Tag Archives: google

Google drops clutter – makes way for streamlined experience

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Google's dropped toolsGoogle probably didn’t abandon iGoogle for enterprise and EDU users. That doesn’t mean I can’t throw a privarte celebration. When I saw the headline (and a great Pinterest board) my first thought was – this is something Jobs would have done. But no, that’s not quite right – Jobs would never have let it get that far, but that’s a separate conversation.

Here’s why I’m happy:

  1. Google gets that its products need to be more centered around a single, beautiful user experience. While I don’t love Google+ in its current form, I see where this is all going.
  2. Google is dropping the right things. iGoogle was sloppy, video was excess, and all the other chat-ish products need to be integrated.
  3. Enterprise users of Google Apps now have a lot to look forward to. Sure, we’re probably not the target audience, but there are a few big things I’m excited about: Sites, Docs, Hangouts, Feeds, and more all connected through a greatly needed user-focused portal (e.g. G+). I want to follow feeds from multiple in-house sites, get notifications when Docs are updated, and hop on a Hangout with someone I work on a project with… from one place. This is where I see all of this going, and if not, Google is missing a big opportunity.

Great reads: the storage wars

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With the launch of Google Drive 2 weeks ago, I’ve been doing a lot of reading on cloud storage and pulled together some recommended reading. I’ll be sharing my own thoughts on Drive and its implications for Google as an enterprise player next week.

Of all things, the release of Google Drive reminds me how important competition is and how it advances whole ecosystems.

The Future of Social Business

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IBM's WatsonI have seen the future of social business, and it’s name is Watson. Yes, for all that I think IBM has done wrong with some of it’s lotus/connections work, Watson stands in stark contrast for one simple reason – it can make associations like no human could efficiently do, and lots of them at the same time. See, the beauty and danger of big data is that we now have more info than we know what to do with as we are simultaneously developing artificial intelligence that just might be able to do just that.

Lessons learned from early Social Media

LinkedIn SuggestionsThink about one of the most impressive parts about Facebook and LinkedIn for a moment. It’s not ability to post pictures, comment, like, poke, etc. At least for LinkedIn, it’s the ability to recommend groups and people that you should connect with, whether they’re 1, 2, or even 3 degrees of separation away.

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This week with a heavy influence from HBR blogs:

Links for 9/9/11

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A focus on web analytics

Why Google Apps informs and complicates the dialogue

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Google wasn’t at the Enterprise 2.0 conference. What makes Google different? In a word: data.

Google AppsGoing “google”

Lots of tools “integrate” with one another. Yet, you don’t often hear about organizations talking about “going Jive” the way they would about Apple or Google. Perhaps they’re wisely picking their battles – and because Google offers an open API, lots of developers have found ways to integrate docs, mail, and calendars with their whatever (think of services like box.net, and even other social intranet providers that connect with Google Docs, like ThoughtFarmer, Moxie, SocialText and more).

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Links for 8/19/11

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  • More Historically Black Colleges and Universities “go google” – more and more colleges and universities are “going Google,” and in fact they’re one of the fastest growing areas of Google Apps business. Why? Ease of use, scale, and low cost. Many enterprises will of course argue that their needs are more complex than a university’s – and often that’s true – but it’s fair to ask yourself if your organization fits into that category.
  • The Path to Creating a Social Business – Dion at the Daschis Group offers the first part in a guide of the internal and external phases, steps, and MOS in building a social business. I’m really looking forward to the rest of the series as it was both humbling and heartening to see that while my org is at a good place, we’re only a fraction of the way there (at least according to Dion), but have been using some of the “best practices” for adoption etc.
  • End of a PC era – Andrew McAfee discusses whether the PC has seen its hayday, and what this means for what’s next. Not the best article on the subject, but one with the best context and questions.
  • Google’s mistake in buying Motorola – I’m not sure I totally agree with the premise, but the best argument I’ve read on this side of the discussion.