Employees: 250 Founded: 1999 Industry: Food and Beverage Website: www.stumptowncoffee.com

When Duane Sorenson founded Stumptown Coffee Roasters in 1999, he set out with a unique mission: find the best coffee beans in the world, pay a living wage to the farmers who harvest them and raise the expectations around a cup of coffee.

Since its founding, Stumptown has stayed true to this mission. Even while expanding to both coasts and opening a brand new 37,000 square foot headquarters in Portland, Oregon, the company has upheld its commitment to both quality and community – both here in the US and abroad in the communities in which Stumptown farmers work and live.

Going Google

When Stumptown moved to its new headquarters in the fall of 2012, the company also made the transition from Microsoft Exchange to Google Apps. The move, which was accelerated by a server crash, was based on Google’s ubiquity and heavy integrations. According to … Read more →

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 →

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 →

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 →

Just last year, Synapse, a leader in engineering design services, left behind an aging Exchange server for Google Apps. Read on to learn how this cutting edge company is making the most of Apps with the help of FlashPanel.

Employees: 300 Founded: 2002 Industry: Engineering Design Services Website: www.synapse.com FlashPanel Customer Number: 1,907

Founded in 2002, Synapse works with the world’s leading companies to help them turn ideas into reality. Matching engineering and technology expertise with product management oversight, Synapse enables organizations to create products and experiences that change the way we live.

Based in Seattle with offices in San Francisco and Hong Kong, Synapse has helped companies like Nike, TomTom, Samsung and General Electric conceptualize and produce some of the world’s most inventive products.

Overcoming Growing Pains with Google Apps

While Synapse was producing cutting edge technology for its clients, the company’s email system was left to run on outdated on premise Exchange servers. As the company … Read more →

After breaking off from Reed, a leading provider of recruitment services, reed.co.uk wanted to revamp their entire IT infrastructure – starting with email. While the company did evaluate both Microsoft Office 365 and Google Apps, reed.co.uk landed on Google. Read the case study to find out why.

Check out reed.co.uk’s story in CITEWorld – How Microsoft totally blew it and lost this contract to Google Apps

Employees: 250 Founded: 2005 Industry: Internet Website: www.reed.co.uk

Based in London’s Covent Garden, reed.co.uk was founded in 1995 as part of Reed, a global provider of permanent, contract, temporary and outsourced recuriting solutions, IT and HR consulting.

As one of the earliest internet job sites in the UK, reed.co.uk quickly became the United Kingdom’s number one career website and currently features vacancies from more than 8,000 recruiters. Today the site receives upwards … Read more →

In 2010 construction management firm Albritton Williams made the move from Microsoft Exchange to Google Apps. The platform has enabled AW to bring communication to employees working at projects on site, away from the main office and coupled with FlashPanel’s management tools, the company is able to make full use of the Google Apps suite. Read the case study for more on AW’s use of FlashPanel and Google Apps.

Employees: 20 Founded: 1928 Industry: Construction Management Website: aw-gc.com FlashPanel Customer Number: 4,065

Founded in 1928, Albritton Williams is a full service contractor and construction management company based in Tallahassee, Florida. AW specializes in commercial and residential construction and small projects. The company emphasizes high quality and value in all its work and achieves these goals through a team approach.

Increasing Collaboration through Google Apps

For any team to succeed, communication is vital. So to increase collaboration and communication among different team members – those … Read more →

Nearly three years ago, Proactive Accountants Network made the crucial decision to move completely to the cloud, starting with Google Apps. Now the company is 100% web and using a host of applications in the cloud, including FlashPanel, to manage their online presence. For more on how PAN uses FlashPanel to manage their Google Apps domain, check out the case study.

Employees: 20 Founded: 2005 Industry: Professional Services Website: proactiveaccountants.net FlashPanel Customer Number: 1,243

Founded in 2005, Proactive Accountants Network is responsible for positively impacting more than 850 accounting firms across Australia and New Zealand through core coaching services, training content and technology advisory.

By tailoring marketing tactics, change management and cloud services to each customer, The Network brings efficiency to their clients, ensuring long-term financial and organizational success.

Moving to the Cloud One Application at  a Time

In 2010, Proactive Accountants Networks decided to revamp their operating practices in house to provide the best … Read more →