The North Carolina non-profit discovers a new answer to better support their mission of helping deaf and hard of hearing children: Google Apps for Business.
BEGINNINGS for Parents of Children Who are Deaf or Hard of Hearing, Inc., has provided emotional support and access to information as a central resource for families with deaf or hard of hearing children since 1987. The team of 15 professionals within the non-profit organization offers an impartial approach to meeting the diverse needs of these families and the professionals who serve them. However, their good work came to a sudden halt one day when their internal server unexpectedly crashed and left the entire organization in technological limbo.
CHALLENGE
The organization’s mission needed to remain focused on the needs of their clients and stakeholders and not on maintaining servers and software. When their internal server went down, they didn’t have the IT resources to fix it. This challenge presented an opportunity to move in another direction and to optimize their business infrastructure with fiscal prudence.
SOLUTION
BEGINNINGS entered into an agreement to begin using Google Apps for Business the same day their internal server crashed. They contacted Accent Plus who performed the migration as well as provided training and support. During the process, they also opted to shut
down their complicated VPN and remove the old server and related equipment. Now, the entire organization is using an enterprise-class, cloud computing solution.
RESULTS
Business operations have experienced zero interruption since shifting to Google Apps. In addition to email, the organization is enjoying the use of all the various tools available through the platform such as Docs, Calendar, Chat, and more to communicate and collaborate from multiple locations. The ease of use and reduction of costs coupled with the peace of mind of keeping information safe, secure, and running efficiently in the cloud has the company back on track and more focused than ever on the important work they do in the community.
At a glance
What did they need?
Reliable back-office operations and support
An affordable and easier way to approach business continuity
More time to focus on their mission instead of IT
What did they do?
Removed internal servers and migrated to Google Apps for Business with NeoNova
Shut down their complicated VPN and use of related equipment
Redefined the rules of collaboration with 15 professionals in two offices
What happened?
Cut overall IT operational costs
Increased focus on productivity through their overarching mission
Promoted enterprise-wide collaboration on one secure and reliable platform
Google has announced that they are getting rid of over 60 different privacy policies and replacing them with one that’s a lot shorter and easier to read. The new policy covers multiple products and features, reflecting Google’s desire to create one simple and intuitive experience for users across Google products. This new policy goes into effect March 1, 2012.
What does this mean as a current Google Apps for Business customer? Quite simply, not much. Google Apps for Business (Google Apps for Government or Google Apps for Education) customers have individual contracts. The new privacy policy does not change contractual agreements which have always superseded Google’s Privacy Policy.
Google has created this FAQ to address questions regarding security and privacy for Google Apps customers.
As you’ve probably seen when using Google Apps, Google is rolling out a new look and feel across Google products to make the interfaces consistent, streamlined, and easier to use.
The New Look for Gmail, Calendar, Docs, and Sites
The new look is optional now, but will soon become permanent for all Google Apps users. These are target release dates and subject to change (see the New Look site for details):
App
When the new look become permanent
Docs
Tuesday December 13, 2011
Sites
Tuesday December 13, 2011
Calendar
Beginning of January 2012
Gmail
The new looks starts to roll out as the default interface on
Tuesday, December 13, and continues to the end of the week.
After that, the new look will become permanent within weeks.
Steps to help you and your users transition to the new look:
Use the new look now
See the Google Apps New Look site. You’ll find steps to enable the new look as well as the latest release schedule.
Communicate to your users and helpdesk staff
On the New Look site, you’ll find email templates and customizable presentations to help communicate the changes.
Tip: For Gmail, use the one-time switch in the control panel to opt-in all your users, and control the timing of when they see the new look.
Help your users get up to speed
Point your users to the Learning Center for guides, tips, and videos. Please plan to update any custom training material you’ve developed.
Please see the New Look site for the latest schedule information. We hope you find the refreshed interfaces easier to use and navigate.
The transition from standard business interface to cloud computing is becoming the IT function of choice for companies, each of which has been convinced by the cloud’s flexibility and efficiency. Here are reasons why your company should consider using Google Apps and cloud computing:
Simplicity
When your business operates in the cloud, there are many internal business functions that are no longer necessary, like an in-house IT team or maintenance to an internal server. This streamlines your company’s processes and communications and saves you money.
Security
There is nothing more terrifying than realizing your server has crashed or email has shut down. With cloud computing, that fear diminishes. Documents, emails and data are automatically saved every few seconds to ensure that they are never lost. These copies are stored in several data centers, keeping them safe and secure. Even if one data center is compromised, the cloud is able to seamlessly transition to another center without interrupting your work or business. There is also a two-step verification process for each user, ensuring that information is only accessible by the right persons.
Availability
The cloud is everywhere. Using cloud computing allows collaboration and telecommuting to take place easily. Multiple people using multiple computers in multiple locations can participate in file sharing. This flexibility allows workflow to continue whether you’re sitting next to each other or the other side of the world. In 2010, Google Apps achieved 99.984 percent uptime.
Accent Plus is committed to making cloud computing work for your business. Let us discuss with you how to harness the cloud for the benefit and growth of your business.
Business application software has been undergoing a decade of change, from its architecture, development and deployment to its business model.
Cloud computing and “software as a service” (SaaS) offers dramatic gains in the way your company operates, its efficiency, lowering costs on IT and labor.
Business practices are streamlined by storing all information on one platform, accessible from anywhere. Information and resources are shared across this network and distributed to computers, phones, tablet devices – any technology your company employs for business use.
You would no longer have to worry about losing access to a server, server downtime or misplacing a file. Once it’s in the cloud, it is easy to find and easy to access.
A recent Google study reported that running a cloud-based email platform is more energy-efficient than employing an in-house email system. The study found that using Gmail for a year consumes less energy than it would to send a message in a wine bottle (including drinking the bottle of wine).
Accent Plus is here to make your cloud needs a reality. From apps to email networks, Accent Plus can use to cloud to make your business and your life function more easily, and how much more can you really ask?
Over the next few months, Google products and experiences will get a facelift. It’s simple: These changes will give users a more focused, seamless and consistent online experience. Here are the three areas Google is improving.
Focus
With streamlined interfaces, Google will offer user-friendly apps and thoughtful design. Your focus, whether it’s checking your email, searching a product or finding a restaurant, will become Google’s focus. The design will be more intuitive, allowing users to quickly and effectively use the apps.
Elasticity
Consider all the ways that we access the Internet. From desktops to laptops, tablets to smartphones, there is no shortage of ways to use the Web. Google is committed to providing users a great experience across all platforms. Users will be able to access an app on their big screen television or their tablet without sacrificing design aesthetics or functionality.
Ease of Use
Google doesn’t need bells and whistles. Their apps and products speak for themselves. For that reason, the third design principle that Google is focused on is effortlessness. Designs will be clean and simple and will incorporate new technologies such as HTML5 and WebGL. More power and less distractions make for great products.
Interested in using the new Google design and experience for your business? Accent Plus can help you harness the power of Google apps in a way that works for you.
As cloud computing continues to gain scale and popularity, the positive environmental impact of utilizing cloud-based servers is becoming apparent.
Google recently announced plans to open a seawater-cooled data center. Traditionally, server warehouses have been cooled by air conditioning, which use incredible amounts of energy to both power the servers and keep them cool enough to stay operational. Google hopes to use tunnels to push cold seawater into the building, keeping their machines cooler with less energy. The water will be returned to sea temperature before being released back into the ocean in order to minimize environmental impact.
Data centers are just like energy sources; their effectiveness and efficiency grows with scale. Many businesses that use in-house servers waste energy by not making the switch to the cloud, as they have to spend money and energy keeping these servers cool. Data centers realize economies of scale by using the same amount of energy to cool more computing power.
Environmental initiatives are becoming more and more important to consumers. If your business is serious about going green, you may want to consider an eco-friendly switch to cloud computing.
Google Business Solutions just got even more versatile with the addition of an official Google Docs Android app. Now you can create, edit, and share documents on the go straight from your Android smartphone. The Android app takes advantage of all of the features of the web-based software, allowing fellow collaborators to see edits to documents instantly across platforms.
Additionally, the app can be used to view regular documents and PDFs. Should you need to edit such a document on the go, any traditional document (such as a Word doc) can be converted to a Google Doc in seconds, where you can then edit instantly from your phone or later from a computer. The app even allows the capability to take a picture of printed text and convert it into an editable Google Doc.
Finally, the Google Docs app is designed for real-time collaboration. Any doc can be shared with any number in your contact list, making it easier than ever to collaborate and communicate with family, coworkers, and friends.
Google Apps for Business has never been more versatile, and Accent Plus is proud to offer these solutions. For more information on how your business can use Google Apps to become more efficient and effective, please contact Accent Plus.
On June 8th, 2011 — World IPv6 Day (http://worldipv6day.org/) — major web companies, including Google, Facebook, Yahoo!, and Microsoft, will enable IPv6 on many of their websites for 24 hours to test how IPv6 performs in the real world. That day, Google will be using IPv6 (http://worldipv6day.org/faq/index.html) for Google Apps, including Gmail, Google Calendar, Google Docs and Google Sites.
More than 99.9% of people shouldn’t have any problems during this industry-wide test, but your experience on June 8th will depend on your computer and network configuration.
- If you only have IPv4, you’ll simply use IPv4 as usual and not see any test-related problems.
- If your configuration is ready for IPv6, you’ll automatically use IPv6 and not see any test-related problems.
- In rare cases if you have IPv6 enabled but not configured properly, you may have connectivity issues with Google Apps and other test sites on June 8th.
If you’d like to start checking your organization’s IPv6 preparedness before June 8th, you can instruct your users to visit ipv6test.google.com from the devices where they access Google Apps, like primary work machines, tablet devices and home computers. If you discover IPv6 connectivity problems, please let us know.
If you are having a major issue related to this from now until the end of June 8th, 2011 and need to contact us about IPv6, please submit your inquiry here:
