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Why I’m Looking Forward to Google I/O Next Year

For BetterCloud, this year’s Google I/O was vastly different from the 2012 conference. Last year, I was the sole BetterCloud representative. This year, six team members attended. Last year, we had yet to publicly launch our product. This year, we have a product used by nearly 10 million people. Last year, we hadn’t established any formal relationships with Google Apps resellers. This year, we’re working with some of the leading resellers in the ecosystem.

While it was great to get a sense of the amount BetterCloud has grown and achieved in the last year, a few things about I/O remained constant – the sense of community and the inspiration I always come away with.

Community

Am I guilty of sprinting to get into the epic three-hour keynote on the first day of I/O? Perhaps. Did I record the near stampede on my Google Glass? Maybe. Do I regret either? Not really.

During the … Read more →

Zingerman’s – A BetterCloud Case Study

Employees: 650 Founded: 1982 Industry: Food and Beverage Website: www.zingermanscommunity.com

In 1982 Paul Saginaw and Ari Weinzweig opened Zingerman’s, a traditional Jewish deli, in Ann Arbor, Michigan. The popular deli served as the starting point for Zingerman’s now expansive community of eight businesses, known as the ZCoB, all located in the Ann Arbor area. While franchising the original deli would have been the obvious option, Zingerman’s founders opted instead to grow the business by developing new independent organizations, all rooted in the local community.

Now, the eight different businesses work together as one organization, but are managed by different partners. Together, the businesses are home to more than 650 employees and include the original deli, a bakery, a creamery, a catering business and more. Zingerman’s was named The Coolest Small Company in America by Inc. Magazine.

Deprecating a Dying Exchange Server

A company like Zingerman’s that isn’t afraid to … Read more →

Partner Spotlight – CloudWare360

Whether you’re looking to go Google, need help with user training or are searching for software that allows your company to get more out of Google Apps, a reseller can help! BetterCloud partners with the world’s top Google Apps resellers to provide our growing customer base of 18,000 organizations even more value.

I sat down with Saul Chrem, the CEO of CloudWare360, a leading reseller in Latin America, to find out more about his organization.

Company: CloudWare360 Location: Latin America Market Served: SMB, Enterprise Website: www.cloudware360.com

BetterCloud: When was your organization founded?

CloudWare360: January 2010

BetterCloud: What led to the founding of your company?

CloudWare360: We wanted to be a part of the technological shift to cloud computing. We named our company “Cloudware 360” because we have a 360 degree approach to cloud computing. We care not only about technology, but have a strong focus on the user side – education, … Read more →

Granular Reporting for Google Apps

When we first started building FlashPanel, we realized there was a huge opportunity to report on the vast amount of data surfaced by the application. Since then, we’ve steadily enhanced FlashPanel’s reporting capabilities, and today we’re excited to announce some major new updates to our Google Apps reporting tool.

In addition to churning out common reports found in the Google Apps Admin Panel like audit logs, email and Drive quotas and login activity, FlashPanel also reports on information far beyond what is available natively in Google Apps – specifically around Google Drive sharing, Gmail settings and more. We’ve also added handy tools like Canned Reports and the Report Builder, which give IT admins unmatched customization and visibility when it comes to reporting on a Google Apps domain.

Canned Reports

Canned reports in FlashPanel provide quick links to commonly requested reports. In the application’s canned reports section, you’ll find more than 20 ready-made reports for users, groups and org … Read more →

Welcome to Atlanta

Last week, BetterCloud’s New York team spent the week at our Atlanta office in the Atlanta Tech Village and it inspired me to put my thoughts about the city and the tech scene down in a blog post.

Southern Roots

BetterCloud has always had two homes, one in New York City and the other in Atlanta. We knew from the beginning keeping the offices and teams connected would be a challenge, but after more than a year and a half of working at both ends of the east coast, we’ve maintained our groove. Our dev team calls Atlanta home while Marketing, Support and our leadership team have established BetterCloud’s headquarters in the Big Apple.

Atlanta has always had a special place in my heart – I graduated from Emory and spent 7 years working in the city before moving back to New York. Atlanta has incredible engineering talent, great schools, restaurants and culture, but the city’s underdeveloped VC scene has caused too many good technologists and … Read more →

First Impressions and Thoughts on Google Glass’ Explorer Program

#328

At last year’s Google I/O, Google’s annual developer conference, I had the opportunity to preorder Google Glass. As a huge Google fan and the CEO of a company that focuses 100% on Google, preordering was a no brainer (as it was for pretty much everyone else at the conference). After placing my order, I was handed a small rectangular piece of glass engraved with the number 328 and that was it for 10 months.

Over the next ten months, I read countless articles and heard endless speculation about Glass, but the details were scarce as to when the product would actually be ready for “explorers” (the beta tester group). Finally, after patiently waiting almost a year, I received the following email, which instructed me to set up a fitting appointment and select the desired Glass color. After consulting my wife and team and browsing dozens of photos online, I opted for the original, charcoal.

Clearwing Productions – A BetterCloud Case Study

Employees: 60 Founded: 1985 Industry: Entertainment Website: www.clearwing.com

Since its founding in 1985, Clearwing, a Milwaukee based production company, has helped some of the nation’s largest brands and best known performing artists create, implement and produce top of the line audio and visual displays.

Whether it’s renovating the audio system at ASU’s Wells Fargo Arena or designing and building the Miller Lite branding effort at the Dallas Cowboys Stadium, Clearwing has proven itself as a leader in the entertainment production industry.

Migrating from GoDaddy to Google Apps

Three years ago, Clearwing decided to migrate from GoDaddy email services to Google Apps. According to Patrick Doran, Clearwing’s IT Manager, who joined the company this past November, “Google Apps is built rock solid.” By migrating to Apps, Clearwing would no longer have to worry about email quotas, reliability or spam filtering. Most importantly, the company loved the “overall ease of use and integration among Google products.”

Google Spreadsheets … Read more →

BetterCloud Partner Spotlight – Dito

Whether you’re looking to go Google, need help with user training or are searching for software that allows your company to get more out of Google Apps, a reseller can help! BetterCloud partners with 20 of the world’s top Google Apps resellers to provide our growing customer base of 17,000 organizations even more value.

Last week I sat down with Jim McNelis, the CEO of Dito, a leading North American reseller, to find out more about his organization.

Company: Dito Location: Manassas, VA Market Served: SMB, Enterprise Website: www.ditoweb.com

BetterCloud: When was your organization founded?

Dito: May 2007. We started offering Google Apps to our customers after deciding to use Google’s business solutions ourselves.

BetterCloud: What led to the founding of your company?

Dito: We initially started out providing web design, hosting and email to small businesses. As time went on, we realized the big opportunity, and more importantly, where we had the most fun, was helping customers adopt … Read more →

Complete Guide to the New Google Apps Admin Console

Today, Google began rolling out a completely redesigned Google Apps Admin Console (existing customers will see it in mid-May), which aims to provide IT administrators with an improved interface for managing their Google Apps domains.

This post details what the new Admin Console means for Google Enterprise and includes our take on the new design as well as an in-depth look at the new Admin Console. To navigate this post, use the following links:

The New Admin Console What This Means for Google Enterprise What We’ve Learned from these Changes Exploring the New Admin Console The New Admin Console

Since Google Apps’ launch in 2006, the Admin Console has been a point of both contention and necessity, offering tools to manage a Google Apps domain, but hiding that functionality beneath layers of unnavigable interface. While Google notes that the new Admin Console does not add any new functionality, it does give Google Apps administrators an easier way to manage their domains thanks to a revamped … Read more →

Conservation International – A BetterCloud Case Study

Last year, Conservation International was faced with a decision – upgrade their existing Exchange server or move to the cloud. After evaluating both Google Apps and Office 365, the nonprofit made a decision to ‘go Google.’ Read the case study to find out why.

Employees: 900 Founded: 1987 Industry: Nonprofit Website: www.conservation.org

Conservation International was founded in 1987 in order to alter the way society thinks about conservation. Rather than focusing on keeping places “intact as relics of the past,” CI works to ensure people can live in harmony with nature. By building on a strong foundation of science, partnership and field work, CI “empowers societies to responsibly and sustainably care for nature, biodiversity and the well-being of humanity.”

Since its founding, the DC-based nonprofit has empowered communities around the globe to make conservation a part of their livelihoods and has formed critical partnerships with companies like Patagonia, Starbucks and even Wal-Mart. By working with some of … Read more →

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