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Tag: apps for government

  • Colorado Latest Convert To Google Apps For Government

    Another state has beamed up into the Google cloud. Colorado, home of the Rocky Mountains and Coors Light, has become the latest state government in the U.S. to make the switch to Google Apps for Government, the federal government-approved cloud-based service designed with the needs of governments in mind.

    According to a post on Google’s Enterprise Blog, Colorado will be moving over “more than 26,000 Executive Branch state employees” to the Google Cloud. Prior to The Centennial State, other governments that have adopted Google Apps for Government are Wyoming, Utah, Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, Pittsburgh, the Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks, and several other municipalities throughout the United States.

    From the blog post:

    Under the leadership of Secretary of Technology and State Chief Information Officer Kristin D. Russell, Colorado’s Office of Information Technology (OIT) has six priorities: customer success, innovation, information security, people, service excellence, and trusted partnership. The decision to migrate to Google Apps is closely aligned with these priorities. By bringing 15 siloed and disparate email systems together into one unified communications platform, the state will save approximately $2 million a year, cutting the cost of maintaining current email systems by nearly half. It will also allow employees across departments to find co-workers and communicate more effectively with one another. In addition, giving employees modern collaboration tools and better mobile access will help them deliver better citizen services. OIT completed thorough testing and analysis of multiple product solutions, including an independent third-party comparison,­­­ before selecting Google Apps. As part of this evaluation, the state reviewed the security controls used by Google Apps and found them to comply with or exceed state standards. OIT will work closely with Google Apps Premier Reseller Tempus Nova to bring Google Apps to Colorado employees.

    Colorado: beloved destination of skiers everywhere, and now another satisfied Google customer.

  • NOAA To Start Using Google Apps For Government

    NOAA To Start Using Google Apps For Government

    In what is a pretty significant endorsement of Google’s wares, The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has switched over to Google Apps for Government and thus become the largest government agency in the United States to adopt cloud-based email service.

    The announcement was made yesterday in the Official Google Enterprise Blog. As explained by Kennith Jackson, the Deployment manager for Google Apps, NOAA was drawn towards Google’s product because, as you may assume, many of NOAA’s agents don’t exactly work inside office cubicles (kinda hard to figure out what’s going on out there in the seas and airspace when you’re stuck behind a desk, yeah?) and need to be able to reliably access “work information on mobile devices,” which Google knows a thing or two about. As Jackson explained:

    The speed and ease of [NOAA] moving to Google Apps was an important factor in the agency’s decision to select Google. Moving 25,000 people to a new system is no small task. To move a group this size to a unified email platform in just six months is a remarkable achievement.

    The rapid deployment resulted from a well-coordinated effort by NOAA employees, prime contractor ERT Inc., and Google partners Unisys and Tempus Nova. NOAA issued a request for proposals in January 2011 and made the award to ERT in June. The team put in place an aggressive schedule to have the system implemented by December and delivered on the plan. NOAA staff now have a set of modern tools like instant messaging, video chat, and real-time, multi-user document collaboration to help the people of NOAA work together more effectively. What’s more, NOAA estimates the cost to the taxpayer is approximately 50% less than developing a solution in-house.

    It remains to be seen if other government agencies of any level will follow the lead of NOAA as the year stretches on. It’s kinda hard not to expect that at least a few more will jump aboard given NOAA’s adoption of Google Apps is a pretty stellar testimonial to what Google has to offer.