Tag: Google For Work

Google Adds Google Apps Identity Support for Office 365, Slack, Facebook at Work and Others

Last year, Google announced support for SAML 2.0 with Google as the identity provider, and now they’re adding pre-configured support for Microsoft Office 365, Facebook at Work, Panorama9, New Relic, Concur, Coupa, Box, Slac, and others.

As the company notes, this adds to hundreds of apps it already supports through the Google Apps Marketplace and OpenID Connect.

“Millions of businesses rely on Google to protect employee logins to Google Apps services like Drive and Gmail,” says Google Apps for Work Product Manager Shashank Gupta. “And we continue to make it easier to extend that ease and security to more applications with Google Identity, providing organizations a single place to manage identity and security for all of their SaaS/IT applications.”

“Google’s identity services provide even more security on mobile when combined with Google Apps enterprise mobile management controls like password strength, lock screen requirements and app management,” Gupta adds. “These can work in tandem with the increasing number of mobile security options, from hardware such as fingerprint readers, to software such as Google’s Smart Lock. Our Google Smart Lock features are available to all Google Accounts, including those used at work, and we provide identity services and enterprise mobility management (EMM) as part of Google Apps for Work at no additional cost.”

Google has an identity whitepaper about how you can use its identity services available here.

Image via Google

March 14, 2016
Google Drive Boosts Security, Privacy Control For Businesses

Google says the number of paying organizations actively using Google Drive crossed a million earlier this year. The company is taking steps to improve security and privacy protection for Drive as well as Google Apps for Work and Google Apps for Education.

For one, Google Drive is getting enhanced eDiscovery for Google Apps Vault, which gives businesses more visibility and control over employee files. In other words, Drive will fall under the same retention policies and legal hold capabilities available for email and chat. Google says these capabilities will help businesses meet their legal obligations and ensure employee files are archived and available as long as needed, even if employees delete them from their Drive. This is in limited rollout and will be generally available in the coming months.

Google has also updated the Mobile Device Management (MDM) for Google Drive business customers, enabling businesses to monitor usage, enforce strong passwords, and enable device encryption. If a worker loses their phone or leaves the company, the data can be wiped. Business data can we wiped without wiping their personal data. Earlier this year, Google Drive debuted on comScore’s list of the top 25 mobile apps. In August, it was number 16 on the list.

Finally, Google is adding the new ISO/IEC 27018:2014 privacy standard to its compliance framework.

“This audit validates our privacy practices and contractual commitments to our customers, verifying for example that we don’t use your data for advertising, that the data that you entrust with us remains yours and that we provide you with tools to delete and export your data,” explains Google Drive Director of Product Management Scott Johnston.

In a post on the Google for Work blog, Head of Global Compliance Marc Crandall says:

We continuously work with independent auditors to verify our data protection commitments. For example, over the years we’ve completed third-party SOC2 / SOC3 security audits and achieved ISO 27001 certification to provide transparency and accountability around our security procedures.

The 27018 audit also validates that our Google Apps data protection commitments meet a rigorous international privacy and data protection standard. We think that this a great step forward for both our customers and for the industry. While laws and regulations vary from country to country, the principles set forth in the standard are widely recognized.

Independent auditor Ernst & Young has verified Google’s privacy practices and contractual commitments for Google Apps for Work and Google Apps for Education comply with the new standard.

Image via Google

September 21, 2015
Google Consolidates Partner Programs Into One Google for Work and Education Partner Program

Google announced that it’s consolidating its partner programs for Apps, Chrome, Cloud Platform, Maps and Search into one big, updated Google for Work and Education Partner Program.

According to the company, this will enable partners to “better sell, service and innovate across the Google for Work and Education suite of products and platforms.”

Murali Sitaram, Director of Global Partnerships & Strategic Alliances for Google for Work explains the reasoning behind the move:

The landscape of cloud technology has changed significantly since we started selling Google Apps in 2006, and our breadth of offerings has changed with it. Today, millions of companies and schools around the world turn to Google’s products to help them launch, build and transform their organizations in the cloud. Our commitment to bringing the best of Google to work has also grown substantially.

Our partners are a fundamental part of our business and this effort. Partners help customers move, live and grow in the cloud by taking full advantage of the Google for Work and Education suite of products. They onboard and train new customers, manage change, create specialized software to integrate with Google Apps and develop unique solutions using Google Maps and Google Cloud Platform.

The new partner program will consist of three basic tracks: the sales track, the services track, and the technology track. The first is for those marketing and selling Google for Work and Education products. The second is for those providing services like selling, consulting, training, implementing and providing technical support for Google for Work and Education products. The last one is for those creating products and solutions that complement, enhance or extend the reach or functionality of Google for Work and Education products.

Of course Google provides partners with a variety of services. You can get a rundown of those here.

Image via Google

December 4, 2014
Google For Work Gets Security Upgrade

Facebook may be preparing to grab some of the workplace market share, but other, more seasoned vets of the space have hardly slowed down in improving their own offerings.

For example, last week, Microsoft announced Skype Document Chat for Office Online, enabling collaboration via Skype.

Google, on Monday, announced new security tools for Google for Work (the new brand, which was recently changed from Google Enterprise).

“As an IT manager, we realize you spend a lot of time managing devices, applications and security settings for everyone at your organization,” says Eran Feigenbaum, Director of Security for Google for Work. “To make your job a bit easier, today we’re announcing new security tools to help Google Apps users take more control of their security online.”

“A new Devices and Activity dashboard gives your users additional insight over the devices accessing their Google account,” Feigenbaum adds. “The page shows a comprehensive view of all devices that have been active on an account in the last 28 days, or are currently signed in. And in case any suspicious activity is noticed, there’s a setting to immediately take steps to secure an account and change a password.”

Google is also launching a security wizard for Google for Work accounts, which guides users through steps they take to turn on or adjust security features.

Image via Google

November 24, 2014
Google Enterprise Gets Name Change To ‘Google For Work’

Google announced the rebranding of Google Enterprise to “Google for Work,” broadening the connotation of its workplace tools brand.

Over the years, Google has significantly increased the amount of tools and products it offers for businesses of all sizes, so this makes a great deal of sense.

Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt reflected on all of this in a blog post, and concluded that a rebranding was in order.

“Work today is very different from 10 years ago,” he wrote. “Cloud computing, once a new idea, is abundantly available, and collaboration is possible across offices, cities, countries and continents. Ideas can go from prototype to development to launch in a matter of days. Working from a computer, tablet or phone is no longer just a trend—it’s a reality. And millions of companies, large and small, have turned to Google’s products to help them launch, build and transform their businesses, and help their employees work the way they live. In other words, work is already better than it used to be.”

“But technology for the workplace isn’t just about a better way of doing business,” he added. “It’s about empowering anyone, whether they’re a developer with an idea in their basement or a baker with a better cupcake or a company with thousands of employees, to have an impact. We never set out to create a traditional “enterprise” business—we wanted to create a new way of doing work. So the time has come for our name to catch up with our ambition.”

The Google Enterprise site now features the Google for Work branding, and provides some stats about businesses and schools using Google products. These include: over five million businesses that have “gone Google;” over a million Chromebooks sold to schools in Q2; and 64% of the Fortune 500 has gone Google.

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September 2, 2014