it’s only fair that Microsoft should be challenged with a different way of thinking. The market allows for it, and many decision makers are considering making the switch to Google because of this different model, among other reasons such as potential cost savings.
What are the benefits of Google Apps vs. the solutions offered by Microsoft?
5 Ways Chrome OS Can Bring Google Revenue
Posted on 18. Feb, 2011 by Daniel Cawrey. 7 Comments
Google is a sneaky company. Most people use their services, and some even profess their love for the company and its free services. But don’t be fooled because the company is very a profitable one. In 2010, the company made $8.5 billion. So there’s no doubt that Google is working on the Chrome OS initiative in order to make money.
The question is: how do they plan on profiting from giving away a free operating system? In some ways, it plans on using the Android model. But it’s clear that the company thinks it can make money in different ways than the mobile operating system. Here are five ways that it may plan on doing this.
thechromesource Daily: Links for 9/14/10
Posted on 14. Sep, 2010 by Daniel Cawrey. 0 Comments
The new look of Twitter is a threat to all desktop applications, says Mashable.
The new Instant Search feature that is appearing in some Chrome channels may erase the need for a Google homepage.
The Google Apps Marketplace quietly hit the six months mark today; twelve new apps hit the directory today.
PCWorld discovers via Google’s Compatibility Definition for Android that telephony is not a requirement for sanctioned devices.
The stable channel of Chrome browser was updated today with a hefty amount of security updates and rewards.
Aviary Adds “Browser/OS” Option for Screen Captures
Posted on 06. Jul, 2010 by DC4wr3y. 0 Comments
Do I detect the solution to a problem coming? In edition to having developed a Chrome extension, a company called Aviary also has a browser-based screen capture utility, recently added a “Browser/OS” drop-down box as one of its options for snapshots.
Really, what purpose would there be for adding this to your ability to create a screenshot unless it was for a certain web-based operating system coming out at the end of this year? Taking a picture of your computer screen shouldn’t require what web browser or operating system you are using, except when the resulting file is stored somewhere other than your hard drive, such as in the cloud.
As Google begins to internally test Chrome OS, we’ll slowly start to see these types of little functional elements occur. Although Aviary is not owned by Google, they are an Apps partner and signed on early to be a part of the Google Apps Marketplace. In a past interview with another company that has been an early partner with Apps Marketplace, MindMeister, I was told that Google keeps product liasons in close contact with these third party companies.
I’m going to need to be able to take screenshots in Chrome OS as well as edit images and this may just be the ticket to doing that. Have you come across any other way it’s going to be possible? I haven’t other than perhaps by using Aviary.
thechromesource Daily: Links for 5/18/10
Posted on 18. May, 2010 by Daniel Cawrey. 0 Comments
Amazon announced today that they are releasing a Kindle e-reader app for Android.
Google’s YouTube video of its new Feed API v2 with Push shows how real-time feeds can be easily embedded into web pages.
The new Gmail contextual gadgets feature allows Google Apps Marketplace developers the ability to add functionality within e-mail.
General Motors has formally announced its partnership with Google, and a possible Android version of OnStar could appear at Google I/O.
Of course, don’t forget that Google I/O starts tomorrow morning. Here are the resources you need to be in on the action.
Chrome OS Screenshots Highlight Google’s Apps
Posted on 14. May, 2010 by Daniel Cawrey. 1 Comments
When Chrome OS does finally make it to market, it is obvious that it will highlight the vast array of Google’s service offerings.
You can see from the screenshots that the folks over at TechCrunch recently found that not only will Chrome OS feature browser functionality, but perhaps also another type of window that is being called Panels. Many of them will likely house services such as Google Chat, Voice and Gmail among others. There really is no way around it: one of the reasons that Google is doing this is to increase its visibility with all of the applications and services that have been developed.
I can now see why Google also want to have a business version of their operating system as well. The Google Apps Marketplace would fit nicely into this, allowing for more productivity capabilities than Microsoft on its own is able to offer. Plus, nothing has to be downloaded or configured. It just works, which will save corporate IT departments time and money that could be better allocated to other resources.
The interface design that we are seeing in these screenshots are different from what the current Chrome OS builds have. So while it needs to be polished up a bit, I suspect that some of these Apple-like design concepts will be added on to the final commercial product. At the same time, Chromium project builds will continue to focus only on make sure that the system works, has the right security elements and is compatible with certain hardware standards.
How Many Marketplaces Can Google Have?
Posted on 10. May, 2010 by Daniel Cawrey. 1 Comments
Back in March, Google announced its addition to Google Apps for outside developers called the Google Apps Marketplace. Now, that’s not to be confused with Android Market, which is currently only for smartphones. And it certainly doesn’t have anything to do with the Google Analytics Application Gallery, or even the Google Chrome Extensions directory. I’m sure that I have inadvertently left out some marketplace or directory that Google has, but it’s hard to keep track.
Do you see where I’m going with this? I understand the point of having places for developers to connect with the Google platform, but at some point this is going to start getting confusing for people. Really, why isn’t there just one name for the place that developers can offer up as well as sell their own Google-related apps, extensions, widgets or whatever? It seems like that might be a bit easier.
Apple, in contrast, has the iTunes App Store. They smartly decided that when Apps started to become big with the advent of the iPhone that they would just suffix “iTunes” with “App Store”. Inside the iTunes App Store, they sell everything, and my intuition is that as they continue to expand; they will go on selling everything inside one marketplace.
There should be one central spot for developers to hawk their wares, and this is the place from where users can download them. It’s understandable that perhaps Google is waiting until their paid model fully develops. But let’s hope for the sake of organization they give it one really great name, throw everything in there divided by app/service/media format and advertise the snot out of it.
What It’s Like to be a Successful Google Apps Software Company
Posted on 08. May, 2010 by Daniel Cawrey. 2 Comments
MindMeister is a company that provides a special tool for organizations called “mind mapping”. Being a software as a service company, it was logical for them to be included when the Google enterprise Apps Marketplace when it was launched last March. In this interview, I talk with MindMeister COO Michael Hollauf and CTO Till Vollmer about their software, the recent changes Google has made to Apps as well as what it’s like working with the search engine giant.
Can you tell me a little bit about MindMeister?
Michael: We’ve been online for about 3 years now. About a month ago, finally, we launched on Google Apps Marketplace. This came out of a relationship with Google. It started pretty early on, almost three years ago now. We realized the product we have fits nicely with what Google has.
It’s a nice add-on for their Apps. I’m explaining more our relationship with Google. Since our integration, we are doing more things integrated with the Docs. We have a regular relationship with them. It seems they’re really pushing Apps now with the introduction of the Marketplace and the enhancements to Google Docs.
Would you say your product is similar to something you would do in Visio or is it something out on its own?
Michael: Yes, it’s certainly something that’s on its own. Visio is something that can draw everything. You can draw pictures, flow charts. I think we’re a subset. We focus on a subset of what Visio does. We are very good at that. Our software basically gives it all, focuses very quickly and doesn’t worry about the drawings, it just brings in all of your structures.
So, I think someone that uses our mind mapping product wouldn’t be very happy with Visio. More similar to drawing in a PowerPoint presentation, something like that. It’s a similar space though. We often get requests for things like flow charts and so on. It’s all graphical, visual presentation. They have something in Docs which is now called Google Drawings with a separate bar.
Is this just something that is part of the Apps marketplace? I assume that your pricing model is set up so it’s a monthly user fee or something? Anything of that nature?
Michael: Yes, it’s a monthly user fee. It’s a monthly fee per user or teams of users so you can have two people up to however many you want. You can pay by the month or can pay by the year. The way it works in Google Apps is they don’t have a billing infrastructure. So the way we do it, we let users sign up for free without even entering their credit cards. They just go to MindMeister in Apps and get a 30 day free trial.
If you want to upgrade, you can pay and purchase. That’s going to be the way it works until we launch billing. According to Google, it should be in a couple of months when the users will only use their credit card once – when they sign up to Google Apps. Then they will be able to do everything at the Apps Marketplace: just add the app.
Better for us and better for users. They don’t want to enter their credit cards more than they have to.
I think that’s a fantastic idea. What are they getting out of setting up all of this entire infrastructure? Is it just that they’re getting the value of added features to Apps?
Michael: Yes, now that’s the only thing they are getting, but with the billing, they are going to take twenty percent I think it is.
Twenty percent of everything then?
Michael: Yes.
I ask these things because Eric Schmidt keeps talking about how a lot of revenue is going to start to come from this. There really hasn’t been an explanation, but that right there, when you’re dealing with percentage of fees per month that really adds up. What they’re trying to do is get away from just advertising because you really have to diversify when you’re a company that large.
Michael: They still do 97% (something like that) or 95% just with advertising. So, they are searching for other ways for (revenue).
A few weeks ago there was an announcement that went out relating to some changes they’re doing (which included no longer supporting Gears).Is it just Docs? Maybe you guys could talk a little about that.
Michael: It was just Docs with their announcement. We’ve had to find all sorts of explanations and guidelines for our users (about Gears). It works fine for older ones; it’s just not supporting the new ones. Now I think of all of the programs and suppliers will have to do the same thing. A lot of people use it and I think if everyone is persistent, it will send out messages that it (will not be) working anymore.
It seems a little strange to me because you’d think they’d have a solution ready to go.
Michael: Our users I think, it used to work better (same with all browsers, even Firefox). It doesn’t support it anymore and you can’t even install it anymore. There are other features as well.
Till: Obviously the drawing is one of the things that are new. There are a couple of changes to things, and the API as well. The big thing was the drawing actually.
Michael: I think there is one thing talked about that real time is not being liberated enough. With this EtherPad, a document could be worked on (with others) at the same time. You could do things in real time. Like when you typed in the character, it would show up on the other person’s screen like in the same second. The real time collaboration, I think that’s what’s built into Docs now.
Well, that’s great. Could you tell me the name of that company again? I’ve never heard of this before.
Michael: Etherpad. I think it was two or three Google employees a year ago when they started that company.
It sounds like they’re trying to make collaboration better but at the same time, the offline access (via Gears) thing is a little distressing especially when you’re thinking about moving everything to the cloud, it seems there’s going to be some sort of solution through HTML5, right?
Michael: There’s an issue, yeah. I mean real time, I didn’t see anything about that in HTML5. Is it http or something? Or some offline mode supported in HTML5?
So, they’re going to use HTML5 for that? I don’t think they have a choice, if you lose that functionality it just seems like a really bad idea. I think the cloud is a great thing but, what happens when you make these kind of changes? And I just don’t know what kind of solution it’s going to be that all these companies now have to make all of these changes?
Michael: That’s because all of us use these, really out of necessity. This is something that could happen with Flash, I don’t know. Now we have to wait. It’s not a great situation but the market shows it’s a young market and technology is new. Otherwise, this is “growing pains”, I would say.
It’s just to be so disruptive in so many areas that they’re starting to do these types of things, to be honest with you. It’s just I hear a lot about all of the benefits but I think what most people are concerned about where this is going. The idea I think, when they started this was to compete with Microsoft but now it doesn’t seem like that what they want to do. Instead, it’s to be a compliment to that. Although I do think their solution is better.
Michael: I think in our discussions they never admit Microsoft is an issue for them. They’re more like “we’re trying to offer the best experiences and solutions to our users and if that hurts our competition, so be it”. I think it’s more not having to really talk about their competitors and so on. At least I think with Google Apps, that they’re trying to be the “next generation Office Suite”.
I think they’ll have a lot more to offer than Microsoft because of what they’re doing with you guys and all the other developers out there, that they have good ideas to make products better.
Michael: Great people are on it and (there is) a lot of enthusiasm. I haven’t really looked into Microsoft recently and what the rumors are about an online version of this. And because, sooner or later, they’ll have to go this way. All I’ve seen so far is some online office thing that allows you to share some uploaded documents with others but that’s all there is, right?
What about the people who are concerned about making the jump to the cloud?
Till: There are certain levels of security of course in (our) product. One thing is the channel hosting of the solutions in the computer to the data center and everything has access controls, cameras, access cards and all these kinds of things. Everything is redundant, their internet access of course, and the server part and all these kinds of things. So that’s the secure environment.
On the other hand of course, we offer for our premium customers encryption, so that the communication that is between the server and client is encrypted because a lot of people are working are just going there and connecting to their services and are often transmitting their plain passwords and this is not clear to all of them. That’s why we use SSL for the premium customers to not show their passwords somewhere or their passwords don’t get sniffed.
And on the application level, we have certain guard mechanisms where we protect certain actions people can do like password resetting, map access and personal data access. Just two hours ago a customer called me up and said, “I want to use your product, I was thinking about an in-house destination.” I said, “we have a service solution, there is no in-house solution”. They asked, “what about security?”
I think that it’s a good point that they ask this question. The answer is very simple. I say, “Do you have a laptop?” They usually say, ” Yes I have a laptop.” I ask, “Do you have all of your personal data and all that stuff on your laptop?” They say, “Yes.” So I ask, “What happens if someone just grabs it and runs?” They say, “Yes you’re right.” This isn’t going to happen with software as a solution because it’s much harder to hack into a T3 data center or get physical access into a data center than just grabbing your laptop.
Could give me an idea of who are your demographics when you’re talking about customers and who are the people that come to talk to you about these types of things? If you could just give me an idea of what type of people we’re talking about – who are becoming your customers?
Till: When we started off, we were a European company and we had just implemented the English language and we always wanted to address the whole world market. It was always our goal when we started. We had about 30% US customers and, actually it’s the same number I think today and maybe even more.
Actually, now we support nine languages, including Japanese and Russian and with customers from about 140 countries working on MindMiester now, about a half million or so of them. We have five hundred thousand users and we have individuals and freelancers as well as a very large base of real business customers like SAP for example or Symantec. We even have Microsoft as a customer. Microsoft China, actually at an innovation center there.
It’s basically around the world from individuals to businesses. We have a lot of universities and schools. This is in a lot of countries in terms of schools and universities in Shanghai or in Hong Kong or (even) in the US. So, that’s also the interesting thing. If you’re starting a business on the Internet there really is no real border anymore. It’s all about localizing the content and the user interface.
MindMeister is a software as a service. So we’re talking about something that runs in the browser. What tools have you used to create this, what technology are you running this on?
Till: So, basically we are using Ruby on Rails. We are using MySQL right now. We are using Apache for example, Linux as our platform. I think that’s it from the technology web we are using.
So do you recommend that your users have Chrome or Firefox? Or what is it about the browser that’s changing that? That’s going to help you guys? We touched on HTML5 and how you guys are working on it. Could talk a little bit about that?
Till: We made recommendations, we put out these for our users only. If they have to, we’ll continue to support IE6 for a little longer. Firefox, Chrome, and Safari, these are all great and open really fast.
How many people are you in total?
Michael: Ten to twelve right now, with a couple of freelancers, not a huge company.
Is the plan then to just focus on this is another thing. Other companies I’ve talked with are working on several different apps. Are you just going to focus on this?
Michael: For the time being, yes. We have discussions all the time. To the extent that they could go further? No concrete plans as of yet. The market is good for that. We’re in a really good position. I have so many ideas for this. I do want to start something else with that small group of people.
I have just one more question. Since the Marketplace has gone live, has it been a good tool in getting new customers? Has it been a marketing vehicle for you guys? Have you seen a good influx of customers who’ve come through Google to connect with you guys?
Michael: Definitely, yes. So, I think it’s worth the effort to integrate to get a lot of exposure. Of course, you get new customers out of it, for us I think it’s a good thing. And, so, Google hasn’t really started to promote the whole thing. I had a call yesterday with them and they told us they would start promoting apps more aggressively.
Even so, they haven’t really started marketing. We already see the results. We’ll see what happens if they really start pushing (Apps) through their distribution channels and through the marketing, etc.
Thanks to Michael and Till for taking the time to talk to me. You can sign up for a free basic membership of MindMeister to check out their mind mapping product.
Understanding the Benefits of Google Apps for Business
Posted on 27. Mar, 2010 by Daniel Cawrey. 0 Comments
More often lately we have been discussing the impact of Google in the enterprise market. It’s all for good reason: with the launch of the Apps Marketplace Google’s software suite for business rivals that of the competition that is out there. Not to mention it is allowing companies of all sizes to get up and running for a per user license fee, with varying cost structure for add-ons that can be implemented though the Apps Marketplace.
For those of us who haven’t switched to Google Apps for business, this may all seem overwhelming. That’s why we took the opportunity to talk to Jim McNelis, a Google Apps “subject matter expert” and CEO of Dito LLC which works with companies to implement a Google solution for their businesses. Dito is also one of the initial Apps Marketplace partners.
Thanks for taking the time to do this Jim. So, how is business since the arrival of the App Marketplace?
Businesses are waking up to the fact that the old way of managing email is dead. Email no longer requires vertical integration; instead businesses can leverage the power of Google’s Cloud to increase workforce productivity while decreasing CapEx and Operating Expenses. The introduction of the Google Apps Marketplace will prove to be a key differentiator as customers evaluate competing messaging and collaboration platforms.
The SaaS delivery method has certain inherent advantages, not the least of which is rapid development and delivery of solutions to market. Ultimately, businesses and end-users will benefit from the continuous innovation cycle — developers responding to customer needs — enabled by the Google Apps Marketplace. In fact, it was that exact innovation cycle that spurred Dito Directory for Google Apps: We received a few dozen requests from prospective and existing clients for a better Domain Shared Contacts management for Google Apps.
Tell us a little bit more about what Dito does.
Dito provides Google Apps Solutions — Deployment, Training, Support, & Development — to organizations seeking to leverage of Google’s disruptive cloud technology. Our entire approach begins with listening and responding to our customers’ needs. Whether a client needs the proverbial “boost” to migrate up into the Google Apps cloud or expertise to further integrate Google Apps within their workflow, Dito has the expertise customers need to quickly leverage the technology within their organization.
What are the types of companies you’re working with that have an interest in your services?
We serve a very eclectic sample of customers: from a 3-user Real Estate Investment Firm, ~200 user Home Improvement publication, to a government organization finding ways to stretch their budget during these difficult economic times.
What are some ways for companies to test or try out Google Apps for their business?
A 2-4 week pilot of Google Apps, alongside their current email solution, isn’t uncommon. Some companies have already decided that Google Apps is a good fit before contacting Dito…maybe they have been Gmail users for years and just found out that Google Apps is here for their business.
Can you talk about how administration works on this platform and what IT folks in an organization need to do on the back end?
Administration of Google Apps is fairly straight-forward for most common tasks. There are more and more advanced configuration and integration points that require additional knowledge, but Google does a pretty good (job) of documenting these features. With that said, Dito provides solutions for these advanced configuration and integration points. It’s kinda what we do.
What kind of impact will Google Apps Marketplace have on developers as opposed to other application stores that exist?
It’s still pretty early since the launch of the Google Apps Marketplace, but we have already had hundreds of admins install Dito Directory via the marketplace. We are very encouraged by the prospect of this new app marketplace. We have already installed several apps off the marketplace for use in our everyday processes that integrate really well with Google Apps.
Google has a hit on their hands with the new Apps Marketplace. They are allowing 3rd parties to address the users’ needs directly. Google simply cannot develop the multitude of apps that Google Apps users demand. The marketplace serves the customer’s needs, which is why it will end up being a big hit with users and developers.
One concern that many have about using Google Docs for business is compatibility with other solutions such as Microsoft.
With 3rd party apps like OffiSync, the ability to upload any document into Google Docs up to 1gb, and Google’s recent acquisition of DocVerse, those computability issues are becoming a thing of the past.
Is there anything you can tell us that you feel would help make Chrome OS for the enterprise successful?
I think the main factors to Chrome OS’s success are security, reliability, & affordability. This assumes the OS is tightly integrated with Google Apps.
On the subject of the App Marketplace, could you talk a little bit about the Dito Directory app?
Dito Directory was recently featured on the Google Apps Developers Blog: Google Apps Developer Blog.
Dito Directory Value Prop:
As a Google Apps user, have you ever noticed Domain Shared Contacts isn’t quite ‘up to snuff’? Trust us, you are not alone in your observation. Dito Directory for Google Apps fills the gaps in Domain Shared Contacts management by seamlessly integrating the following features:
-Bulk Upload large numbers of Domain Shared Contacts via Google Docs
-Browse the entire Domain Shared Contacts Directory for your domain
-Add/Edit/Delete Domain Shared Contacts
-Copy Domain Shared Contact to Personal Contacts
-Instantly add Contacts on your mobile device via Google Sync for your phone
-Edit User Profiles
You can install the Lite version here and upgrade to the Pro version ($99/domain/year) via Google Checkout to take advantage of the advanced features (e.g. Bulk Upload, Manage 50+ Contacts, and Copy to Personal Contacts). Once installed, Dito Directory will appear in the ‘more’ category of the universal navigation bar located in the upper-left corner of the Google Apps interface.
Please note that Dito Directory requires Education or Premier version since we integrate with the Google API’s.
Are there any other apps that you have in the pipeline?
None we can discuss at this time…but we are working on some exciting stuff. In the near-term, expect to see regular updates to Dito Directory. Our first update will come as early as next week, which adds the ability to manage Group Email addresses, and add those email addresses to the shared contacts list.
Google Apps Marketplace Now Has YouTube Channel
Posted on 26. Mar, 2010 by Daniel Cawrey. 1 Comments
The Google Apps Marketplace was announced a few weeks ago, with fifty partners offering applications that further extend the base Google Apps functionality beyond key features such as Gmail and Docs. While this was a major announcement, the YouTube channel that has been announced today is a tool for which many of these companies that are working with Apps can get their message across.
That means communicating to users that the Google software suite can go above and beyond what Microsoft or IBM can offer in a business suite. For example, check out MindMeister, which looks to challenge the expensive Microsoft Visio:
All of the applications in the partner YouTube Channel can be thought of as “extensions” to what Google Apps already offers. Many companies have found that they can save money in software licensing and IT administration by switching over to Google. That’s because a per user license for Apps is $50 per year. The partner applications in the Apps Marketplace vary in terms of cost structure.
But when you compare Microsoft Visio to MindMeister for example, Visio costs over $500 for a license. MindMiester? It’s only $9/month per user. Meaning that if a certain user doesn’t like it or stops working with the software you can cancel that license if you want.
Compared to some of the costs in the enterprise market for software, some of these Apps Marketplace partners are offering companies a pretty good deal.
Avago Technologies Switched to Google Apps for Storage
Posted on 14. Mar, 2010 by Daniel Cawrey. 1 Comments
In the wake of last week’s announcement of Google’s Apps Marketplace, which is focused on adding functionality for Google Apps in the entgerprise space, I’ve been trying to track down more examples of companies that have switched over to Google Apps from some other corporate solution. Then I found this video that was shot about Avago Technologies, which is a privately held semiconductor company with over four thousand employees that made the switch to Apps:
The reasoning for switching to Apps is clear for Avago: they needed to have more space in their inboxes.
Not only can a regular user have 7 GB of Gmail space, Google Docs now allows for an additional 2GB of storage space for everyone as well. That includes files of any type that you can share out to others.
