harrisonburgvalleyapps-blog - Tumblr blog

[harrisonburgvalleyapps-blog]

James River Grounds Management Transforms and Thrives with Google Apps for Business

James River Grounds Management(JRGM), founded in 1989 as an industry leader by producing and managing quality landscapes as well as maintaining corporate relationships that have grown the company into a regional dynamo.  With eight locations spread throughout Central and Southeast Virginia, covering the I-64 corridor from Charlottesville all the way to Virginia Beach, they have created an unmatched footprint in their industry.  While serving predominantly commercial clients their office locations help them provide highly rated customer service, or as they put it, personal touch.  Their services cover everything “grounds” from regular maintenance to Landscape Design and installation.  They provide a myriad of grounds services for businesses throughout the year including snow removal and even holiday decorating.  The company was founded on the core values, Quality, Stability, Honesty, Family, Fairness, Ambition, and Fun.  They maintain large corporate resources with a small business feel.

When Noel, their IT director for the past 7 years, contacted us they were being held back by an aging messaging platform and wanted to learn more about how they could upgrade not only that system but their collaboration & mobile capabilities as well.  Noel was already developing a mobile application using the Android platform to track time on each customer site so a move toward Google Apps for Business seemed like the next logical move.  Their current email server was aging, overloaded, and was requiring more of his time to maintain and support.  The limitations of their current messaging platform were holding the company back from a technological standpoint and he wanted to open up other possibilities for his mobile staff.  

When we first contacted Noel about making a transition to Google he had a lot of questions and methodically qualified the platform as a solution.  We configured a pilot environment for him to test the capabilities and discover how it would fit in with the needs of JRGM’s office staff and mobile workforce.  He started noticing how Google Drive and Docs would help save a lot of paper in his offices while calendar sharing would give the administrative staff great insight into daily on-site operations and customer service at all locations.  After one week he called us and asked if we could start planning migration for the remaining staff.  He had the green light and we methodically planned out a week of migration for him to be at each satellite office while we moved data off his server located at the main office each night.  With a week prior and the week following, the transition was finished in a 3 week period.  At that point Noel and the management team started looking towards using Drive, Docs, and Sheets along with Google Apps Scripts to automate some of their workflows internally.  

Since moving to the Google platform Noel has seen growth in his workforce and a renewed sense of cooperation between management, the sales team, and especially his mobile workers.  They have started using Drive and Hangouts in the field to document their work and troubleshoot anything they might come across that needs approval from the office or management teams.  The sales team can collaborate on quotes and proposals while able to access client documents on demand.  This has been a driving factor to increase company efficiency and brought a greater sense of teamwork between those onsite and back at the office.  Noel has noticed that if he had needed to scale the way he did in 2013 it would have cost the company over $10k just in hardware and then additional $1k’s in licensing.  “It’s so much easier and less expensive to fill out a form requesting extra licenses and knowing that each user is fully equipped to work together.  Before Google we had resources and company data spread out all over our infrastructure, now everything is centralized and accessible to each worker no matter where they are located” said Noel.  “We are very confident that the Google platform is going to provide us with a positive ROI within the next year”, he added.  ValleyApps is very confident that Noel along with his team will find newer and better ways to utilize all the tools that Google Apps provides.  This excites our team at ValleyApps knowing that we helped provide that transformation.

[harrisonburgvalleyapps-blog]

Remote Learner Leverages Google Apps to Boost Collaboration and Increase Inbox Uptime

Remote Learner, based in Waynesboro, VA,  was established as a result of company founder Bryan Williams’ keen interest in education and learning methods.  Bryan has always been intrigued by how people learn.   Bryan’s vision, to ensure that technology-based learning achieved widespread adoption, began in an era of videotapes and desktop tools.  This vision for Remote Learner came to fruition in 2003 largely due to their partnership with Moodle, a Learning Management System that educators can use to create online learning sites and leverage technology’s many available tools.  Currently, Remote Learner builds custom tools on multiple platforms, manages e-learning modules, and supports Moodle’s suite of products for educational institutions, corporations, and government.  They have since expanded worldwide with offices in Virginia, Ontario, and the United Kingdom.

When ValleyApps began consulting with Remote Learner’s Chief Information Officer, Mike Churchward, we realized that their current messaging platform was troublesome and unreliable.  Zimbra just didn’t have the uptime and was costing the company greatly from lost production.  Users were spending too much extra time sending/receiving messages instead of getting stuff done.  Management saw this and looked to Mike and his team to find a better solution.  We also discovered that a few of his staff had been starting to use some of Gmail’s tools for company purposes and were familiar with Google Apps through it’s integrations with Moodle.  This led to us engaging with Mike and some of his company leaders to help them get a better understanding of how Google’s tools such as Docs, Drive and Hangouts could greatly benefit an expanding company such as Remote Learner.  Their management team decided to pull the trigger with little hesitation and tasked us with planning the transition.

“The transition was very simple, only taking about a month in total,” stated IT Director Mike Churchward. The team at Valley Apps handled most of the migration in only two weeks, which was faster than the team at Remote Learner had anticipated.  Much of the up front time was spent testing to ensure that everything would go smoothly with the transition, both technically and from an organizational perspective.  Immediately after training, MIke’s team was able to see the initial indicator of success. “People stopped complaining about mail being down,” Mr. Churchward simply remarked, “No longer were the employees stuck in their inbox waiting, they are now able to focus on their jobs and the mission of the organization.”  A few weeks later he reported that his people had started using the collaboration tools, were leveraging Hangouts and storing files in their Drive instead of their workstation or file server.  Change was welcomed and the transformation was happening rapidly.  Mike recently mentioned that just about every other Google service such as Sites & Groups were being leveraged somewhere in the daily operations of the company.  Management was extremely impressed at how productivity had increased.  Mike also was relieved that helpdesk requests were minimal now so that his team could focus more on the mission rather than troubleshooting.  We enjoyed seeing our work attributed to such a technological turn-around and helping a local business get back to doing it’s best.  Our team learned a lot from such a project and aim to carry on that same transformation to other businesses worldwide.

[harrisonburgvalleyapps-blog]

Hangouts Leveraged On-Air

Google’s hosted video conferencing solution is giving businesses capabilities that other solutions don’t.  Developers are keying in on some of the API’s Google has opened on Hangouts to give it additional features.  These features will benefit all types of organizations, helping them get their word out online using live video.  Whether it be in a Hangout “on-air”, or an internal meeting, having Google Hangouts is a major benefit of choosing Google over Microsoft in the cloud services game.  We have recently come across a couple different utilizations of Hangouts by some local organizations that are excellent examples of using the web to market themselves.  

The local baseball team just opened up a multi-million dollar park a few years ago and since their championship last year, have thrived with sponsorships and ticket sales.  This year they started using Hangouts On-Air to broadcast their games so folks could watch from home if they like.  We can see them expanding to not only away games but live broadcast of all league games in HD very soon.  Using Hangouts add-ons they display an overlay with game info for viewers.  We see potential here for advertising revenue and setting up multiple camera angles with additional cameras.  The main challenge will be wireless connections.  A wi-fi network at every park would be ideal but Verizon has lots of LTE beamed around this area so an easy Plan B exists on that front.

We have been working with a local school system that has keyed in on the capabilities of Hangouts and has plans to implement many different uses.  Principals and Administrators will be able to reach out to teachers and classrooms with live video.  Teachers will be able to organize together and collaborate on curriculum development and also broadcast lectures publicly.  This adds a new level of transparency for the system while helping them use their educational methods and skills on a larger scale.  Students will be able to get together in small groups and collaborate on class projects and homework.  Children with special needs might be better served as well.  

The power of Hangouts is starting to transform business relationships and benefit our educators in so many ways.  Many Gmail consumers haven’t realized that they have an agnostic “Facetime” application that works across multiple operating systems and devices.  But Google Apps users have been leveraging this service since it first appeared in their inbox.  ValleyApps is proud to work directly with such an innovative company as Google.

[harrisonburgvalleyapps-blog]

Trade Shows and Event Displays - Branding on a Budget

  If you have $10,000, $15,000 or even $30,000 for a custom display then there is no need for you to read the rest of this information.  If, however, one of those numbers or any portion of one of those numbers equals your marketing budget for an entire year, then this just might be the blog for you.

It always seems that trade show or vendor fairs happen all at once.  Usually everyone is issued a standard 6 or 8 ft table (unless you have the opportunity to purchase a double booth) which is generally draped in drab linens.  Sound familiar?  Making sure you stand out in a conference room or event hall full of white tables is essential.  Here are our quick, budget friendly, no fail ways to make your table POP!

1.  Replace the linens - as we mentioned, usually you are issued a table that comes with standard issue white linen.  One of the simplest things to do is to bring your own!  Skip the home goods store and head straight for the fabric store.  Look around and find one or more fabrics which match your company colors.  Don’t shy away from prints either, just make sure it doesn’t compete with your graphics.  

2.  Display your brochures/cards/and other printed material - please don’t put these directly on the table or even in the plastic holders found at any office supply store.  Think outside the box, literally, what else could you put your materials in.  Are you a florist - try varying size terra cotta pots, a restaurant - hang an apron and fill the pockets with sample menus, photography studio- how about vintage camera’s or camera cases, get the idea?  Usually a walk around any industry related aisle of a high quality hobby shop will yield loads of ideas.

3.  Pipe and Drape got you boxed in?  How about bringing your own small table to put behind your main display to add to your visual space? 

4.  Don’t clutter the table space!  Sometimes less is more.  Don’t feel the need to put everything you have ever done on the table.  Keep it to just a few well branded pieces and takeaways.

5.  Finally, invest in a good banner!  We recommend retractable banners which are easily portable and make your booth look like a million bucks.  While these might be a bit on the pricer side (expect to pay $200 - $600), they are in investment that is worth it.  After all, people need to know how the best looking booth in town belongs to!

Google Apps for Business Benefit:  Create a Trade Show/Event folder in DRIVE.  Load in your branding guidelines, photos/diagram of how to set up, any print ready copies of any collateral.  Share it with those who will be in charge of any particular event.  This will allow anyone to access it easily, even from the venue itself.

If you read the entire blog, then congratulations!  You are now qualified for a free branding for booths and Google Apps for Business pop up business lab!  We will work with you to design the best booth for your business and demo apps.  Just email kara@valleyapps.com  with “Tuesday Blog” in the subject line.  

[harrisonburgvalleyapps-blog]

Recently Google announced a new way to create and edit Google Forms.  This is just another example of Google’s constant innovation.  Instead of waiting every three years to release new features to their customers it happens every week.  This time the Docs team took an already great service and made it even better.  With the emphasis on collaboration most of us probably wondered why Forms were excluded from that scenario.  Now you can co-edit forms just like any other Google Document, Sheet, or Slide.  The forms editor used to open up in a compact window separate from your browser, now it opens another tab just like any other Google Document, Sheet, or Slide.  Along with these framework adjustments there are a couple other neat features that give us a much improved product.  Google added the capability to copy and paste a “bullet” list into the answer field.  They also added a “go to live form” button for quickly seeing your changes in production form.  One other new feature is the response sheet creation that gives the option to have reponses proliferate a totally separate spreadsheet instead the one the form is built on.  This gives teams the ability to take response data and manipulate it however necessary without disturbing the integrity of the form or it’s raw data.  It also allows for easier sharing of this data outside the form sheet.  Google has done a great job on improving this already great product.  In the demo screencast I go through creating a form, showing the new editing features and results options demonstrated.

[harrisonburgvalleyapps-blog]

Last week Google announced another offline capability for Docs and Drive.  In addition to Documents users can now create and edit Presentation Slides.  One-by-one big G is creating a total offline experience for Drive.  They have a lot of resources directed towards this functionality because the competition is a legacy software based application instead of being in the cloud.  This gives Microsoft an advantage in the disconnected world but not in the highly connected world we live and work in.   There are a couple features that aren’t available while offline but you could put together 90% of your composition and then finish up next time connectivity allows.  You lose the ability to insert images or wordart.  Being offline renders you unable to export as or import slides as well as make a copy.  There is a bit of setup involved before using Docs and Drive offline but it takes a few minutes and you are ready to work once you get on that plane or travel through data dead zones.  You must be using Google Chrome or Chrome OS to use Docs and Drive offline.  In the Demo I go through the setup for using Docs and Drive offline as well as creating and editing Documents and Presentations.

[harrisonburgvalleyapps-blog]

Google Apps has been setup for either user based routing or domain-wide routing for a few years now.  This has allowed for flexibility of routing mail during deployment scenarios such as dual-delivery and split-delivery.  Many organizations have wanted to “pilot” Google Apps for short period of time to accustom themselves to the changes and plan on re-configuration of current systems in place.  Over the past 6 months, Google has released a much more granular set of routing controls that allows for extra flexibility in working with dual-delivery and other pre-deployment scenarios.  It also allows for special routing post-deployment as well that can be controlled by admins when needed.  Recently we worked with a company that was using an email system circa 1990’s and had no retention policy in place.  After the arduous task of trying to get as much of their email data into the cloud we were able to setup forwarding so that email was delivered the same as it was before we introduced them to Google Apps.  Most of their staff are from a much older generation that aren’t able to adopt any of Google’s interfaces in such a short period of time.  One really key feature of these new routing controls is the ability to run a granular dual delivery environment and turn users “on” one-by-one.  This is important for organizations that don’t have that IT staff or support system and need that one on one deployment support.  In the following screencast I will be going through and explaining the new Google Apps mail routing controls.  Google will be taking away the old routing controls eventually so this will be important moving forward.

[harrisonburgvalleyapps-blog]

After talking to hundreds of businesses about how they collaborate with email most of them don’t and the few that do are sharing email folders in their Outlook or using a costly third-party solution.  One of the hangups for switching to Google Apps is that until recently they didn’t have a way to translate that shared email folder.  Last year Google released a new feature for Groups that allows members to collaborate on messages instead of the traditional forum style.  Not only can they read and respond to these group messages but they have management capabilities that allow for assignment of each email that comes in as well as tagging or categorizing that message.  In the screencast demo I work through setting up a Collaborative Inbox and using it at a basic level.  There are a myriad of settings changes available to Group admins that allow for different functionality changes.  This is just one of many innovations that Google brings on a weekly basis.  To learn more visit this Google help article.

[harrisonburgvalleyapps-blog]

ValleyApps Mobile Workforce Management Tools

Google introduced Google Maps Coordinate earlier this year at Google I/O.  This online service encompasses coordinating a mobile Android based workforce using smartphones and tablets.  The manager of a business works through a web interface using a Google Map to get real-time info on mobile assets.

  He or she can send work orders, view time-tracking for that order, and send/receive information on demand through a mobile app installed on the asset’s mobile device.  Workers can see a list of their jobs, and check in to show that they have started. This reduces miscommunication between the worker and dispatcher. Workers are able to minimize down time between tasks and complete a higher number of jobs per day. 

Using Google Maps Navigation, workers can easily find their way to each job.

Using their mobile device, workers can view detailed information about the job, as well as add their own notes which are immediately stored in the cloud. This eliminates paper-based workflows, duplication of work and saves teams from losing information.

The location history of each worker can be shown, which helps to make more informed decisions about how teams operate and improve the efficiency of the mobile workforce. Administrators can see all details regarding a specific job. Over time, this builds a rich database of job details, which you can reference for continual improvement.

 A custom point of interest (POI) enables you to add information to a map such as customer sites, the location of facilities, or areas to avoid. This means that workers can be accurately directed to the right place, saving time and increasing efficiencies. As more POIs are added, the learning curve is reduced for workers new to a particular area.

 When combined with Google Apps for Business, management can initiate mobile video or voice conferences and manage device security if it’s lost or stolen to protect company information.  Coordinate API's allow for customization to focus on what's most important for your business process.  

We are working with a local Verizon Wireless Sales Professional to bring you all inclusive packages.  See below for some pricing estimates.  Here is a quick introductory video to illustrate how the system works. 

Pricing Estimates: Maps Coordinate - $18/month per user Google Apps for Business - $5/month per user Verizon Mobile Smartphone - $50/month for voice & 4G Data(1GB per device) Verizon Mobile Tablet* - $20/month for 4G Data(1GB per device)

*Tablets upfront cost evens price comparison to smartphone service for first 13 months, after that you save $30+ per month **Prices are rough estimates and exclude mobile fees, taxes and additional features

[harrisonburgvalleyapps-blog]

Strengthen Your Small Business

Cloud computing isn’t the newest trend in the Information Technology field these days, it’s become the standard.  Much research is being done to determine how much benefit businesses can get from moving their IT infrastructure to the cloud.  Working with Google and Analysis Group, MIT research scientist Andrew McAfee recently conducted a study to understand the comparative costs of a business moving to the cloud versus remaining with a traditional on-premise IT system. In this comparative cost model, McAfee finds that the typical small- to medium-business (SMB) will significantly reduce its IT costs by doing away with its on-premise technology and moving to the cloud.

For example, a business with 16-100 computers can expect to save 37% by moving to the cloud – even if there’s no IT labor reduction. With savings achieved by moving to the cloud, these businesses are able to invest in areas that help expand or strengthen their business, whether it’s opening a new branch, starting a new product line, or hiring more people. Bill Hipsher, Director of Business Development at USstoragesearch.com confirms, "Over a one-year period, Google Apps cost one-quarter of what we were spending on our on-premise IT before moving to the cloud – and over our business lifetime, it drops to just one-tenth of the cost. The hardware, software and time savings helped us expand our call center, which led to the creation of more than 30 new jobs this year." In his study, McAfee also notes that SMBs' technology use is a strong indicator for the future of IT. Because SMBs are more flexible in their decision-making and aren't bogged down by legacy costs, they're able to choose an IT system that best suits their business. Thus, moving to the cloud frees up money for SMBs to drive business and job growth, and can set a precedent for how large businesses adopt cloud technology. At ValleyApps we are proud to work with SMB’s, Non-Profits, and Schools across the country to realize the benefits of moving away from their legacy IT systems.  Visit our website to learn more about how we can help you benefit from cloud computing in your organization.

[harrisonburgvalleyapps-blog]

New Chrome Shortcuts for Google Docs

The Chrome Web Store now has Apps for Google Docs, Spreadsheets, and Presentations that you can install and use when you open a new tab in Chrome.  This opens up customization options for Enterprise and gives you a faster avenue to creating and collaborating.  Chrome OS users will see these shortcut Apps by default in their Apps list when the next update is released.  Collaboration is a big deal at Google as it should be with any organization or Enterprise.  Contact the ValleyApps team today for more information on Google Apps for Business.

[harrisonburgvalleyapps-blog]

ValleyApps Deployment Team Invited to Google's Main Campus

Last week the ValleyApps deployment team visited Google’s main campus in Mountain View, California.  Nestled between San Jose and San Francisco, right down the street from Stanford University, Google’s campus is spread out over a few dozen city blocks.

  Everytime we visit it’s like experiencing a different culture.  Google invests a lot of money in providing an ideal work environment that is energy efficient, comfortable and stimulating.  We were hosted by Barry Schmell for 3 days of deployment training.  Barry invited a few of Google’s best deployment engineers to join the sessions.  This was the biggest benefit to us as we were able to share their vast experience with deploying Google Apps.  In many ways ValleyApps follows Google’s methodology but we were able to take away many additional resources and ideas to improve our practices and strategies.  Thursday & Friday were spent learning Project Management skills applying the Google deployment methodology from project start to finish.  The one big thing I took away from these additional sessions was that I need to do a better job of documentation, whether it be tracking milestones and deployment data or communicating with the client, we will do a better job of conveying our methodology and best practices.  As a Premier Google Partner we have experience with over 50 deployments of Google Apps as well as setting up other IT systems mainly focused on Cloud services for our clients.  We have teamed with Google on a few deployments and taken over where other partners have failed a couple times to get things back on track for success.  Whatever your situation, we can handle moving you to the cloud, as long as you can handle the cost savings and modern communications tools that come with Google Apps for Business.

-Andrew Royer VP/Deployment Specialist andrew@valleyapps.com

[harrisonburgvalleyapps-blog]

ValleyApps Hosts Online Google Apps Demo and Q&A

We will be hosting online Google Apps Demonstrations on October 3rd and October 10th @ 1:30pm.  This will be a 1 hour presentation of Google Apps followed by a short Q&A session.  To sign up for the Demo please click on this link.  You will receive an email confirming your attendance and containing meeting details.

[harrisonburgvalleyapps-blog]

ValleyApps Becomes A Google Apps Premier SMB Reseller

July 25, 2012 -- ValleyApps announced today that it has become a Premier SMB Reseller of the Google Apps™ suite of communication and collaboration tools.  This new designation from Google enables customers to more easily assess a reseller’s expertise advising on and deploying Google products.  ValleyApps has moved from an Authorized to a Premier Reseller based on their expertise and success in helping customers deploy and use Google Apps.   ValleyApps has helped numerous businesses and organizations realize ‘The Cloud’ using strategies that revolve primarily around Google Apps and other Google services.  As a Cloud Service Provider they are able to tailor and package services to maximize efficiency and client confidence.  “The Google Apps Reseller program has been a critical component of our business" said Mike Vanderpool, President.  "We’re pleased to be recognized as a Premier Reseller, and we look forward to continuing our work helping SMB and potentially Enterprise customers take advantage of Google Apps.”   Google Apps brings simple, powerful communication and collaboration tools to organizations of any size – all hosted by Google to streamline setup, minimize maintenance, and reduce IT costs.  With Gmail (including Google email security, powered by Postini), Google Calendar, and integrated IM, users can stay connected and work together with ease. And, using Google Docs and Google Sites, which include word processing, spreadsheet, presentation and website creation tools, they can share files and collaborate in real-time, keeping versions organized and available wherever and whenever users work. The Google Apps Reseller program includes companies globally that sell, service and customize Google Apps for Business for their customers. As a part of the Apps Reseller program, ValleyApps receives training, support and deployment tools from Google, as well as access to APIs for integrating Google Apps into their customers' business operations.   To learn more about becoming a Premier Reseller, including eligibility criteria and benefits, please visit the Google Reseller Program website: http://www.google.com/enterprise/resellers. For more information on ValleyApps please visit www.valleyapps.com  

[harrisonburgvalleyapps-blog]

Power Monitors, Inc. makes a calculated move to Google Apps for Business

Managing your business in the cloud is our business. ValleyApps, a woman owned small business, specializes in the ability to recommend, deliver and support resilient, secure, cost effective cloud-based IT applications and service packages for any size organization. As a Google Apps authorized partner, we pride ourselves in helping businesses, non-profits and schools realize the reduced costs and improved collaboration that comes with a move to the cloud.

PMI is the leading manufacturer of power quality analyzers and wireless power quality monitoring solutions for residential, commercial, retail, institutional, industrial, and substation applications. They provide a wide range of services including 24/7 technical support, industry-leading power quality training, and a robust line of power quality measurement equipment and software. With a commitment to fantastic customer service, PMI has helped electrical utilities and their customers detect, measure, and remediate power quality issues worldwide since 1986.

Ian Cherry, IT Manager, expressed a need to upgrade email capabilities for PMI from their current 2003 Exchange Server.  Ian is responsible for managing all of PMI’s IT infrastructure. “We needed to upgrade but didn’t see any cost benefit to spending over $10k plus software licensing for Microsoft Exchange”, Ian stated, “Our server’s email quota was fast approaching and Google’s 25GB email storage limit was the light at the end of the tunnel for us”.  Ian was spending over an hour a day managing spam and doing Microsoft updates and patches.   “Google offered the best solution to all our needs in one package, now I spend 7-10 hours less each week managing spam and the email server”.  PMI’s server was often down for maintenance during the workday and users complained that they weren’t able to send/receive important data.

Solution

ValleyApps started a “pilot” program with Ian and a couple executive users receiving dual-delivery of email so they could get a feel for the changes and we could adjust our roll-out strategy accordingly.  Mailbox size was the main reason an upgrade was in order and Google’s 25GB limit gave them more than 10 times the current email quota for users.  This allowed ValleyApps to easily migrate all email, contacts, and calendars.  ValleyApps provided staff with online demonstrations of Google Apps and reference documents to support their transition.  Ian was excited when we walked through the Google Apps admin console with him.  “You mean I don’t have to manage spam or updates?”, he sarcastically stated.  “For now it’s just email, contacts, and calendar.  We plan in the near future to start incorporating Docs, Sites and other services into our IT environment and I have proposed some application development as well”, he said.  Google Apps became a lifeboat in the sea of legacy IT for PMI.  With Google’s 99.99% uptime guarantee, staff hasn’t said a word about email not getting in or out.  Ian has admitted that he was skeptical at first but has grown to enjoy managing Google Apps and realizes that utilizing ValleyApps for the transition was the only route to success.

Benefits

After saving $10k + licensing fees to upgrade their Exchange server and hours of Ian’s time everyday, PMI has not only realized the financial benefits from the decision to “Go Google”.  The staff has taken the initiative and fully accepted the Google Apps method of collaboration and communication.  Before going Google, PMI never really used shared calendars.  Sharing is normal office procedure now and will only increase when Docs and Sites are turned on.  One reason their email quota was fast approaching was because users were constantly emailing attachments back and forth.  Some of these were large technical engineering documents that took up a lot of hard drive space on the mail server each time they were passed on.  Being able to store these documents and any important files in the cloud is catamount to PMI’s mission of eliminating data servers along with the mail server.  Ian’s application development ideas can be brought to life since Google is an open source advocate and even provides hosting for this development.  ValleyApps opened the door and helped PMI walk through it, now Ian and the whole staff are making their way to the cloud with Google Apps for Business providing the lift.

[harrisonburgvalleyapps-blog]

Google Transforms Docs

In the past ValleyApps has spoken to each and every client about Google Doc’s storage capabilities.  The ability to upload all your files and access them from anywhere you have the internet was a game-changer.  Now Google has integrated the Google Docs storage area with your Windows or Mac desktop.  Much like Dropbox, you install a sync client that creates a storage folder in your operating system and syncs the contents with your Google Drive online.  Google has also gone a step further and upped the capacity for free accounts to 5GB.  There are new plans for adding additional storage above the free 5GB.  Those of us that purchased storage can keep the old plan as long as we keep our account active, Wallet updated, and don’t upgrade to the new plans.   ValleyApps sees the Google Drive as another link in the Google Apps chain that will bring together offline access to files, Google Cloud Connect, and document backup.  Using Cloud Connect you can better manage your document folders since Google Drive creates a proprietary folder on your workstation.  This will minimize any changes to workflow and maximize disaster recovery abilities and mobile access to data.  Users can also update the Google Docs mobile application to Google Drive and access files and Docs from their mobile device.  Administrators have the ability to limit whether users can download and sync any devices as well as turn the service completely off like before.  We have seen that most organizations will benefit from this transformation to Google Drive.  Whether you use it as a backup strategy or Microsoft Office integration using Cloud Connect, Google Drive is another powerful tool available to everyone with a Google account.  Contact ValleyApps to learn how your organization can harness the power of the cloud using Google Apps.

[harrisonburgvalleyapps-blog]

American Frontier Culture Foundation Saves Money and Improves Reliability with Move to Managed Cloud Services from ValleyApps

Organization profile The American Frontier Culture Foundation, incorporated in 1982 as a 501(c)3 organization, was formed to raise the funds necessary to acquire, move and reassemble historic farm structures from Germany, England and Ireland to the Frontier Culture Museum of Staunton, Virginia. Today, the Foundation supports current, permanent and temporary exhibits; the acquisition and reconstruction of historic buildings; the reproduction of historic buildings and the preservation of these buildings and artifacts for the Museum. The Foundation provides the museum with educational programs, lectures, workshops, special programs and field trip organization. Business situation In 2011, after years of successful support of the Museum, the Foundation had grown to a size where they needed to procure their own IT services. The team at the Foundation, led by Administrator Fran Carrington, solicited proposals for both a traditional, hosted, legacy-based infrastructure and a cloud-based infrastructure. When they compared the costs, the cloud-based infrastructure was much less expensive, but the promise of cloud computing seemed almost too good to be true. The Foundation, as well as the Museum, had long been experiencing frustration over frequent e-mail disruptions and the constant risk of losing important files and Museum store data that was kept onsite. The Foundation wanted a solution that would provide better reliability and disaster recovery, all at a lower cost. Technical situation The Museum’s Foundation was utilizing a third party IT provider that managed and retained control over all of their hardware and software assets. They relied on Microsoft Outlook as their e-mail platform and were backing up their important files to an on site server. But unreliable systems and almost daily issues made it nearly impossible for the staff at the Foundation to accomplish their strategic goals and even as the budget for the Foundation faced cuts, the costs to their IT provider were growing increasingly expensive. Solution ValleyApps, a Google Apps authorized partner, was chosen to implement a managed cloud services (MCS) solution for the Foundation. ValleyApps provided Enterprise level, cloud based, IT services including messaging and collaboration tools through the Google Apps suite of cloud products. ValleyApps managed the set up, migration and training necessary to transition the American Frontier Culture Foundation to the cloud. Benefits Now safely and securely in the cloud, the Foundation is experiencing unparalleled reliability and zero down time since engaging ValleyApps. All files are backed up automatically and in real time so the Foundation no longer has to worry about losing valuable data. Updates are also done automatically, from the cloud, with no disruption to their daily operations. Most importantly, the Foundation has saved thousands of dollars that can now be used to support their mission. Foundation Administrator Fran Carrington puts it simply, “Now we can come in and just work!” Carrington continues, “At first it seemed too good to be true, to expect more for less, but the promise of the cloud has turned out to be a reality and we could not be happier.” Fran also appreciates the fact that she can call on ValleyApps whenever she needs assistance and they respond quickly and come on site as needed. “Some of us are more computer savvy than others and if I can’t solve an issue I am having, I know I can count on ValleyApps to help out.” Products and services used Google Apps, Jungle Disk, Logmein, Cisco, Google Cloud Connect, and Trend Micro About ValleyApps Managing your business in the cloud is our business. ValleyApps, a woman owned business, specializes in the ability to recommend, deliver and support resilient, secure, cost effective cloud based IT applications and services for any size organization. As a Google Apps authorized partner, we pride ourselves in helping businesses, non-profits and schools realize the reduced costs and improved collaboration that comes with a move to the cloud.