Google Apps
Encyclopedia
Google Apps is a service from Google
providing independently customizable versions of several Google products under a custom domain name
. It features several Web application
s with similar functionality to traditional office suite
s, including: Gmail
, Google Groups
, Google Calendar
, Talk
, Docs and Sites
. It was the vision of Rajen Seth, a Google employee who later on developed Chromebooks.
Google Apps is free and offers the same amount of storage as regular Gmail accounts. Google Apps for Business, which offers additional e-mail storage, is available for an annual fee per user account. Google Apps for Education, which is free, combines features from the Standard and Premier editions.
In addition to shared apps (calendar, docs, etc.), there is Google Apps Marketplace, which is an App "store" for Google Apps users. It contains various apps, both free and for a fee, which can be installed to customize the Google Apps experience for the user.
Each edition has a limit on the number of users that may be active at any given time. Google Apps launched with a default user allotment of 200 users, which was shortly changed to 100 users. In addition, users could request to have their user limit increased through a manual process taking (at least) 1–2 weeks for approval. In January 2009, the cap was changed so that all new accounts would receive only 50 users as opposed to 100, and could not request more without payment. This was confirmed as relating to the launch of the Google Apps commercial reseller program. Existing Standard Edition users before January 2009 kept their old allocation, in addition to the ability their "request" more users, though these limit requests are now commonly answered with suggestions to "upgrade your subscription". In 2011, the limit on the free Google Apps product was further reduced to 10 users, effective for new users.
The subscription level of a Google Apps edition is billed based on the total number of available users in the Apps account, and the edition features apply to all users accounts in that subscription. It is not possible to purchase upgrades for a subset of users: to increase the user limit, subscriptions must be purchased for all accounts. For example, an upgrade from a "Standard" limit of 50 users to allow up to 60 users would involve paying for 60 users, whether they are used or not.
Google Apps (formerly Google Apps Standard Edition)
Google Apps Partner Edition / Google Apps for ISP's
Google Apps for Business (formerly Google Apps Premiere Edition)
Google Apps for Education (formerly Google Apps Education Edition): Same as Google Apps for Business except for the following:
Google Apps for Non-profits (formerly Google Apps Education Edition): Same as Google Apps for Business except for the following:
Data security
issues and national interests mean that online application platforms can be unsuitable for use by governments or commercial organisations. Especially so for non-US organisations sharing, editing and storing sensitive or confidential data.
Google is making a concerted effort to increase usage, particularly in the public sector. The most recent example was the announcement in June, 2011 by the NOAA that 25,000 government employees would be migrated to Google Apps by years end. In 2009, Los Angeles, California awarded Google a five-year contract to provide Google Apps services to 34,000 employees. As of early 2011, the City of LA was still in the process of deploying Google Apps after objections from LAPD officials surfaced about privacy. In early 2010, the U.S. Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
shifted 5,000 email accounts to Google Apps. On July 22, 2010, the General Services Administration
certified that Google Apps met its GSA's cybersecurity requirements. On October 29, 2010, Google filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Interior, which opened up a bid for software that required that bidders use Microsoft's Business Productivity Online Suite. Google sued, calling the requirement "unduly restrictive of competition." Scholars have pointed out that, beginning in 2005, the prevalence of open standards and open source
may begin to significantly change way that public entities (which represent some of the worlds' most significant software purchases) choose to select vendors.
Google
Google Inc. is an American multinational public corporation invested in Internet search, cloud computing, and advertising technologies. Google hosts and develops a number of Internet-based services and products, and generates profit primarily from advertising through its AdWords program...
providing independently customizable versions of several Google products under a custom domain name
Domain name
A domain name is an identification string that defines a realm of administrative autonomy, authority, or control in the Internet. Domain names are formed by the rules and procedures of the Domain Name System ....
. It features several Web application
Web application
A web application is an application that is accessed over a network such as the Internet or an intranet. The term may also mean a computer software application that is coded in a browser-supported language and reliant on a common web browser to render the application executable.Web applications are...
s with similar functionality to traditional office suite
Office suite
In computing, an office suite, sometimes called an office software suite or productivity suite is a collection of programs intended to be used by knowledge workers...
s, including: Gmail
Gmail
Gmail is a free, advertising-supported email service provided by Google. Users may access Gmail as secure webmail, as well via POP3 or IMAP protocols. Gmail was launched as an invitation-only beta release on April 1, 2004 and it became available to the general public on February 7, 2007, though...
, Google Groups
Google Groups
Google Groups is a service from Google Inc. that supports discussion groups, including many Usenet newsgroups, based on common interests. The service was started in 1995 as Deja News, and was transitioned to Google Groups after a February 2001 buyout....
, Google Calendar
Google Calendar
Google Calendar is a free time-management web application offered by Google. It became available on April 13, 2006, and exited the beta stage in July 2009...
, Talk
Google Talk
Google Talk is a freeware voice over Internet protocol client application offered by Google Inc. The first beta version of the program was released on August 24, 2005...
, Docs and Sites
Google Sites
Google Sites is a structured wiki- and web page-creation tool offered by Google as part of the Google Apps Productivity suite.- History :Google Sites started out as JotSpot, the name and sole product of a software company that offered enterprise social software. It was targeted mainly at...
. It was the vision of Rajen Seth, a Google employee who later on developed Chromebooks.
Google Apps is free and offers the same amount of storage as regular Gmail accounts. Google Apps for Business, which offers additional e-mail storage, is available for an annual fee per user account. Google Apps for Education, which is free, combines features from the Standard and Premier editions.
In addition to shared apps (calendar, docs, etc.), there is Google Apps Marketplace, which is an App "store" for Google Apps users. It contains various apps, both free and for a fee, which can be installed to customize the Google Apps experience for the user.
History
- May 10, 2011 - The number of free accounts for Google Apps (formerly Google Apps Standard Edition) drops from 50 to 10.
- Mid-End of 2010 - Google started rejecting registration of dot tk domains for Google Apps (Google Apps Standard Edition at that time), but it did not affect Google Apps for Business (Google Apps Premiere Edition at the time) and Google Apps for Education (Google Apps Education Edition at the time). All Google Apps accounts using dot tk domains registered before March 2010 became disabled. When affected users try to use Google Apps, they get the following message: "This account has been disabled."
- August 3, 2010 - Google Senior Vice President Urs Hölzle announced that Google will cease development of Google Wave.
- May 24, 2010 - Google announced that Google WaveGoogle WaveApache Wave is a software framework for real-time collaborative editing online. Google Inc. originally developed it as Google Wave.It was announced at the Google I/O conference on May 27, 2009....
will be available to domains hosted by Google Apps in next generation (only US English). Google wave is a live, shared space on the web where people can discuss and work together using richly formatted text, photos, videos, maps, and more.
- March 9, 2010 - Google opened the Google Apps Marketplace, a venue for third-party, cloud-based applications to supplement Google's own online applications.
- September 15, 2009 - Google announced that it will provide GovCloud, which will host Google Apps in a separate data environment with enhanced encryption for meeting state and government security standards.
- July 7, 2009 - Google upgraded all of the services under Google Apps from 'Beta' status.
- June 9, 2009 - Google introduced Google Apps Sync for Microsoft OutlookMicrosoft OutlookMicrosoft Outlook is a personal information manager from Microsoft, available both as a separate application as well as a part of the Microsoft Office suite...
, enabling companies running Microsoft Exchange ServerMicrosoft Exchange ServerMicrosoft Exchange Server is the server side of a client–server, collaborative application product developed by Microsoft. It is part of the Microsoft Servers line of server products and is used by enterprises using Microsoft infrastructure products...
to migrate their email boxes from Exchange to Google Apps.
- April 1, 2009 - Google added theme support to the mail interface.
- January 29, 2009 - Google added Google Apps to the Google Labs suite. This allows users to add gadgets to their inbox such as 'Offline', 'Tasks', and 'Vacation Time!'.
- January 14, 2009 - Google removed the ability to add additional users to Standard Edition domains and limited new standard edition domains to 50 users (a reduction from the previous 100).
- December 1, 2008 - Google removed the Start Page option for new Google Apps accounts. They are apparently trying to transition new users to using sites instead.
- September 2008 - Google Page Creator and file uploader was removed as an available service for new Google Apps applicants.
- February 28, 2008 - Google announced that Google SitesGoogle SitesGoogle Sites is a structured wiki- and web page-creation tool offered by Google as part of the Google Apps Productivity suite.- History :Google Sites started out as JotSpot, the name and sole product of a software company that offered enterprise social software. It was targeted mainly at...
will be available to domains hosted by Google Apps. Google Sites allows collaborative editingCollaborative editingCollaborative editing is the practice of groups producing works together through individual contributions. Effective choices in group awareness, participation, and coordination are critical to successful collaborative writing outcomes. Most usually it is applied to textual documents or...
of web sites and permits users to upload images and videos to their site.
- October 12, 2007 - Google announced that e-mail storage for domains using Google Apps would be increasing. Premier Edition accounts now have 25 GB of space each (previously 10 GB). Standard and Education Edition accounts will mirror the Gmail counter (previously 2 GB, over 7 GB as of August 2008).
- October 3, 2007 - Google announced that "security, compliance, policy management, and message recovery services" from recently-acquired Postini will be integrated into Google Apps Premier Edition.
- June 2007 - Email migration from IMAP email services was added to Google Apps.
- February 22, 2007 - Google launched a Premier Edition for enterprise, as well as making registration public for all Google Apps services. At the same time, all products were unified, and the online control panel was redesigned.
- October 2006 - Google allowed educational institutions to sign-up for the service as well, which was retitled Google Apps For Education. A large implementation of Google Apps is at Lakehead UniversityLakehead UniversityLakehead University is a public research university in Thunder Bay, and Orillia, Ontario, Canada.Lakehead University, shortened to 'Lakehead U', or 'LU', is non-denominational and provincially supported. It has undergraduate and graduate programs and a medical school.The school has more than 45,000...
in Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada, where 38,000 users have Gmail and in-browser IMInstant messagingInstant Messaging is a form of real-time direct text-based chatting communication in push mode between two or more people using personal computers or other devices, along with shared clients. The user's text is conveyed over a network, such as the Internet...
capabilities.
- August 2006 - Google expanded on this service and developed Google Apps For Your Domain, incorporating more recent Google services, including Google Calendar, Google Talk, and Google Page Creator. Later, Google added a "Start Page" to all accounts, which is based on their iGoogleIGoogleiGoogle , a service of Google, is a customizable Ajax-based startpage or personal web portal . Google originally launched the service in May 2005...
service.
- February 2006 - Google created Gmail For Your Domain with an invitation-only beta, which allowed Gmail to be used with a custom domain name. It featured 2 GB of e-mailE-mailElectronic mail, commonly known as email or e-mail, is a method of exchanging digital messages from an author to one or more recipients. Modern email operates across the Internet or other computer networks. Some early email systems required that the author and the recipient both be online at the...
storage, and many of the standard Gmail features.
Differences between editions
Google Apps is available in a number of distinct editions.Each edition has a limit on the number of users that may be active at any given time. Google Apps launched with a default user allotment of 200 users, which was shortly changed to 100 users. In addition, users could request to have their user limit increased through a manual process taking (at least) 1–2 weeks for approval. In January 2009, the cap was changed so that all new accounts would receive only 50 users as opposed to 100, and could not request more without payment. This was confirmed as relating to the launch of the Google Apps commercial reseller program. Existing Standard Edition users before January 2009 kept their old allocation, in addition to the ability their "request" more users, though these limit requests are now commonly answered with suggestions to "upgrade your subscription". In 2011, the limit on the free Google Apps product was further reduced to 10 users, effective for new users.
The subscription level of a Google Apps edition is billed based on the total number of available users in the Apps account, and the edition features apply to all users accounts in that subscription. It is not possible to purchase upgrades for a subset of users: to increase the user limit, subscriptions must be purchased for all accounts. For example, an upgrade from a "Standard" limit of 50 users to allow up to 60 users would involve paying for 60 users, whether they are used or not.
Google Apps (formerly Google Apps Standard Edition)
- Free,
- Brandable name and logos in the control panel, ie. @yourdomain.com
- Same storage space as regular gmail.com accounts (over 7,650 MB as of 2011)
- Text ads standard (can be turned off in each account)
- Limited to 10 users within same domain.
- Email attachments cannot be larger than 25 megabytes.
- Limited to sending email to 500 external recipients per day per email account.
Google Apps Partner Edition / Google Apps for ISP's
- Same as standard edition with the following exceptions:
- No limit on # of mailboxes
- Google API is available to use to manage and provision accounts
- It is a Paid service with tech support available with pricing starting at $0.35 per mailbox per resellers such as http://www.ikano.com.
Google Apps for Business (formerly Google Apps Premiere Edition)
- $50 USDUnited States dollarThe United States dollar , also referred to as the American dollar, is the official currency of the United States of America. It is divided into 100 smaller units called cents or pennies....
(40 EUREuroThe euro is the official currency of the eurozone: 17 of the 27 member states of the European Union. It is also the currency used by the Institutions of the European Union. The eurozone consists of Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg,...
, 33 GBPPound sterlingThe pound sterling , commonly called the pound, is the official currency of the United Kingdom, its Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, British Antarctic Territory and Tristan da Cunha. It is subdivided into 100 pence...
) per account per year, or $5 USD per account monthly - Text ads optional
- Integrated PostiniPostiniPostini is an e-mail and Web security and archiving service owned by Google since 2007. It provides cloud computing services for filtering e-mail spam and malware , offers optional e-mail archiving, and protects client networks from web-borne malware.-History:Postini was a startup company founded...
policy-based messaging security - Conference room/resource scheduling
- 99.9% e-mail uptime guarantee
- APIs available for Single Sign On
- 24/7 phone support
- Google Video, a service similar to YouTube with private groups
- Limited to sending email to 2000 external recipients per day per email account.
- Storage space 25 GB in each account, allocated for use across all products including e-mail.
Google Apps for Education (formerly Google Apps Education Edition): Same as Google Apps for Business except for the following:
- Free for K-12 schools, colleges, and universities with up to 30,000 users
- No ads for faculty, staff, or students
- Google may serve ads to accounts not associated with enrolled students, staff or volunteers
- Storage space 25 GB as of June 24, 2011
Google Apps for Non-profits (formerly Google Apps Education Edition): Same as Google Apps for Business except for the following:
- Free for accredited 501(c)(3) non-profit entities with less than 3,000 users
- Large non-profits eligible for 40% discount on Google Apps for Business
- No ads for faculty, staff, or students
- Google may serve ads to accounts not associated with staff or volunteers
- Storage space 25 GB as of June 24, 2011
Other editions
- The terms Google for your Domain/Google Apps for your Domain still surface from time to time, without clear indication if this is a deprecated (or better said, separate) version of Google Apps.
- Google Apps Team Edition seem to have been a way for using Google Apps without attaching a domain to it and seems to be deprecated.
- Google Apps for Non Profit is not as much an edition as a marketing category. NGO with less than 3000 users are eligible to Google Apps Education Edition, whilst those with more than this may apply to Google Apps Premiere Edition at a discounted price.
Available services depending on type of Google Account
| | Requires Google Account | | Gmail address | | Google Apps | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Free | Higher | |||
| Gmail | Yes | Yes | Yes (Requires domain name) | |
| Google Apps Sync | Yes | Yes (using Microsoft Exchange) | No | Yes |
| Google Calendar | Yes | Yes | Yes | |
| Google Contacts | Yes | Yes | Yes (Listed as in beta) | |
| Google Contacts Sync | Yes | Yes (using Microsoft Exchange) | Yes | |
| Google Docs | Yes | Yes | Yes | |
| Google Groups | Yes | Yes | Yes | |
| Google Sites | Yes | Yes | Yes | |
| Google Tasks | No | Yes | Yes | |
| Google Video | No | Yes | No | Yes |
| Google Voice | No | Yes | Yes | |
| Google Wave | No | Yes | Yes | |
| Google Analytics | No | Yes | Yes | |
| Google Plus | Yes | Yes | Yes as of 10/27/11 | |
Critiques
Analyst firm The Real Story Group cited several weaknesses in Google Apps in a comparative review which referenced a lack of administrative, customization, and lifecycle services that might hamper effectiveness in large enterprise environments.Data security
Data security
Data security is the means of ensuring that data is kept safe from corruption and that access to it is suitably controlled. Thus data security helps to ensure privacy. It also helps in protecting personal data. Data security is part of the larger practice of Information security.- Disk Encryption...
issues and national interests mean that online application platforms can be unsuitable for use by governments or commercial organisations. Especially so for non-US organisations sharing, editing and storing sensitive or confidential data.
- On March 10, 2009, Google reported that a bug in Google Docs had allowed unintended access to some private documents. It was believed that 0.05% of documents stored via the service were affected by the bug, which Google claimed has been fixed.
- In the UK, it is not possible to obtain information relating to Google and RIPARipaRipa is a Latin word, meaning the bank of a river. The word is part of the name of a number of places, mainly in Italy.Ripa may refer to:-People:*Albert de Rippe , Italian lutenist and composer, also known as Alberto da Ripa...
requests but we know that MI5MI5The Security Service, commonly known as MI5 , is the United Kingdom's internal counter-intelligence and security agency and is part of its core intelligence machinery alongside the Secret Intelligence Service focused on foreign threats, Government Communications Headquarters and the Defence...
and MI6 make frequent use of their information because of quotes like, "but I can say that the intelligence agencies, police forces and other law enforcement agencies are the principal users of communications data" in the annual RIPA reports.
Adoption
It is not known how many people use the Google Apps platform, although a Google blog post in March 2010 claimed that 25 million people had "switched to Google Apps."Google is making a concerted effort to increase usage, particularly in the public sector. The most recent example was the announcement in June, 2011 by the NOAA that 25,000 government employees would be migrated to Google Apps by years end. In 2009, Los Angeles, California awarded Google a five-year contract to provide Google Apps services to 34,000 employees. As of early 2011, the City of LA was still in the process of deploying Google Apps after objections from LAPD officials surfaced about privacy. In early 2010, the U.S. Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
The Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory , is a U.S. Department of Energy national laboratory conducting unclassified scientific research. It is located on the grounds of the University of California, Berkeley, in the Berkeley Hills above the central campus...
shifted 5,000 email accounts to Google Apps. On July 22, 2010, the General Services Administration
General Services Administration
The General Services Administration is an independent agency of the United States government, established in 1949 to help manage and support the basic functioning of federal agencies. The GSA supplies products and communications for U.S...
certified that Google Apps met its GSA's cybersecurity requirements. On October 29, 2010, Google filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Interior, which opened up a bid for software that required that bidders use Microsoft's Business Productivity Online Suite. Google sued, calling the requirement "unduly restrictive of competition." Scholars have pointed out that, beginning in 2005, the prevalence of open standards and open source
Open source
The term open source describes practices in production and development that promote access to the end product's source materials. Some consider open source a philosophy, others consider it a pragmatic methodology...
may begin to significantly change way that public entities (which represent some of the worlds' most significant software purchases) choose to select vendors.