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gTrax Now Available Through the Google Apps Marketplace
March 10th, 2010
Sheepdog Inc. today announced it has added its gTrax application to the Google Apps Marketplace™, Google's recently launched online storefront for Google Apps™ products and services. gTrax is an integrated tool for the recording and reporting of employee time usage. Employees effortlessly log their activities right from Google Apps, thereby providing managers with the information needed for effective project management. Integration with Google Calendar™ simplifies data entry and reduces overhead.
"gTrax is a project that has been a long time in the works. It is designed to be intuitive and easy to use for managers in any industry where the tracking of employees' time is needed," says Brandon Kolybaba, company CEO. "By adding the gTrax app to the Google Apps Marketplace, we've made it extremely easy for Google Apps customers to integrate time tracking into the Google App suite. They can create projects, assign resources, and track time, thereby measuring and increasing efficiency in the workplace."
Built on Google App Engine™, gTrax installs directly to your domain for central administration. The application allows Gmail™, Outlook, and mobile users to easily access a common web-based browser directory resource and projects information.
"We are very excited to have gTrax in the Google Apps Marketplace," adds Scott McMullan, Partner Lead for Google Apps. "Through the Google Apps Marketplace, software vendors like SheepdogInc. are helping us build a rich ecosystem of integrated apps that work seamlessly with Google Apps, allowing IT administrators to leverage the benefits of cloud computing and extend Google Apps to meet more of their business needs. We are happy to offer gtrax to the millions of Google Apps users who have embraced the cloud."
The Google Apps Marketplace makes it easy for more than 2 million Google Apps customers to discover, purchase and deploy integrated business applications and related professional services. By integrating with user account and application data stored in Google Apps, these cloud applications provide a simpler user experience, increase business efficiency, and reduce administrative overhead. To learn more, visit google.com/appsmarketplace.
Google Apps brings simple, powerful communication and collaboration tools to organizations. With Google Apps, users can use applications such as Gmail™ webmail service, Google Talk™ instant messaging service, Google Calendar™ calendaring service, Google Docs™ program, Google Sites™ web application, and Google Video™ for business on their own domain to work together more effectively. Best of all, it's all hosted by Google, so there's no hardware or software to download, install or maintain.
N.S. hot location for IT firms to set up
February 12th, 2010
If you had an information technology (IT) company, why would you set up in Nova Scotia? That’s the question that may be on the minds of many people in our region in the wake of recent news of numerous companies in the knowledge-based economy choosing our province as a place to start up or expand their IT firms.
Industry experts say the IT companies are choosing Nova Scotia because of our highly-skilled workforce, many new graduates from local universities and community colleges, and our location to key markets. Another reason is the Atlantic Time zone, which allows you to do business in the same day with customers all the way from California to London, England. Yet another reason for the IT industry’s growth here is that Nova Scotia has a lot of home-grown talent and fosters a keen entrepreneurial spirit.
SheepDog Inc. is a great example of a locally-born company that has been rewarded for their innovation, talent and perseverance. Its founder, Shawn Wilkie, after seeing the potential in the developing trend of cloud computing — globally offering Software as a Service (SaaS) on virtual computing resources provided over the Internet — reached out to no less than Google itself.
After being initially turned down he was asked to be part of a test project with Google as one of 30 other resellers. Now, two years later, SheepDog is the first certified Google Apps partner in Canada.
Read the original news article as published by The Chronicle Herald on February 8, 2010.
Sheepdog participating in the Developer Sandbox @ Google I/O
February 3rd, 2010
Sheepdog Inc. is attending this year's Google I/O, Google's annual developer conference, on May 19-20 in San Francisco. Members of the Sheepdog engineering team will participate in the Developer Sandbox where over 150 companies will be on-hand to demo their use of Google technologies, answer questions, and exchange ideas with other developers.
Sheepdog will demo Gtrax, an application that is built on Google App Engine with Google Web Toolkit (GWT). The application tightly integrates with Google Apps APIs and fully integrates with OpenID, MVP design pattern, command design pattern, and DI design pattern.
To learn more about and register for Google I/O, visit code.google.com/io
Companies to Watch
November 30th, 2009
Halifax-based Sheepdog Inc. is Canada's only authorized provider of Google AppsTM and has recently been approved for enterprise-level applications.
Google Apps are part of the global Cloud Computing marketplace - offering Software as a Service (SaaS) on virtual computing resources over the internet. SheepDog offers complete deployment, training and support for the environmentally friendly Google Apps suite of products.
Companies migrating to Google Apps save money, increase productivity and – by reducing infrastructure – decrease their carbon footprint. Google is a renewable energy leader, and boasts of "the world's most efficient data centers". Sheepdog's website itself is powered on Norex Web servers that are powered by renewable energy.
Original article published by Foreign Affairs and Internal Trade Canada on November 30, 2009.
Google Enterprise Apps – a first look
By Steven Robert for State of the Emerging CIO
November 9th, 2009
I attended my first Google event last week at Google’s Ann Arbor, MI office. The event was titled “ready for the cloud?” referencing today’s IT organizations are in the midst of a cloud computing revolution, as a growing number of businesses choose hosted messaging and collaboration solutions — such as Google Apps — to help employees collaborate more effectively while saving significantly on IT costs. [...]
Speakers included two Google employees from the Enterprise division and one of their Enterprise partners, Sheepdog inc. [...] In summary, the session was good. Clearly, there is some tremendous potential for SaaS/PaaS and the Cloud in general. I personally am excited about the space and the opportunity it presents. Like some, I do see “cloud” as evolutionary vs. revolutionary, but it does challenge you to think differently. If you’re part of an emerging organization already leveraging SOA, SAN, GRID, and virtualization – the cloud becomes a no brainer. If you’re not familiar with the technologies leading up to the cloud, you have a serious homework assignment. There is a watershed event taking place around us and you owe it to yourself to become versed in this [arguably] new ecosystem.
Read the original blog post as published by State of the Emerging CIO on November 9, 2009.
New Charter Member Sheepdoginc.ca in Toronto
By Stacey for Nova Scotia Come To Life
October 19, 2009
The sesssion is scheduled just weeks after Canada's only Google Apps provider announced expansion plans with the support of a payroll rebate from the province.
Nova Scotia Business Inc. and SheepDogInc.ca have signed an agreement worth up to 700-thousand dollars to create up to 60 jobs over the next five years.
Premier Darrell Dexter says SheepDog is creating the type of opportunities needed for our young and talented professionals. SheepDogInc.ca president Shawn Wilke says the province's support, through NSBI, will help the company remain business focused as they work with Google in the future.
NSBI president and CEO Stephen Lund says SheepDog is a great example of how technology, talent and a little risk-taking can drive a business to success.
SheepDog is a new charter member of Nova Scotia Come to life. President Shawn Wilke signed the charter document with Premier Darrell Dexter at a ceremony in Halifax.
Event details:
Are you ready for the Cloud?
Today's IT organizations are in the midst of a cloud computing revolution, as growing numbers of businesses are choosing hosted messaging and collaboration solutions -- such as Google Apps -- to help their employees work more effectively while saving significantly on IT costs.
The cloud computing model is secure, efficient and practical for businesses of all sizes. Wondering whether your organization is ready? Join Google and Sheep Dog for an informative seminar on Google Apps, Google's cloud-based suite of messaging and collaboration applications. At the event, you'll learn:
- What cloud computing means for your business, and how you can benefit
- Why companies have chosen to make the transition to Google Apps
- How to get started with Google's cloud computing solutions
When:
Wednesday, November 4
9:00 am - 11:30 am
Where:
Google Toronto
Toronto Life Square
10 Dundas Street East, Suite 600
Toronto, ON M5B 2G9
RSVP today:
Visit http://tinyurl.com/googletoronto to register.
Space is limited so please RSVP early.
Read the original news article as published by Nova Scotia Come To Life on October 19, 2009.
Web service firm plans to hire 60 people
By BILL POWER Business Reporter for The Chronicle Herald
October 16, 2009
Halifax company with Google Apps link to get $700,000 payroll rebate
SheepDogInc.ca, a Halifax company offering web services, plans to hire at least 60 people under a five-year, $700,000 provincial payroll-rebate program announced Thursday.
However, company president Shawn Wilkie said this will be just the tip of the iceberg for the information technology startup company, which was just approved as a certified Google Apps partner in Canada.
"We know rapid growth will be necessary to take advantage of the many opportunities that have arisen as a result of this relationship with Google," Mr. Wilkie said in an interview.
The company negotiated the provincial payroll rebate with Nova Scotia Business Inc. SheepDog said it is rapidly expanding and hired five more people last week.
"Rapid growth can be a risk for any business," Mr. Wilkie said. "In our case, we’ve planned for this from the outset."
He said the company, operating out of Bayers Lake Business Park, has an aggressive plan to establish itself as a key service provider for Google Apps within the rapidly evolving cloud computing marketplace.
Clouds provide many standard information technology services for a variety of users from remote locations. Google has about 50 reselling partners like SheepDog around the world for its package of business applications that can provide email, calendaring, word processing and spreadsheet services.
There are supposed to be cost savings in computer hardware, software and maintenance for businesses, institutions and government users who use cloud computing. SheepDog is looking for people with backgrounds in cloud computing or in related information technology fields to keep up with a growing roster of clients in Canada and abroad who are turning to remote services as in-house systems mature or become outdated.
Premier Darrell Dexter announced the payroll rebate for SheepDog during a speech to the Empire Club of Canada in Toronto. The rebate is available for five years, has a $700,000 cap and would cover a maximum of 70 people.
Mr. Wilkie was a student at St. Francis Xavier University in Antigonish when he started StudentComputers.ca, a successful computer sales and service business. He said he connected with Google while attending a development conference in San Francisco.
"We know rapid growth will be necessary to take advantage of the many opportunities that have arisen as a result of this relationship with Google," says Shawn Wilke.
Read the original news release as published by The Chronicle Herald on October 16, 2009.
Nova Scotia-based SheepDogInc.ca Set for Growth with Google
By Nova Scotia Business Inc.
October 15, 2009
With an increased demand in services, the company plans to create up to 60 new jobs in Halifax over five years. As the company expands, the province, through Nova Scotia Business Inc. (NSBI), is supporting the company with a five-year payroll rebate for a maximum of $700,000.
Premier Darrell Dexter made the announcement in Toronto today, Oct. 15, before delivering a keynote address to the Empire Club of Canada. SheepDogInc.ca president Shawn Wilke, chief technical officer Brandon Kolybaba, Google's North America channel manager Pat Spears, and NSBI president and CEO Stephen Lund were in attendance.
"I'm proud to support this innovative and competitive company that truly demonstrates Nova Scotia's great entrepreneurial spirit," said Premier Dexter. "SheepDog is creating exactly the type of opportunities needed for our young and talented professionals to live and work in Nova Scotia."
SheepDogInc.ca plans to establish itself as a key service provider for Google Apps, within the global Cloud Computing marketplace. Cloud Computing is a concept of globally offering Software as a Service (SaaS) on virtual computing resources provided over the internet.
"Partnering with Google and now having the province's support will enable us to remain business focused." said Mr. Wilke, "As our customer market expands, we are working collaboratively with Google to remain competitive and serve the needs of our clients."
The company has clients worldwide and the list is growing, as businesses recognize the technical benefits and cost-saving solutions the applications offer.
"Strong partnerships are key to our success," said Ms. Spears. "We're excited to be working with a Nova Scotia company like SheepDog -- a company that provides value to our business and continues to deliver positive results."
Many businesses, universities and governments are switching to Google Apps like Gmail and realizing significant cost savings in computer hardware, software and maintenance.
"This is a great example of how technology, talent and a little risk-taking can drive a business to success," said Stephen Lund, president and CEO, NSBI. "SheepDog's perseverance captured the attention of one of the most successful companies in the world and we want to see more companies like this in Nova Scotia."
SheepDogInc.ca is not only a Google Apps Authorized Reseller, it also understands what today's business consumers require to maximize business productivity. SheepDogInc.ca offers complete deployment, training and support for the Google AppsTM suite of products. The SheepDogInc.ca team is knowledgeable, friendly, and professional.
Nova Scotia Business Inc. is Nova Scotia's private-sector-led business development agency. NSBI is the investment-attraction arm of the province and helps businesses in Nova Scotia meet growth potential through advisory services, trade development, financing and venture capital. Go to www.novascotiabusiness.com for more details.
Read the original news release as published by Nova Scotia Business Inc. on October 15, 2009.
Read the re-posted article as published by Sourcews on Ocyober 15, 2009.
Read the re-posted article as published by Progress Media on Ocyober 15, 2009.
Sheepdog opens second location
Posted by admin on October 2, 2009
Sheepdog Inc. has taken another leap forward in its continued expansion by opening a second location in Santa Monica, California. In order to serve our growing client base, we’re pleased to announce we’ve taken the necessary steps to accommodate sales and support in our new US office. We’re excited to have Farlan Dowell as manager of the new location.
Sheepdog Inc.
1453 3rd Street Promenade, Suite 305
Santa Monica, CA
90401 USA
Tel: 1 (310) 499-1964
Silver linings
Posted by admin on September 28, 2009
Based on a cloud-computing model, the Enterprise Applications allows companies to shift emphasis from static stand-alone applications to shared environments accessed via the Internet anytime, anywhere. "Since I've been using PCs, this is literally the biggest thing I've ever seen," says Wilke. "People talk about the old, dumb terminal–the green screens. They were nothing more than a monitor and a keyboard. And that's what's happening with cloud-computing, but on a much more secure and intense level.
"All of your information–your photos, email, music, videos, and applications–is being taken off your computer and put up on the Internet, managed by data-security experts. They have 17 copies of your data in multiple places around the world. So unless a nuclear bomb goes off and destroys the world, your data is safe and can be accessed at any time."
Seven years ago Wilke was a recent St. Francis Xavier University grad working in the IT industry in Fort McMurray, Alta. (he calls it "Fort McMoney"), when he moved back to Antigonish to start his own company, Studentcomputers.ca. Now boasting nine full-time employees, the company sells Macs and other computer products at a student discount. It also sells technology solutions for small and medium-size organizations.
Lately Wilke has been spending more and more time in Halifax, where his new company, Sheep Dog Inc.–as in "information's best friend"–is located. "I kind of miss Antigonish," he says. "I'm part of the community down there; I'm a volunteer firefighter. I think the saddest thing in this new venture is that I'm not going to get to fight fires any more. I like the adrenaline rush. And there's a comparison to business there as well–the highs and the lows. I love it."
In a sense, Sheep Dog was born out of Wilke's work in Antigonish, where he was dealing with customers having problems with email spam and viruses. The best solution he could find was Google's free Gmail service. Then he started hearing about the company's apps for small business. It was a new product segment that didn't exist before," says Wilke. "I started trying to get hold of Google but it was impossible."
Eventually he signed up and paid for the product, then called the support number with this message: "I know that this is the wrong number. I know this is not the typical request. But I want to partner with you guys. I've been using Gmail since it came out. I've been deploying it for my customers. I'm very excited about the product."
That could have been the end of it but Wilke kept hounding Google. "I had the phone number now and kept calling back and calling back," he says. "Finally someone called me back from their enterprise division and said, 'We know that you've been aggressive with calling. We're interested in chatting with you. Can we set up an appointment?'"
Wilke has been back to San Franssisco several times since that first trip a year ago, and Sheep Dog is now the only authorized Google Apps reseller in Canada, and one of about only 30 worldwide. The company, which has a dozen people working in a tight noisy space in Halifax's Bayers Lake Industrial Park, has closely aligned itself with Google. "We're an extension of their reach, so we work with them very collaboratively," says Wilke. "It's a really interesting situation. They've been absolutely phenominal to work with."
Wilke says that on a single day recently Sheep Dog did $25,000 in sales; he hopes to be doing $500,000 a quarter by the end of the year. The company, which has clients in the Northwest Territories, California, Chicago, and China, recently signed a deal with a university in London, England. Wilke can control clients' computers remotely from pretty much anywhere in the world. "I just spent a month in Honduras on the beach with my computer, working," he says. "I have voice and video chat. I can be in my office even if I'm not in my office. I have a 1-800 VOIP phone number that rings on my computer. Nobody knows where I am half the time."
In an industry that is evolving as quickly as new ideas are hatched, is Wilke worried that someone will come up with a better product? "Not at all; it's Google," he says. "It's efficient, it's quick, it always works, it's never broken. For instance, there are 45 million Gmail users right now, and if anyone gets a spam message, they click on Report Spam. That message goes back through Google's computer network and blocks that same spam message for every other Gmail user and Google Apps user worldwide. You've got 45 million humans fighting spam on a second-by-second basis. Nobody else can compete with that."
The aggressive gamble Wilke made a year ago appears to be paying off big time. "Yeah," he says. "When I doubled down, I did all right."
Read the original news article as published by Chris Lambie of Progress Magazine (Volume 16 Number 05).
Microsoft Puts Web-Based Office Apps into Beta
Posted by admin on September 22, 2009
The question remains though whether the Web versions of these products will impact sales of Office 2010 for partners as customers see the cost-savings associated with cloud versions of this software.
In a telling move that indicates the momentum of cloud computing, Microsoft this week placed into technical preview its forthcoming Web versions of its juggernaut Office suite.
Originally announced at Microsoft’s Worldwide Partner Conference in July, the now officially dubbed Office Web Apps are lightweight versions of their on-premises counterparts. The technical preview program will provide access to Word Web App, Excel Web App and PowerPoint Web App to a limited number of testers called upon to provide suggestions and feedback to Microsoft. The official release of Office Web Apps, which will eventually also include the OneNote Web App, is expected in the first half of next year.
From a channel perspective, Microsoft has not yet offered up a reseller model, nor pricing for the online suite. Office 2010, the desktop version, is expected out next year as well, and Microsoft executives have said that they expect Office Web Apps to be a complement to the more robust desktop version—not, obviously, an either/or. The question remains though whether the Web versions of these products will impact sales of Office 2010 for partners as customers see the cost savings associated with cloud versions of this software.
Microsoft is feeling pressured to take its fabled productivity applications into the cloud, given the momentum around Google Apps and other cloud-based business software offerings, according to Shawn Wilke, president of Sheepdog, a Nova Scotia-based reseller and Google Apps partner.
“It’s not just Microsoft feeling this pressure, but all the traditional software vendors from SAP to Sage,” Wilke said.
In fact, business software mainstay Sage this week announced that it is piloting a cloud version of its Sage SalesLogix CRM suite. There are also smaller players such as Box.net that are offering Office-like productivity applications in the cloud as well.
Microsoft is in a bit of a Catch-22 situation: Go for the cloud all the way and undercut your bread-and-butter revenue stream or go at it partially and it’s hard to compete, Wilke added.
“If they are competitive with Google, they start to cut off all of their revenue for on-premises solutions,” he said. “It undermines their whole business model.”
Microsoft is positioning this play as all about customer choice and flexibility to access Office applications from whatever device they are on or wherever they are working. Office Web Apps will be available in three different ways:
- Windows Live customers will have access via Windows Live SkyDrive.
- Office 2010 volume licensing is available for business customers, hosted with Microsoft SharePoint Server on-premises. Today, these include more than 90 million Microsoft Office annuity customers.
- Businesses will also have access to Office Web Apps through Microsoft Online Services.
Read the original blog as published by Channel Insider Blog on September 18, 2009.
Selling Google Apps: One Partner's Story
Posted by admin on September 18, 2009
Many solution providers are unsure if there is real opportunity to be had in partnering with Google. The answer is yes. But the ones who will benefit most from the relationship appear will be those willing to make the greatest overall commitment.
Just ask Shawn Wilke, president of Sheepdog Inc., a Nova Scotia-based company that exclusively resells and implements Google Apps. Wilke, who launched the company in January, was one of the original beta testers of the Google Apps suite in 2008. In nine months, Sheepdog has gone from two original employees to 10 and is on target for revenues of $500,000 this year with $2.6 million projected for next year. Those numbers includes the margins Google provides for reselling Google Apps combined with a host of professional services that Sheepdog wraps in and around the suite.
Much of the business has come from enterprises and educational institutions migrating email systems off of Exchange and Lotus Notes, he said. But he's also seen rising uptick among customers looking to switch away from Microsoft Office.
The Office migration is less robust than email, with Wilke fully acknowledging that Google Apps are not yet an equal to Office in functionality. But simplicity is actually the point, he said.
"The neat thing is that blows Microsoft away is that Google put the collaboration tools right into the applications so, for example, users can collaborate around one spreadsheet," he explained. "Sharepoint, by comparison, is not simple. You need a course."
He acknowledges that the partner program is in its infancy, but for solution providers willing to commit while kinks are worked out the pay-off is there.
"For partners like us, Google is pouring all kinds of resources and opportunities," he said. "I don't think that will be for everybody out there, but we are all in."
All in translates into getting three Google executives to support you during a customer sales call, he added. That level of touch won't be sustainable if Google decides to blow out its partner ecosystem into thousands beyond their current 400 Google Apps resellers. But Wilke said from what he has seen that shouldn't be a problem. Google has been highly selective in choosing partners and unlikely, he believes, to go for high volume.
For Wilke, the relationship's working. How about you? Have you considered partnering with Google and whether your business is a good fit?
Read the original blog as published by Channel Insider Blog on September 14, 2009.
Local firm shows aptitude for Apps
By BRUCE ERSKINE, Business Reporter for The Chronicle-Herald
June 19, 2009
“It’s been a whirlwind,” said the co-founder of SheepDog Inc. in an interview from his Halifax office on Thursday.
SheepDog is the sole authorized Canadian reselling partner — one of only 50 in the world — for Google’s Apps package for business.
Shawn Wilkie, founder and CEO of SheepDog Inc., speaks with programmer David Wolfe on Thursday through the use of a Google application in the company’s Bayers Lake office.
“You can have your entire office with you as long as you have the Internet,” he said of Google Apps, which he characterized as Microsoft Office replacement that provides email, calendaring, document, word processing and spreadsheet services in a unique way.
“It’s all online,” he said, which means that users don’t have to buy, install and update related software on their computers.
“You do it all on an Internet webpage rather than in your computer,” he said. “The need for data backup or an IT person is out the window.”
Mr. Wilkie, 28, was a student at St. Francis Xavier University when he started his own retail computer sales and services business, StudentComputers.ca, in Antigonish in 2002.
Looking for new business opportunities a few years ago, he decided to contact Google after seeing the potential of the California-based IT giant’s Gmail service, which he recommended to his customers.
“It worked all the time,” he explained.
Trying to reach Google from Antigonish proved somewhat difficult, so Mr. Wilkie flew to a Google development conference in San Francisco about a year ago where he happened upon a session devoted to Google Apps.
“I had no contacts, nothing,” he said. But he managed to hook up with Jeff Ragusa, head of Google Enterprise and discussed working as a partner with the IT company in Canada.
On returning to Nova Scotia, Mr. Wilkie formed SheepDog with Brandon Kolybaba, co-founder of Norex, a Halifax web development company. The idea was to capitalize on the potential of working with Google, which asked Mr. Wilkie to be part of a pilot project selling Google Apps to businesses.
“I said, ‘This is a massive opportunity and I have to do something,’” said Mr. Wilkie. “This is the biggest, most powerful IT company in the world.”
The potential of that opportunity has been more than realized, he said.
“We do business all over,” he said, adding that while SheepDog is Google’s exclusive Canadian partner, it does business both locally and internationally, with much of it coming from the U.S.
“It’s going fantastic,” he said, noting that SheepDog started with two employees six months ago and is now interviewing for a tenth staffer. “One day we had $20,000 in sales.”
Mr. Wilkie, who has travelled to California four times in the past year, said he is looking at opening a Los Angeles office, and wants to make Sheepdog a global leader in computing on the Internet.
“Our role is to guide consumers,” he said, much like the company’s namesake guides and protects its flock.
Google spokeswoman Aviva Gilbert said the partnership with SheepDog has worked out well.
“We’re results focused, and they’ve had great results,” she said in an interview from the company’s California headquarters on Thursday.
“We’re really happy to support them.”
Google Wave: What Email Might Look Like If It Were Invented Today
Posted by admin on June 12, 2009
A couple of weeks ago at the Google I/O Developer Conference, Google announced a new communication platform called Google Wave. (You can see the presentation here). The development of Google Wave began in 2007 by the guys who brought the world Google Maps, and they set out to answer the question: “What would email look like if we set out to invent it today?”
In answering the question, the team re-imagined email and instant-messaging in a connected world, a world in which messages no longer need to be sent from one place to another, but could become a conversation in the cloud. Effectively, a message (a wave) is a shared communications space with elements drawn from email, instant messaging, social networking, and even wikis.
Google Wave is a revolutionary product that:
- removes the division between different types of communication — email versus chat, or conversations versus documents
- is a single communications model that spans all or most of the systems in use on the web today, in one smooth continuum
- is a communications system that takes advantage of computers’ current abilities, rather than imitating non-electronic forms
Let’s say I want to communicate with someone. I start a wave, just as I might start an email message. What is very different about waves though, is their wiki style editing, drag and drop contacts, the ability to drag and drop pictures and other attachments right into the message and the ability to embed the wave in blog posts and other pages. These features are just the tip of the iceberg, but they are the immediate benefits and capabilities of this application. The wiki style editing allows others to make inline comments anywhere in the message and the users can see the words as they type them. It is real-time communication in its simplest form. Another great feature is the “playback mode” where any user can playback the entire wave in case any part of the discussion was missed. It is very hard to explain what Google Wave is and what it can do because its such an interesting re-imagination of the way we communicate via the web. It really needs to be seen to truly understand its implications.
What is truly remarkable about this application is that Google is going to make it open source and let the developer community work with it. This openness will foster innovation and expand the possibilities of this application.
The implications of Google Wave on business, education and collaboration could be limitless. There is a whole bunch of hype and a lot to live up to for Google Wave. Google has a very good track record so one has to assume that in many ways Google Wave will deliver. Of course, the first realease will be buggy and probably not have all the features just yet but that will be covered up by the beta tag that is sure to live under the Google Wave logo, at least until the business community wants in on it.
Learn More About Google Wave: http://wave.google.com
Google Apps: A Safe Place to Store Your Data
Posted by admin on March 19, 2009
What is the safest place to store your data — your hard drive or the cloud?
“It all depends on what you define as safe,” says Anil Somayaji, an associate professor at Carleton University who specializes in computer security.
Typically, people consider three things, he says:
1. Confidentiality: Making sure your private information stays private.
2. Integrity: Making sure your data isn’t damaged.
3. Availability: Making sure your data isn’t lost.
“You have to define security and safety and all those things in those terms,” Somayaji says. “Are you worried about your house catching on fire and losing your data, or are you worried about someone going and deleting it?” For most people, Somayaji says, the highest priority is making sure that their data doesn’t get corrupted and that they always have access to it.
For those purposes, he recommends storage in multiple physical locations, including the internet.
Cloud computing — also called “software as a service” or Web 2.0 — has been around for a long time, but its reach has been expanding as access to broadband internet and mobile devices becomes more ubiquitous. GoogleTM is one company offering a variety of cloud computing services that allow people to manage and store emails, blogs, spreadsheets and photos online, among other things.
Eran Feigenbaum, Google’s director of security, says he was reminded first-hand about the benefits of using such services when his laptop got stolen about a year ago. “Because all my data was in my cloud, I wasn’t worried about the thieves seeing the data, and the next day I was up and running.”
Read the original news article as published on March 18, 2009 by Emily Chung (CBC News).
America’s CIO Gushes Over Google Apps!
Posted by admin on March 6, 2009
New information about 34-year-old Vivek Kundra, named by U.S. President Barack Obama as “America’s CIO,” is already starting to emerge. For one thing Vivek, who will have budgetary authority over one of the biggest IT spends in the world, is an ecstatic fan of GoogleTM technology.
Check out this four-and-a-half minute YouTube clip from last September in which Vivek — along with several other high-level Washington DC figures — positively gush over Google AppsTM and Google Earth.
Read the original news article as published by The Business Insider on March 5, 2009.
Sheepdog keeps its eye on the market
Google partner sees strong SMB
demand for Google Apps worldwide
By MAXINE CHEUNG, Computer Dealer News
February 6, 2009
Although in existence for only six-months, Sheepdoginc.ca, a software-as-a-services (SaaS) consulting and services company based in Antigonish, N.S. has already deployed Google solutions to a couple thousand users.
Shawn Wilke, vice-president of operations for Sheepdog, said the company was created as a joint venture that grew out of his other company, Studentcomputers.ca, a managed services provider, along with his friend, Brandon Kolybaba or Norex, a Web development company.
Both companies are located in Nova Scotia and are still in business, but any Google projects are now being handled by Sheepdog.
Wilke says his company was a Google partner even before Sheepdog was formed, but due to increasing customer demands and projects, he saw the need to further expand the business.
“Customer demand (for Google Apps) was making it too busy for Studentcomputers and it was taxing on our technical support (staff),” Wilke said. “We had a lot of customers we were dealing with and we wanted to focus on our Google (accounts) as more of a Saas consulting business, so Sheepdog was born.”
In addition to its own office in Antigonish, Sheepdog also has office space in both Studentcomputers and Norex’s offices. This is helpful because with a current staff of three employees, the company sometimes uses Studentcomputers and Norex’s 30 or so employees too, he added.
Wilke said he hopes to hire at least 10 more people for Sheepdog in the coming months because the demand for services is already there.
The company does business around the world, with most of its business coming out of the U.S., Wilke said.
