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Focused on Creativity and Innovation - Imagination Group goes Google
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
Editor's note: Continuing our “Going Google Everywhere” series, we’ve invited Matt Ballantine, CIO of
Imagination Group
, a global communications agency whose work with world famous brands spans all aspects of integrated, experiential and digital marketing. Imagination is an independent agency, with 12 offices around the world, and the full complement of specialists in-house, from brand consultants to architects, advertising specialists to interior designers, retail specialists and event producers to direct marketers and digital experts. Imagination’s clients include Aston Martin, Guinness, oneworld Alliance, Disney, Ford, Johnson & Johnson, Goldman Sachs, Shell and Samsung. Learn more about other organizations that have gone Google on our
community map
.
Throughout my career I've been bemused by how, despite best intentions, most IT projects have failed to deliver any real depth of business change. Technology issues inevitably crop up through the lifetime of the project, and the first contingencies to be cut are in the plans for communication, training and business change.
We've probably all seen it - server issues, network issues, compatibility of operating systems, patching, software release bugs... the list goes on. And all the while, the business engagement work gets squeezed (if it was ever planned in depth in the first place).
The Cloud is offering an opportunity for IT departments to fundamentally change their approach to delivering services into organisations. In the two years that I've been leading IT transformation at global communications agency Imagination, I've been describing a vision where our IT team is here to help the business exploit the technology we procure, and where we leave most of the deep technical work to experts at our partners. Expertise in-house of how Imagination uses its technology to become more collaborative, more global and more creative is of real value. Understanding how to patch together operating systems on servers just isn't.
As of April 2010, Imagination has Gone Google. My team moved 600 user accounts and 2TB of legacy email data spread across 14 locations in nine countries. We worked with partners to help manage the transition and my in-house team lead by project manager Sue Chick, were able to complete the technical migration work with a minimum of fuss and effort. In turn this meant that we could focus on helping the business start to exploit new possibilities.
Only last week, I received an excited email from our Creative Director in Sydney, Australia, who had just watched the final rehearsal of a product launch being run for a client in Hong Kong via video chat at his desk. We're only just starting to see how our teams can take the tools that we have made available to them to change how we work for the better. The Imagination IT team is now aligned to help those processes happen.
Posted by Dave Armstrong, Google Apps Team
BlueSpace and Google Earth Enterprise: taking visualization to the skies
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
Editor's Note:
Justin Marston is the CEO of
BlueSpace
, an enterprise software company focused on the defense and intelligence communities. BlueSpace has built a next generation command and control application using their security middleware and
Google Earth Enterprise
. They are currently showcasing it as part of the
Coalition Warrior Interoperability Demonstration
(an international "war game" exercise) with support from a government agency. The BlueSpace app showcases just how far you can take Google Earth Enterprise as a visualization environmen
t.
Geospatial visualization of multiple streams of data has been critical to the defense and intelligence communities for a long time. Whether it’s showing aircraft flying around, soldiers taking a hill or different types of intelligence – seeing it on a map has been key to understanding a conflict.
In the second World War, the allies used maps with little models to show units, and moved them with poles to update their locations. With modern radar and GPS systems, things are a bit more sophisticated, but much of the mapping functionality has lagged behind. Many of the currently deployed command and control (C2) systems use flat, two-color vector maps with triangles showing units.
Visualization of AWACS plane in Google Earth
BlueSpace and AWACS
Before BlueSpace engaged them,
AWACS
was already actively working with 3D visualization. AWACS is the US Air Force Airborne Warning and Control System: a forward deployed radar platform (the planes with big spinning discs on top). The vision of the AWACS program has been to move away from a black screen with green triangles on it, and move towards a more visually rich C2 environment for operators that can show the terrain in which they are working.
How has BlueSpace helped? Well, we have focused on two problems – high quality, real-time visualizations and creating a Unified Operating Picture.
High Quality, Real-time Visualizations
The first problem is creating a much more "real" view of the battle theater, with 3D models moving around in real-time based on input data feeds giving latitude and longitude references for units. Our design goal was to create something more like a real-time video game using Google Earth's richness of graphics and capabilities.
BlueSpace is demonstrating its Multi-Level Security Command and Control (MLS C2) application at 5 different locations for the
Coalition Warrior Interoperability Demonstration
(CWID), a joint exercise between the US, UK, Canada, Australia and NATO (among others) to help find and prove technologies and systems that can help better orchestrate coalition warfare. For the exercise, BlueSpace worked with its partners to model around 100 units including aircraft, ground units and boats and of these units move around in real-time based on data feeds being fed to the application.
You can take a look at some of the interface, captured from Google Earth in this unclassified video:
http://www.bluespace.com/mlsc2.html
A Unified Operating Picture
Wars used to be fought by relatively small numbers of allies, with each nation focused on a particular theater. As warfare has evolved over the last two decades, the reach of aircraft, missiles, satellites etc. have blurred lines between the different services and often between nations.
MLS C2 User Interface using Google Earth Enterprise
for geospatial visualization of ground, air and sea units
Right now, the
NATO configuration of the AWACS planes
can have up to 14 different screens on each AWACS aircraft – one for the US aircraft, one for the British, one for the Canadian, one for the German, etc. So when something new comes up on radar, operators may have to look at up to 14 screens to figure out what is going on.
BlueSpace has taken these separate pictures and consolidated them into a single Unified Operating Picture (UOP) that spans all the different networks, providing one Google Earth environment, with all the units in that environment, no matter which nation or service they serve. This means an operator on an AWACS plane only has to look at one screen to see what is happening – a vast improvement.
Google Earth's extensive capabilities allow an operator to fully utilize this unified operating picture to see terrain, roads, etc. in their relation to the plotted units. In addition, Google Earth's full camera controls provide the viewing flexibility necessary to interact with those units.
BlueSpace and Google
We see a great future for Google Earth Enterprise in our C2 system. Being able to see the helicopter, visually recognize its type immediately and see which mountains are next to it when the pilot calls in, “I’m taking fire from the ridge on the left” makes a big difference in a real fight. Doing all of that across many different security domains in a Unified Operating Picture that spans multiple networks – that’s a game changing capability.
Posted by Natasha Wyatt, Google Earth Enterprise team
It's App Tuesday: 10 new apps available in the Google Apps Marketplace today
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
We’re excited to announce the launch of 10 new apps in the
Google Apps Marketplace
today, joining the more than 150 installable apps made available to Google Apps domains in the Marketplace since March. Instead of spending today
patching operating systems
, we invite Google Apps users to explore these new applications which can deliver immediate business value to your organization.
These apps, like all installable apps in the Marketplace, offer single sign-on with your existing Google Apps user accounts, so there are no new passwords to manage. Beyond single sign-on, many offer deeper data integration with Google Docs, Gmail, and Google Calendar to help users work more efficiently, regardless of which app they happen to be using to get their job done.
As a Google Apps administrator, once you install and
evaluate
an app, you can deploy it to your users in only a few clicks. (
watch
how this works)
Several of the new applications help you manage communications more effectively, from tracking contact with customers and partners to making your inbox more efficient:
Bantam Live
is an easy CRM & team collaboration app to track contacts, prospects, deals and organize projects, tasks, and events. It Integrates with Google Apps and social networks to import/aggregate contacts.
Etacts
helps grow your relationships. The application and Gmail contextual gadget enable you to instantly find out who you talk to the most and who you’ve neglected.
Organizer by OtherInbox
helps cure email overload. It automatically organizes low priority email out of the way, leaving your Inbox much smaller so it's easy to find the important messages from real people.
Here are the other apps launching on the Marketplace today for you to check out:
Aprigo NINJA for Google Docs
provides advanced access management controls for Google Docs, giving organizations greater visibility and control over how documents are shared within and outside of the company.
Gliffy
makes creating professional-quality flowcharts and diagrams simple, intuitively helping you turn complex information into attractive images everyone can understand
Gminutes
is your one stop meeting minutes management solution for professionally executing meetings. All you have to do is create your meeting space, add relevant people to it and you are good to go.
Meetingmix
helps you run meetings. It allows you to easily create agendas, take minutes, and share with attendees.
ReachPeople
provides easy group alert notifications for critical communications. Now, schools and businesses can send one or thousands of mass notification messages via voice, SMS text, or email.
SiteKreator
is an online service that allows anyone to instantly design, build and publish elegant, fully-branded, and interactive business websites.
TheDeadline
is an intelligent Todo-Manager. The system makes collaboration very easy and helps users focus on the most important tasks and keep an overview of large sets of todos.
If you’ve
#gonegoogle
, and tried the
#appsmarketplace
, let other users know what you recommend via Twitter or submit your suggestion for additional apps
here
.
Posted by Steven Bazyl, Google Apps Marketplace team
Google Apps adds more admin controls for mobile devices
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
Earlier this year we announced support for
mobile device security policies
in Google Apps to help administrators manage iPhone, Nokia, and Windows Mobile devices from the Google Apps control panel. These policies let employees access information from their phones while helping administrators keep corporate data more secure. Today, we are announcing new mobile device management options for Google Apps administrators.
Requiring devices to use data encryption
Auto-wiping device after specified number of failed password attempts
Disabling the phone’s camera
Ensuring old passwords are not reused
Requiring passwords to be changed after specified time interval
Disabling data synchronization when device is roaming to reduce wireless overage charges
Starting this week, these policies will be available to all Google Apps Premier and Education customers. They can be accessed from the 'Mobile' tab under 'Service Settings' in the Google Apps control panel.
It’s our mission to provide users with seamless access to their data while allowing enterprise administrators to centrally manage a diverse range of mobile devices. We’re working to enhance our device management options and to expand our list of supported devices – including Android later this year. If you have any questions, please check out our
Help Center documentation
.
Posted by Dale Woodford, Software Engineer
Going Google: a webinar with Brown University
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
UPDATE, 07/14/2010:
Please note that we have postponed this webinar until Wednesday, August 18.
Please register here
to confirm your participation in this event. Thank you and we look forward to sharing Brown University's experience deploying Google Apps.
A few weeks ago, we announced that
Brown University has gone Google
for all students, staff, and faculty on campus. If you’re interested in learning more about why they made this decision, we encourage you to register for the upcoming
EDUCAUSE Live!
Webcast – part of the Spotlight on Cloud Computing Series – that features Michael Pickett, the Vice President and Chief Information Officer at Brown discussing this decision.
In this free, hour-long web seminar “
Google Apps at Brown
,” you’ll learn how Brown deployed Google Apps to its 6,000 students and why they’ve decided to extend the service to include faculty and staff as well. Register here to tune in for more information about how these decisions were made, the options they considered, lessons they learned, and successes to date.
Google Apps for Students and Staff at Brown University
Wednesday July 14, 2010
1:00 p.m. EDT / 10:00 a.m. PDT
Posted by Miriam Schneider, Google Apps EDU team
Open, Integrated and Giving You Choice: The Story Behind the Google Apps Marketplace
Monday, July 12, 2010
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.
Given the first step to the cloud for many businesses and schools is Gmail, the
Google Apps Marketplace
aims to make it easier for organizations that have “
gone Google
” to take the next step and take fuller advantage of the cloud by running even more of their infrastructure on cloud-based apps, from hundreds of software companies.
These software companies agree the web-centric approach is the way to go, and are building their applications on web-based architectures and open standards like OpenID for Single Sign-On and OAuth for data access. Marketplace developers build their applications using the technologies and hosting platform they prefer. Want to build using Java? Great. Ruby or PHP? Fine with us. .NET? Sure, the Marketplace supports that too. These apps are then hosted on developers’ own servers, on Amazon EC2, on Google’s App Engine, or on any other cloud hosting service. As developers, they don’t need to worry about proprietary tools, vendor lock-in, or proprietary cloud architecture lock-in, and as Google Apps customers, you’ll even find apps that compete with Google products such as
SlideRocket
presentations and
Zoho CRM
, giving you the maximum possible choice.
The key advantage of Marketplace apps, however, is their integration with Google Apps. All installable Marketplace apps feature single sign-on with Google Apps, and most go beyond that to incorporate specific features that help you accomplish everyday tasks more easily in combination with Google’s applications. Here is a tiny sampling of Marketplace apps that integrate with various Google Apps:
Gmail
–
Manymoon
is an online project management tool that make it easy to turn emails from team mates or customers directly into tasks in your projects.
Kwaga
Context and
Awayfind
are two productivity apps that help you manage your conversations directly in your Gmail inbox, helping keep you more productive.
Spreadsheets
–
Sliderocket
lets you connect media-rich presentations to live data in Google Spreadsheets, so your presentation always display the most up to date charts and graphs, and
Smartsheet
lets you extend Google Spreadsheets with Gantt tracking and customer management features to empower your sales teams.
Calendar –
Tungle.me
and
Timebridge
are meeting management tools that make it easier to set up and conduct meetings with partners and customers who use different calendaring systems.
Sites
–
RunMyProcess
lets you embed custom business process workflows into Google Sites, so each part of an organization can more easily access business process that effect their daily work.
Talk
–
Atlassian integrates
Jira Studio
with Google Talk, so your software development team can stay up to date with the latest build status and team conversations from within Jira Studio, all in real time.
There are hundreds more business applications available on the Marketplace for every aspect of your business. Find CRM apps, Admin tools, Document Management apps, Productivity apps, and many more.
Every week more cloud-based business applications are added. If you can’t find an app you want please
post a suggestion
.
Posted by Don Dodge, Google Apps team
Vektrex on switching to Gmail to cut spam and IT costs
Friday, July 9, 2010
Editor's note:
Continuing our “Going Google Everywhere” series, we’ve invited Jeff Hulett, Founder and CTO of
Vektrex
, an electronics company that produces LED and laser power sources and reliability test systems. Located in San Diego, California, Vektrex makes products to help companies develop energy-saving LED illumination. Learn more about other organizations that have gone Google on our
community map
.
Spam was killing our server
Vektrex had been successfully hosting its own email using Microsoft’s Exchange Server for years. It had always been pretty simple: our IT person, Mike, occasionally did updates to our Microsoft Exchange server, and our dozen or so employees used Outlook to access their accounts.
Then, a while back, the job became much tougher. With several longstanding email addresses, we started to receive a lot of spam. My account started getting one or two spam emails per minute – and our CEO received many times that amount. Mike tried various programs to filter the spam, but each was eventually overwhelmed. We suffered with monthly email outages that lasted a few hours – or even days – despite Mike’s all-nighters. After a lot of discussion, we finally decided that we would try moving our email to external hosting at our next outage. We chose Gmail because it seemed like a good fit for the size of our company. The conversion to Gmail itself was very simple and fast; we were able to move our accounts quickly and easily. Initially we stayed with Outlook as our client and we used the IMAP interface with local caching. As time passed, we found most users choosing the native Gmail web interface, so eventually we moved the whole company to it.
Gmail can display folders
After moving to Gmail’s interface, we had to learn the differences between Outlook and Gmail. The main difference in the beginning was the way that emails are displayed, sorted and archived. Gmail offers labels instead of folders. Labels give you the ability to "tag" one email with several key words and Gmail provides ways to move/archive tagged messages in folders, providing functionality that makes everything more familiar and useful to our users.
The last remaining issue was email access on our cell phones and PDAs. To optimize functionality with our business accounts that include our own domain name, we moved initially to Palm Treos and then to HTC Androids, which worked flawlessly with Gmail's business accounts.
Converting is work but Gmail is worth it
When we started the conversion, IT staffers were a little reluctant to abandon the independence and control we felt we had with our own server. But we overcame our reluctance and the end result was worth it. I see only a few spam emails per week, and we haven't had a significant outage in over a year.
Vektrex employees are re-focused on our core products – reliability test systems for LEDs – rather than on keeping things up and running. The switch has saved roughly $500 per month in IT labor. It was also more economical than a hardware spam filter costing at least $1,000 up front, $350 in yearly fees, and an unknown amount to administer. Even Mike is happy. He finally got some well-earned time off - and the chance to drive his 1970 Volkswagen beetle in a 1,000-mile off road race through the Baja desert!
Vektrex IT Administrator Mike Zavos takes a vacation
after switching the company to GMail
Posted by Serena Satyasai, the Google Apps team
Do you have an informative and fun Google Apps story to share? Please
submit it here
.
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