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Posted by Amanda Camp, Software Engineer, Google Contacts

Today we’re adding a couple of new ways to share your contacts: Contacts Delegation and an enhanced shared Directory. Both of these features were inspired by feedback from customers who wanted more ways to manage shared contacts.

Contacts Delegation
Google Apps users can now delegate their contacts to other people at their organization. Many of you might already have someone help manage your inbox or schedule with our email and calendar delegation features. Now, you can delegate management of your contacts without granting access to your entire email inbox. While this feature is great for support staff, it can also be used by anyone who wants to share their contacts with a colleague at their organization.

Shared Directory
We’ve also improved the Directory shared across your organization to make it a more functional collection of shared contacts for everyone in your domain. Now, the Directory can display all of the domain's users, all of the domain's shared contacts, or both. As before, individual users may also be selectively hidden from the Directory.

We’re always adding new enhancements to Apps. On the Contacts front, we plan to continue improving access to fresh, relevant and appropriate contact information to keep you more connected.
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Posted by: Glenn Wilson, Product Manager, Chrome for Business

A year ago we introduced a new model of computing with the launch of Chromebooks. Since then we’ve seen hundreds of schools across the U.S. and Europe adopt Chromebooks and use them to reshape learning as we know it. We’ve also seen a lot of interest from businesses, with organizations across a variety of industries using Chromebooks in a number of compelling ways.

Today we announced some exciting developments — new hardware, a major software update and many more robust apps — as we continue on our journey to make computers much better. For businesses and schools, we’re introducing zero-touch deployment, more affordable desktop virtualization, and a simplified pricing model.


Zero-touch deployment
Today, most businesses and schools require a very manual and often cumbersome process to deploy computers. In contrast, you can remotely set up Chromebooks and Chromeboxes, and manage users, apps and policies across a fleet of devices via a web-based console. This ease of setup and deployment results in a total cost of ownership for Chromebooks that’s less than half of that of traditional PCs.

With the latest OS release, you can also push network settings and auto-enroll a device for management when a user first logs in, creating a zero-touch deployment experience where you can ship a device directly to an end user. Once a user is logged in, the Chromebox or Chromebook is automatically configured with the designated apps, networks and settings without any manual IT intervention. Thereafter, you can now control the frequency of OS updates and receive reports on device usage.

Works seamlessly with all apps
For those who still require access to specific Windows software, we’ve teamed up with nGenx to launch a hosted virtualization solution where you can access any desktop app through the web—at a fraction of the price of current virtualization offerings.

New customers, compelling use cases
One of the things we’ve learned from businesses is that Chromebooks and Chromeboxes make great tools for a variety of uses such as retail stores, call centers, mobile or distributed workforces, and library lending. Here are four great examples:
  • Retail and distributed offices: Dillard's Inc., one of the largest fashion, apparel, and home furnishing retailers in the U.S., will deploy Chromeboxes in hundreds of their retail locations across the U.S. to give employees access to Google Apps and various internal apps.
  • Call centers: Kaplan, an educational test prep and training provider, is moving their New York call center to Genesys’ HTML5-based customer service solution running on Chromeboxes.
  • Mobile workforces: Mollen Clinics is rolling out 4,500 Chromebooks with 3G connectivity to support Walmart & Sam’s Club flu clinics.
  • Device lending: The California State Library is making 1,000 Chromebooks available for checkout in public libraries across the state, based on successful Chromebook lending programs at the Palo Alto and Santa Clara City Libraries.

Simplified pricing
Finally, we’re simplifying business and education pricing for the devices, as well as for management and support. Management and support is now a one-time cost of $150 per device for businesses and $30 per device for schools, and lasts for the supported life of the device. You can purchase devices, and management and support directly from Google or our authorized resellers. And you can add management and support to any device that you currently own. For more information, check out our website.

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Posted by Eran Feigenbaum, Director of Security, Google Enterprise

In the early days of the cloud, security concerns were often at the top of business minds as they considered moving to Google Apps. More recently, though, security has become a major reason businesses are moving to the cloud. The reason for this shift is that businesses are beginning to realize that companies like Google can invest in security at a scale that's difficult for many businesses to achieve on their own. This investment has produced an infrastructure and a set of services with robust data protections for our customers.

Today we are proud to announce that Google Apps for Business has earned ISO 27001 certification. ISO 27001 is one of the most widely recognized, internationally accepted independent security standards and we have earned it for the systems, technology, processes and data centers serving Google Apps for Business. Our compliance with the ISO standard was certified by Ernst & Young CertifyPoint, an ISO certification body accredited by the Dutch Accreditation Council, a member of the International Accreditation Forum (IAF). Certificates issued by Ernst & Young CertifyPoint are recognized as valid certificates in all countries with an IAF member.

“As a multi-billion dollar, global provider of packaging and packaging solutions, MWV understands the value of international standards. Many of our own processes are ISO certified. So, I am thrilled that Google Apps, our core communications platform, is also now ISO certified with its recent ISO 27001 certification. This certification validates what I already knew, through due diligence, about Google Apps - that the technology, process and infrastructure offers good security and protection for the data that I store in Google Apps. I think it's important, find it assuring and am very pleased that Google Apps will be audited and certified to this Information Security Management System ISO standard on an ongoing basis”

- Chet Loveland, CISO and Global Compliance Officer, MWV
This new certification, along with our existing SSAE 16 / ISAE 3402 audits and FISMA certification for Google Apps for Government, help assure our customers that Google is committed to ongoing development and maintenance of a robust Information Security Management System (ISMS) that an independent, third-party auditor will regularly audit and certify. For more information on the security audits and certifications for Google Apps, please review our certification 1-pager.
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Posted by Mike Mercurio, CEO, SDAR

Editors note: Today’s guest blogger is Mike Mercurio, CEO the San Diego Association of REALTORS®, California’s largest local branch of REALTORS®. See what other organizations that have gone Google have to say.

People have been buying and selling property for centuries, often with the help of a professional who understands the complexities of real estate transactions. The San Diego Association of REALTORS® (SDAR) was created more than 100 years ago to give these professionals the opportunity to connect and discuss issues on a local level.

Our goal as an association is to give our 12,000 members the education and tools they need to be successful. It’s no secret that the real estate market has been challenging recently, so we are constantly looking for ways to help our members reduce their costs, streamline their operations, and find better ways to communicate with their buyers and sellers. We’ve been using Google Apps at our association main office and 5 service centers and have found the tools to be particularly useful in the real estate industry, so we decided to announce that we will be offering Google Apps to our members at our annual REALTOR® Expo and Conference.

We believe that Google Apps will transform the way our members do business. With Google Sites, they’re able to create websites for buyers with new listings and open houses, information on neighborhoods and schools, as well as directions and maps to each property. They can also create sites for properties on the market. Instead of calling or emailing clients, our REALTORS® can just update their sites, so buyers and sellers always have one place to go.

The most important aspect for members, however, has been the mobility of Google Apps. Since email, documents, and sites now live in the cloud, they can access this information from anywhere with an Internet connection -- at a property, from the office, or from home. Speed is of the essence in this business, and since REALTORS® are always on the go, being able to see new emails and respond right away is incredibly helpful.

With the uncertainty of the economy, we’re very happy to have found a way to significantly help our members’ businesses.
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Posted by Dylan Lorimer, Google Maps Engine Product Manager

In September 2011 we launched Google Earth Builder, a product that allows customers to use Google's cloud computing infrastructure to store, manage and share their own geospatial data and maps.

Google Earth Builder enables secure access to geospatial data it hosts through our geospatial apps like Google Earth and our geospatial APIs like the Google Maps API. Customers have used the platform in a variety of ways, including third parties using it to power their applications, data providers using it to commercially distribute their geospatial data, and customers creating their own 3D globes with private mapping data.

We didn’t think “Earth Builder” reflected the true capabilities of the product or vision that we have for easily accessible geospatial data. So, today we're renaming Google Earth Builder to be called Google Maps Engine. Today we’re also announcing the launch of our Google Maps Engine grants program for nonprofits.

We hope that Google Maps Engine will power the next generation of world class mapping applications, and we are excited about all the new innovations that we’re working on bringing to the platform soon.
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Editors note: Today’s guest blogger is Juan Merelo, technical services manager at Pratt Industries, America’s 6th largest recycled paper and packaging company headquartered in Conyers, Georgia. See what other organizations that have gone Google have to say.

At Pratt Industries, we’re all about recycling, and we take pride in playing such a big role in maintaining a healthy environment. Every day, we collect thousands of pounds of paper from cities, schools and supermarkets across the country to create recycled packaging. More than 3,500 employees in 70 locations nationwide work together to make this happen, and we rely on technology to keep our operation organized and running smoothly.

In 2009, we ran into some problems when our Microsoft® Exchange server started failing. Since email is a critical communication channel for our business, we had to find a quick solution. We wanted a stable cloud-based network that would help us run our business more efficiently. The 99.9% uptime and cost savings associated with Google Apps made it a clear choice. And it’s a good thing we decided to switch because shortly after we signed up for Google Apps, our Microsoft® server unexpectedly crashed and we were forced to migrate all our employees immediately. In less than three days, we were able to set up nearly 2,000 Google Apps accounts, a task we thought would take weeks.

Google Docs has also saved us time and money – and helps us get things done more quickly. When parts of Alabama were hit by tornadoes, one of our mills went offline. To get the facility back up, we needed an IT person on the ground. I had to drive several hours and spend valuable time to fix the network. After the tornado, we used Google Docs to sketch out plans for restoring our systems. Now, if a facility goes down, we can easily share step-by-step instructions and photos with on-site employees to rebuild the network. And because we use Google Docs to share these instructions, they can access the plans on any device with an Internet connection.

More recently, we had to change network circuits at 60 of our plant facilities. Previously, we would fly an engineer to each location to gather critical data for the changeover. Now we’re able to coordinate the project remotely with shared spreadsheets in Google Docs. We provided on-site contractors with secure access to our spreadsheets, so they could collect and organize data at our facilities. Google Docs saved us two months of work and close to $60,000 in engineering costs, and we collected more accurate data because it was input directly at the project site.

Google Apps has given us new ways to make our business significantly more efficient. I’m constantly amazed at the ways our employees are using the products, and I’m looking forward to seeing even more innovative uses.
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Posted by Sarveshwar Duddu, Software Engineer

Cross-posted on the Google Docs blog.

Today we’re introducing the research pane—a new feature that brings the web’s wealth of information to you as you’re writing documents.

The research pane taps into Google Search directly from Google documents, so whether you want to add a cool destination to your itinerary for an upcoming trip to India or you're looking for the perfect presidential quote for a political science paper, you don’t even have to open a new tab.

You can access the research pane from the Tools menu by right clicking on a selected word that you want to learn more about, or by pressing Ctrl+Alt+R on Windows or Cmd+Alt+R on Mac. From the research pane, you can search for whatever info you need to help you write your document. With just a couple clicks you can look up maps, quotes, images, and much more.



If you find something you like, you can add it by clicking the insert button or, for images, by dragging them directly into your document. If appropriate we’ll automatically add a footnote citation so there’s a record of where you found the info.

Hopefully bringing knowledge from the web to Google documents will make your writing process just a little bit more efficient.
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Posted by: Jeremy Ellis, General Manager, Brazos Bookstore

Editor’s Note: Today’s guest blogger is Jeremy Ellis, General Manager of Brazos Bookstore, a neighborhood institution based in Houston, Texas.

Brazos Bookstore has been part of the Houston literary community since 1974. In addition to selling a diverse collection of books, we pride ourselves in connecting our community with authors from our area and around the globe. When the store’s ownership changed in 2006 and the possibility of shutting down became known, the community of Brazos fans petitioned to keep our doors open. Thanks to them, we’ve been able to continue our long-standing tradition where we host author events, readings and exhibitions from writers such as Walter Cronkite, Julia Child, Kofi Annan, and P. J. O’Rourke, to name a few.

When I joined the staff in September 2011, Brazos was still operating in many ways as it did in the 70s and 80s. Employees would schedule the author series on a single paper calendar, and only one of our computers had email set up. All of our software was outdated, and the programs that were available ended up causing more roadblocks than value.

We needed a system that could better manage our day-to-day operations. Since I was already familiar with Google from personal use, moving the bookstore to Google Apps for Business was a natural transition. Today, all seven of our employees are able to access their email and calendars from any computer in the store, at home, and on their smartphones. This accessibility not only eases communication between the staff, but also keeps everyone up to speed on events, shipments and other activities at the shop.

Scheduling author visits on Google Calendar is easy, instant, and live, and it’s saved us from double-booking authors. I’m now able to easily collaborate with our buyer when we’re planning in-store events, which has streamlined the process for ordering books and helps me track book sales from author readings.

Google Apps has given us the organizational tools we need to continue serving Houston’s literary and arts culture. Our vision over the past forty years hasn’t changed, and now we have the technology to support our store for the future.
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Posted by: Nicole Ravlin, Co-founder of People Making Good

Editor’s Note: Today’s guest blogger is Nicole Ravlin, Co-founder of People Making Good, a public relations company based in Burlington, Vermont.

People Making Good is a public relations and social media marketing firm focused on promoting healthy, socially responsible brands. In six years we’ve grown to ten employees and have a wide range of clients across the country and around the globe.

Over the past several years, we’ve been limited by our IT solutions, particularly since our clients are in multiple time zones and our staff travels frequently. Important tasks like scheduling meetings or tracking product launches often were made more difficult than they needed to be. About 18 months ago, our IT consultants recommended we try Google Apps for Business to help simplify our work processes. Not only has it kept us organized as a company, it’s also helped us stay in line with our core values, one of which is to be as paperless as possible.

Google Calendar has completely transformed the way we schedule meetings with clients, book trade shows, and schedule launch events. For one client we set up a shared calendar to manage events in multiple cities for the launch of a new product – everything from tracking industry events to meetings with retailers and press. Our client could see their schedule come together in real time, and it automatically synced with their mobile device. They knew exactly where to be and when, no matter what time zone they were in.

With Google Docs, we’re able to work with clients all over the world. Before, we’d email back and forth, and critical information got buried in people’s inboxes or lost for good. Now, we share documents directly with our clients and quickly work through things like media lists, press releases and blog posts. We often make comments and chat directly in a doc so we can avoid the hassle of multiple phone calls and emails.

Google Apps has helped us streamline our processes, even while we’re on the go. This gives us more time to continue our quest to help socially responsible companies tell their stories.
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Posted by Joe Faith, Product Manager

Google Cloud SQL frees you from the chores of managing, maintaining and administering relational databases. It powers your App Engine applications with a familiar relational database (MySQL) in a fully-managed cloud environment.

Since we launched preview last October, Cloud SQL has improved performance and added features like scheduled backups, multihoming to increase availability and to improve application performance, and more powerful instances. Many businesses and developers have also started using Cloud SQL to administer their databases in the cloud.

For example, Daffodil, a global software firm, wanted to build and scale cloud applications with an easy-to-use database management system. After trying different solutions, they migrated to Google App Engine and Google Cloud SQL last year. After the migration, the engineers at Daffodil saved 100 hours of engineering work, allowing them to focus on their app and worry less about infrastructure.

Today, we’re announcing a two-tier pricing plan to Cloud SQL that will be enabled on June 12th:
  • If you’re a business building lightweight applications or just want to try out the service, the flexible pricing option is for you. You pay for what you use.
  • If you’re a business building heavy-traffic applications, we offer pricing packages, which are more economical and help you predict costs in advance.
We hope the new Cloud SQL pricing plans help you build App Engine applications tailored to your business’s needs. Post your questions in our user forums or comments on our Enterprise Google+ page.