Last September, Google announced their intent to create a Google Apps environment dedicated to government customers, and to complete United States government security certification for Google Apps. Today, this vision was deliver.
Today, Google introduce a new edition of Google Apps designed specifically for the needs of U.S. government entities. It’s called – appropriately enough – Google Apps for Government. This new edition is available now to federal, state and local governments in the United States.
Google Apps is also the first suite of cloud computing applications to receive Federal Information Security Management Act (FISMA) certification from the U.S. government. With this federal government certification of our security controls, government agencies can use our cloud services with confidence.
A wide range of U.S. government customers are already taking advantage of Google Apps, from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Berkeley Lab to the U.S. Navy’s InRelief program, to the City of Los Angeles, to smaller governments across the country like Panama City, Florida and the City of Wooster, Ohio.
Cloud Technology Solutions [CTS] has strengthened it’s team of Cloud and Google experts with the appointment of Stuart Cummings, an information security specialist. Before joining CTS Stuart was the Chief Information Security Officer at SABMiller. Stuart has many years experience working within the information security business both at SABMiller and Citigroup, where Stuart was responsible for security management and compliance within the group.
Stuart strengthens an already impressive array of technology experts within CTS. CTS is a lead Google partner, and has help many organisations from large multinational to small businesses take advantage of what cloud computing, and more specifically Google, has to offer.
“I’m delighted to be working with Cloud Technology Solutions – Cloud Computing it’s the natural progression for all IT, and security is an extremely important part of that proposition”, said Stuart Cummings.
“CTS takes security very seriously, our focus on making cloud solutions that are accessible while remaining extremely secure is at the heart of what we do, said Steve Kaye CEO, Cloud Technology Solutions. “Cloud-computing is not a panacea, we believes that the need to adhere to information security management best practices still remains.”
“CTS continues to attract high caliber executives strengthening our team and importantly our expertise. I’m pleased to welcome Stuart to the business.”
Cloud Technology Solutions migration tool, the Cloud Google Migrator is now being used to migrate over 2000 users to Google Apps every week. With a network of service partners worldwide, the stability and scalability of the migration tool is proving the worlds best choice for migrating GroupWise users to Google Apps. With built in support for GroupWise and Exchange, and with upcoming support for Scalix, the Cloud Google Migrator is the tool of choice for moving your organisation to Google Apps.
For more information about the tool, visit our migration tool pages or for more information about how we can help you to go Google, please contact us.
Rich text signatures have long been one of the most widely requested features. Now users can change the colors or font size of your signature, or insert images and links.
The next time you log in and visit the Settings page, you’ll see a rich text editor in the signature section. Here, you can customize your signature by adding pretty formatting, links, and images — or decide to leave things nice and simple.
Version 1.5.6.4 of the Cloud Google Migrator has just been released. This is a required update which fixes a recently introduced (today) problem caused by a Google server-side change for OAuth. All users should update immediately.
Google Docs new editor is now the default editor for all Google Apps users. This impressive new interface has been an opt-in feature of Google Apps since April 2010.
With Google Docs you shouldn’t have to give up any routine features when you switch to web-based applications, and Google has been addressing many longstanding requests across Google Docs with this release that were not feasible with older browser technology. Documents support better formatting options like a margin ruler, better numbering and bullets, and more flexible image placement. Spreadsheets now have a familiar formula editing bar, cell auto-complete, drag-and-drop columns and more.
Higher fidelity document import
It should be easy to move files saved on your computer to the cloud, so Google made document upload feature much stronger. Imported documents keep their original structure more accurately, so you can spend less time adjusting files you move to the cloud.
Speed and responsiveness
Browser-based applications shouldn’t force you to compromise on performance either, and the new architecture is much faster than before. Working with very large spreadsheets is even snappy now. Web apps really can feel just as fluid as traditional software.
Faster collaboration
Collaboration has always been Google Docs’ forte, and the new codebase is a leap forward here, too. The applications support up to 50 simultaneous editors, and documents let you see other people’s changes character-by-character as they type. Finally, there is multi-user editing to drawings too, so now you can build flow charts, schematics, and other kinds of diagrams collaboratively.
Scalix is a Linux-based groupware server that many organisations use as an alternative to Exchange to provide in-house messaging facilities. Cloud Technology Solutions are pleased to announce upcoming support for migration from Scalix to Google Apps. Support for Scalix extends the support of the Cloud Google Migrator to cover Novell GroupWise, Microsoft Exchange and now Scalix. Support for Scalix, as with the other supported systems, will include migration of Email, calendars and contacts to Google Apps.
For more information about support for Scalix, or for any other enquiries, please contact us.
Composites One is the leading distributor of composite materials in North America. The organization’s products include fibers, resins, and a wide range of chemicals and accessories used in manufacturing. Its 32 distribution centers serve over 8,000 customers across North America and Asia, and the company prides itself in providing the best quality materials, exceptional local service, and personalized support.
Business Need
As the organization continued its growth, Composite One’s personnel had expanded to approximately 400 employees in over 30 locations. Regarding its IT email and messaging platform, the company had been a Novell GroupWise user for over 15 years. However, continuing down the GroupWise path seemed like an increasingly costly obstacle. In almost all the organization’s separate locations, there were separate file servers; this was valuable to the extent that mail was regulated locally instead of having to travel through the home hub network. All in all, Composites One utilized a highly decentralized mail system, and keeping up-to-date with GroupWise required imminent, major upgrades to all servers in all locations, license renewals, and significant time and effort by the IT department. Furthermore, users were not even satisfied with the functionality of the GroupWise platform and a large-scale change in IT started to seem like the best course of action.
With all these factors in mind, Director of IT, Hal Greene, began seeking a solution that would meet 3 criteria: a wide range of improved functionality, mobility capacities and major cost savings. A number of employees within Composite One’s IT group had had some personal experience with Google Apps and recommended the platform as a possible alternative. Hal then attended the 2009 Enterprise Summit and found that many IT executives had very positive things to say about Google Apps. For the remainder of 2009, Composite One’s IT team began discussing with Google and Cloud Sherpas the possible migration to Google Apps, and eventually pitched the idea to the Composite One executive team.
“Cloud Sherpas are one of the best Google Enterprise partners in the world. We are proud of the relationship we have with Cloud Sherpas and of the success the Cloud Google Migrator from Cloud Technology Solutions has given them.” Steve Kaye: CEO, Cloud Technology Solutions
Solution
A few months later, Composite One began a pilot phase with Cloud Sherpas by taking a group of 32 users (which encompassed the entire IT team) and having these key users experience Google Apps first. Cloud Sherpas also conducted admin and end-user training to accelerate the learning process of migrating to a new IT platform.
However, perhaps the most integral assistance that Cloud Sherpas provided was in the application of the Cloud Google Migrator from Cloud Technology Solutions, the only tool to-date that can be widely-used to migrate organizations to Google Apps from Novell GroupWise. Cloud Sherpas seamlessly transferred all of Composite One’s data to the cloud, and Hal Greene had this to say about the process:
“When it comes to this data, it’s so important to people; this is their work and what they’ve been doing for years, so it would’ve been unacceptable for them to no longer have access to this data. So it was very helpful to have Cloud Sherpas be there and help us through the migration process.”
Benefits
The pilot phase was successfully completed within 2 months, and while Cloud Sherpas maintained a co-existence system that allowed users to function from both Google Apps and Novell GroupWise. Composite One went on to migrate users in increments and aims to have all users on Google Apps within half a year.
As Cloud Sherpas additionally provided mobile access to Google Apps, Composite One’s goals of moving to a platform with greater functionality, mobility capacities, and major cost savings seemed to be fulfilled. As Director of IT Hal Greene concluded:
“We’re really glad to be on Google Apps now, and to the extent that we ran into any confusion, the Cloud Sherpas team was very knowledgeable and very helpful. I did think that their role throughout the project was quite impressive.”
To learn more about how we can help your organisation Go Google, please contact us now.
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Here at Cloud Technology Solutions we want to be the first to let you know about some upcoming changes to Google Docs.
Over the next few weeks, Google will start transitioning to the new version of Google documents. Here are some of the new features in the new Google Docs that we are excited about:-
Real time collaboration: See updates from other collaborators as they edit the document.
Higher-quality imports: More consistent imports from your desktop into Google Docs.
Chat with other collaborators: As you make your edits, you can chat with other document editors about the changes, from within the document.
Ruler: Google documents have a ruler for setting margins, indentations, and tab stops.
Google spreadsheets editable formula bar, and cell auto-complete.
Cloud Technology Solutions migration tool, the 
This is an overview of the way I use my Android phone and some of the useful apps I’ve added to it.
