MSPmentor

Four years ago this October Google launched the Google Apps for Education suite of student, faculty, and staff-focused cloud productivity and collaboration applications. Fast forward to the present, and Google says the company has landed its 10 millionth education space user on Google Apps. Here are some highlights of Google’s report card.

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Google loves to highlight enterprises big and small that have made the leap to the Google Apps suite. But now the search giant is looking for up to five companies from each of the major geographic regions to star in a new billboard campaign. Maybe they should try Googling for them.

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Patch Tuesday is one of those Microsoft traditions that I suspect many administrators wish would quietly vanish into the ether, but until we’re all running cloud-based operating systems, it looks like it’s here to stay. Microsoft shows no signs of slowing down, either, with yesterday’s security updates containing a whopping 16 patches for 49 problems – numbers that analysts say set a new record. Here’s the scoop.

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A little bit of hometown news for MSPmentor today as Google announces that 697 K-12 public school districts in New York State will be going to their Google Apps cloud productivity suite. That’s over 3.1 million students and hundreds of thousands of teachers all potentially going to Google Apps. Here’s the scoop.

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Google tends to favor announcing major Google Apps customer wins as they’re  confirmed. Not Microsoft, no. Microsoft likes to announce a lengthy list of BPOS and Live@edu cloud customer wins all at the same time, and yesterday saw Microsoft add companies like Sunoco Inc. and DuPont and schools like San Francisco State University to the list of SaaS victories. Here’s the story.

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Every once in a while, Microsoft likes to remind the IT world that the company knows how to play to their strengths: Redmond has released Windows Live Essentials 2011, a suite of free desktop applications for Windows 7 that leverages cloud services both inside and outside Microsoft’s own walled garden — including cloud backup. Here are the potential implications for MSPs.

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A post over at the Google Enterprise Blog highlights the new features that have been made available to users of the ever-more-popular Google Apps cloud productivity suite over the past few weeks. Headlining the list is the long-awaited (by MSPmentor, at any rate) revision history for Google Docs. Here’s the scoop.

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Microsoft apparently has scored a major coup in the cloud market. The software giant says as many as 33,000 State of Minnesota employees will be going over to their BPOS productivity and collaboration suite. Here’s the straight dope.

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A Microsoft Windows Live Team blog entry says the free Office Web Apps suite of cloud productivity apps has hit a milestone with 20 million users at home and abroad. And to mark the occasion, Office Web Apps is getting a few new features, including mobile phone Excel spreadsheet viewing. Here’s the skinny.

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A lot of enterprises go to cloud services for the cost savings or the flexibility. But the Google Enterprise Blog has the story of how Diversey, a hygiene solutions vendor, went to the Google Apps suite for its energy savings potential – and how they won an award for doing so. Here’s the scoop.

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ManageEngine, a division of ZOHO Corp., has launched MSP Center Lite, an agent-based remote monitoring and management (RMM) platform for managed services providers. The interesting twist: MSP Center Lite is free for MSPs that want to manage up to 25 devices. Beyond that, the software starts at $545 per year for 50 managed devices. Here’s a closer look at ManageEngine’s strategy plus the MSP freemium trend.

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It’s not exactly an enterprise feature, but it’s so useful you might love it anyway. Google has launched the beta of Priority Inbox for Gmail, giving users the option of using a trainable filter that puts the messages that are most important to you at the top of your e-mail morass. Here’s some insight.

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Office Web Apps, Microsoft’s free SaaS answer to the Google Apps productivity suite, has gotten an update bringing cloud computing into the 1980’s (tongue in cheek intended) with the addition of new features including printing Word documents. Here’s the update on the update.

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Google’s boasting that they’ve launched over 50 new features to their trademark Google Apps SaaS productivity suite in the first half of 2010 alone. And to keep that momentum going, they’ve rolled out new features for Google Docs and Google Sites. Here’s the scoop.

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A new Forrester Research report indicates that Microsoft, Google, Cisco, and IBM — which is to say, the major SaaS email players — have more-or-less reached price parity for cloud messaging at about $5 per user per month, confirming that the cloud is axiomatically cheaper than on-premise for most MSPs and the enterprises they serve. Here’s the scoop.

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With all the talk of how the cloud can help even the largest enterprises affordably meet IT needs, it’s easy to forget how useful SaaS can be for even the smallest businesses. In a blog post, Google Apps highlights that aspect with the story of how Oregon-based ice cream company Luna & Larry’s Coconut Bliss uses their cloud collaboration suite. Here’s the scoop — so to speak.

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Google quietly launched an update for their Microsoft Exchange migration tool. The feature list may look anemic, but a few new Google Apps Migration for Microsoft Exchange features can go a long way. Here are some details.

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I’m set to moderate a channel chief panel hear at CompTIA Breakaway this morning. But before I unplug to participate in the panel, here are seven managed services trends, news tips and industry chatter that I heard during Day 2 of CompTIA Breakaway here in San Antonio, Texas.

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Google has announced that it’s continuing its SaaS momentum in the education space by way of a deal with the Maryland Education Enterprise Consortium (MEEC). The deal potentially puts the Google Apps productivity suite into every public K-12 district, every library, and every college both public and private in the state of Maryland. Here’s the scoop.

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Famed Italian fashion house Roberto Cavalli has chosen to migrate their employees to the Google Apps cloud productivity suite — bringing them estimated infrastructure cost savings of a stylish 40,000 Euros (that’s about $52,000 USD) per year. Here are some quick details.

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With security policy compliance a hot-button issue among the likes of Microsoft and Google, it’s no surprise that technology companies are looking to help MSPs ease their standards-minded customers’ minds. Enter eGestalt, which has launched their “managed compliance provider” partner program, designed to give MSPs a SaaS solution to ensure IT compliance — and give them a recurring revenue stream. Here’s the scoop.

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Google might seem infallible at times, but the truth is that data does disappear from the Google Apps SaaS productivity suite now and then. To address the problem, Backupify and Spanning Backup are two options designed to let enterprise Google Apps solutions providers back up and protect vital cloud-based data. Here’s the scoop.

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Apparently, it’s a red-letter week for Microsoft Online Services and the software giant’s All In cloud strategy. Specifically, Microsoft says The Dow Chemical Co., Hyatt Hotels & Resorts, and the University of Georgia have all inked deals to embrace Microsoft-powered productivity and collaboration cloud solutions. The big question: Will partners play a role in the SaaS engagements?

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