Google Rolls Out Updates to Docs, Sites

Preview your docs in thumbnails, upload up to 1GB of files at a time, and other updates enhance your experience when using Docs and Sites.

On their blog earlier this week Google announced some exciting new features in Google Docs and Google Sites. New features released to both platforms are aimed at improving the overall user experience.

Updates to Docs:

• Users may now choose to view their documents in the standard detail list, or in a thumbnail view that lets the user preview the document before opening it.
• The document search function now includes spelling suggestions; this works just like the spelling corrections in Google Search. When you enter a misspelled word in the search box, Docs will prompt you with a different spelling.
  
• Upload documents up to 1GB in size. This is an increase from the current 250MB limit.

These updates affect all editions of Google Docs, including Standard, Premier, Education, Team and Partner Editions.

To access the new features:

• Thumbnail view can be opened by clicking the new thumbnail icon located in the view options at the top right of the documents list panel.
  
• Google Docs search automatically offers a suggestion for the correct spelling of a word if you make a mistake entering it into the search field.
  
• Any document that is not being converted to a Google Doc has a file size limit of 1GB.

For more information about new features in docs, visit Google's Docs blog: http://googledocs.blogspot.com/2010/01/thumbnail-is-worth-about-one-hundred.html

Updates to the Sites API:

• Copy sites and site templates using the site feed. It also now allows you to list, update, and create sites.
• Permissions can now be managed through the Access Control List (ACL). This means that sharing settings can be configured through the API.

To take advantage of updates to the API update the code at http://code.google.com/apis/sites.

For more information about new features in Sites, visit Google's Sites blog: http://googlecode.blogspot.com/2010/01/create-and-share-google-sites-with-new.html

For more information on getting started with Google Apps, please click here or call 866-997-0000, option 3.

Your customers are evolving. Are you evolving with them?

Considering how fast everything is evolving these days this question itself can be daunting to ponder. This is where Zumgi comes in.

Zumgi specializes in:

• Identifying Discovery
• Positioning
• Firm-level Analysis
• Industry-level Analysis and
• Integrative Strategies.

Ginger Numeta of Zumgi covers topics ranging from Cloud Computing to non-verbal communication and the implied social cues to social networking as discussed by the Harvard Business Review.

Zumgi's most recent post, "Pssst. The 'Cloud' matters. Especially if you are not in IT" discusses business strategy in terms of Cloud computing and interviewed, none other than, the CEO of SADA Systems, Tony Safoian.

They discuss the future of how the Internet will become a utility simultaneously outlining a quick internal analysis executives can conduct to better gauge if they have what it takes to remain competitive in today's market. This latest post like the rest of Zumgi's material is a must read.

If you are still pondering the answer to "Your customers are evolving, are you evolving with them?" You can learn more on how to keep pace whether it's regarding the strategic implications of the Cloud outside of the IT world or other issues concerning your business by following these thought leaders on twitter at:

Tony Safoian - @Safoian
SADA Systems, Inc. - @SADASystems

Zumgi - @ZUMGI
Ginger Zumaeta - @gztweets

Go Managed Get Cloud For Free!

We have all heard the Gartner Quotes "80% of all money spent on IT is just for 'keeping the light on' and adds no value." Some have seen the light and jumped into the Cloud, others are still on the ground and reading this quote.

This is an opportunity to jump if you haven't already. When you elect to have your systems managed by SADA, we'll not only migrate you to The Cloud, but we'll include the Cloud Based services at no additional cost!

You get to choose Microsoft Online Services or Google Apps.

This limited time offer is good for projects of 25 users or more. What does this mean for you? Well, if you have 50 users this proposition on average is worth $17,000/year in savings to you.

Can you afford to stay on the ground?

IT is the driving force that drives your competitive edge, or it can be the hurddle in the way of your business objectives. We specialize in helping our clients clear that hurdle and through February if you go managed you will get the Cloud for free.

IT is that simple.

Contact us today and we will not only manage your services and migrate you to The Cloud, but we will include the Cloud Based services at no additional cost!

Call us at 866-977-0000 ext 1067

OR

Fill out the form at the bottom of this page and we will be in touch shortly.

See you in the Clouds!

King Abdullah University of Science and Technology:

Google Apps and Microsoft Exchange -Partial Migration and Coexistence Success Story

One of the first 10 Google Apps for Enterprise partners worldwide and initial contributor to the Google Apps Open Source provisioning tool kit, SADA Systems, Inc., has developed a proven track record in successful implementations of Google Apps solutions for the higher education market. We at SADA work closely with our clients to create custom, leading edge solutions that strategically meet their business and institutional objectives.

SADA has also worked hard to earn and maintain our distinction as a Microsoft Gold Certified partner since 2003. As a Microsoft Gold Certified partner, SADA has helped numerous businesses, from SMBs to enterprise, deploy leading Microsoft solutions in their organizations. SADA stays current with Microsoft products and licenses to ensure that our clients have the best possible solutions for their business.

Jumping oceans, bridging the cultural divide, and working to advance the Cloud frontier, this is how we do IT. This was the opportunity at hand for SADA; to help implement the systems that would advance collaboration for the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology in Saudi Arabia (KAUST).

KAUST officially opened in September of 2009. It's opening represented the culmination of a decades long vision of King Abdullah Abdullah Bin Abdulaziz Al Saud to create an international community of scholars dedicated to advanced science. KAUST is a graduate-level research university dedicated to pursuing research focused in four key areas:

• Resources, Energy and Environment
• Biosciences and Bioengineering
• Materials Science and Engineering
• Applied Mathematics and Computational Science

Challenges:

KAUST did not initially have an email hosting infrastructure in place. To
address this KAUST had set up Google Apps, which was in place at the start of
the project. After their datacenter was built, Exchange 2007 servers were
deployed. As a result staff accounts needed to be moved to Exchange, while
student accounts needed to remain in Google Apps.

The new datacenter infrastructure included both Exchange and Active Directory,
so faculty and staff user accounts needed to be integrated into the solution. KAUST policy required MX record to point to Exchange. In order to allow two email systems to co-exist, dual delivery had to be configured on Exchange.

With less than a month till the official opening, the changeover of the MX
record could not allow for any of the vast quantities of important high-level
emails being exchanged to go missing.

Lastly, KAUST presented us with the following requirements:

• Every account that was created in Google must exist in Exchange.
• Every email sent to the domain must get delivered to both Exchange users as well as Google Apps users.
• Emails sent to distribution lists must reach intended recipients.
• Exchange users needed to be notified of their login credentials.

Solution:

Given the number of challenges the SADA Team faced on this particular project our Senior Solutions and Systems Engineers took the following steps to ensure both quality of timely service and successful implementation:

• Utilized Google's GDATA API and PowerShell scripts to ensure that all
  of the existing Google Apps accounts were created in Active Directory,
• Incorporated PowerShell to create mailboxes for Staff and mail-enabled
  accounts for Students,
• Provided external SMTP addresses that pointed Mail-enabled Student accounts to Google,
• Applied custom script for the contact cards we created for KAUST faculty and staff in order to set up forwarding to these cards. Hence Exchange contact cards created in this way were given external SMTP addresses that also pointed to Google,
• Calibrated the GDATA API to retrieve the list of Google groups, its members, and permissions in conjunction with PowerShell to create distribution groups in Active Directory, contacts for external recipients, and to add members,
• Collaborated worked with KAUST to create a catch-all mailbox to capture any messages sent to email addresses that don't exist in Exchange. This checks and balance allowed us to catch any account we might have overlooked when setting up Active Directory, *After reviewing messages captured in the catch-all account, we discovered that several Google users had nicknames that needed to be added to their Exchange account as additional email addresses,
• Configured the SPF record to include both Google and Exchange,
• Post completing the MX crossover, an issue with delivery receipts was discovered. Based on recommendations in a Microsoft blog post, we implemented a new transport agent, which resolved the issue,
• Implemented dynamic distribution groups to mimic permissions available in Google groups,
• Removed authentication requirement to allow external users to send to distribution lists,
• Automated the manual account creation and activation of dual delivery in Active Directory for new Staff and Students via PowerShell scripts given the time intensive set-up, and...
• Generated random passwords for all faculty and staff user which then automatically reset the user's password and sent an email to the user with their new Active Directory password via a Powershell script.

Result...

With SADA's assistance and the implementation of best-of-breed utilities for the deployment of Microsoft Exchange with dual delivery to Google Apps, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology was able to smoothly and effectively implement Microsoft Exchange accounts for their faculty and staff, while maintaining Google Apps accounts for their students. SADA was able to meet the needs and satisfy the requirements of KAUST in a timely manner, that allowed the university to open with their fully functioning email plan in place.

Send Huge Files, but Don't Use Email

The Problem
The age of limiting file attachment sizes to 5MB or 10MB may be coming to an end. As of June of 2009, Gmail now allows file attachments of up to 25MB. This gives users of Gmail, and other services with similar high limits on email attachments, a great deal of freedom when attaching files of any type. Just because the freedom is available, does not mean it should be exercised. Email may not be the ideal solution for sending someone a large file.

Consider that MIME encoding is used when sending binary attachments. This causes files to expand up to 33%. This means a 15MB attachment may require up to 20MB or more. File expansion increases even further the more recipients to whom the message is copied. This tendency of file sizes to expand when sent through email ultimately means the best solution may be to upload large files to a single location. An ideal upload location would be secure, and allow users to easily download your files.

The Solution
SADA Systems, Inc. offers one such solution to the problem of sending large files. SADA's solution is Send IT Global, a cloud-based file transfer service. Send IT Global meets the requirements for sending large files in that it is fast, secure, and easy to use. The process for sending a large file through Send IT Global is simple:

1. Go to the website located at www.senditglobal.com
2. Enter your email address and the email addresses of people you wish to receive your file.
   
3. Browse your computer for the file you wish to send, you may attach any number of files up to 2 GB.
4. If you like, you can add a message to your recipients. We recommend, "This is a great, easy-to-use service. Check it out!"
5. Click "Send."

Your recipients will receive an email with a link to a page where they can download your file(s). This is the basic operation of the website. There are other options you can set before uploading your files, like:

• Limit the number of times a file can be downloaded.
• Set a password to download your files. Your recipients will receive this in a separate email.
  
• Create a security audit-trail. This option will send you a notification when recipients finish downloading your file.)

In addition to the web service, SADA also offers a hosted solution for businesses, "Send IT Global Business Hosted." This solution gives businesses a Send IT Global page with their own branding and logo, and a URL where they can access their solution. This is a great solution for businesses that frequently need to send large files, but wish to avoid tying up network resources or email.

For more information about Send IT Global, or to try the service for yourself, visit the website, www.senditglobal.com.

Haiti shaken by tragedy, SADA motivated to help.

Result? SADA will donate 1% of all cloud-computing based revenues through February to Yele Haiti and UNICEF.

The 7.0 earthquake to ravage Haiti earlier this week has made news across the globe. As the images of the aftermath make their way around the world, we are all trying to do our part to help.

Here at SADA, just like you, we are moved by the tragedy the people of Haiti have experienced and want to help the relief efforts. Hence, we will donate 1% of all cloud-computing based revenues (Google Apps & Microsoft BPOS) to the following two organizations that are helping serve the victims of Haiti.

Both Yele Haiti and UNICEF are among the organizations rushing to the scene to help secure fundamental resources like clean water and shelter which are crucial in securing sanitary living environments as the rebuilding process begins. As of now we are tallying votes to see which of the two charities, Yele Haiti or UNICEF, you would like our donation to go to. Please submit your vote via twitter as a Direct Message or Mention to @SADASystems. We will periodically announce the standings and will close voting on the last day of February.

We at SADA are fortunate enough to be able to help and are encouraging you to join us and join the global community's efforts in raising Haiti from the rubble.

For more ways to contribute click on your choice of organizations:

• International Medical Corps
• Direct Relief International
• World Vision
• International Relief Teams
• Yele Haiti
• American Red Cross
• Operation USA
• CARE
• Catholic Relief Services
• World Food Program
• World Concern
• Save the Children
• UNICEF USA
• Mercy Corps
• Operation Blessing International
• Shelterbox
• Americares
• Operation USA
• Doctors Without Borders
• Medical Teams International
• The International Committee of the Red Cross
• The Salvation Army
• more options...
  
  

SADA Webinar: Google Apps for MS Office Collaboration and Document Management

What happens when your organization leverages the most robust data centers in the world, and gives your users the best set of collaboration tools available?

Your organization experiences immense cost savings, a renewed focus on driving real business value, and eliminates the endless cycle of 'maintaining' systems which accounts for eight of every ten IT dollars spent (Gartner, 2007).

OffiSync now provides an integrated interface within MS Office that takes organizations' Google Apps experience to a whole new level. Their intuitive integration enables users to keep using Microsoft Office while collaborating and sharing their content further increasing productivity.

Through OffiSync you can now search, retrieve, and manage all MS Office files on Google Docs, Google Sheets, and Google Sites. With OffiSync you can now manage multiple versions with automatic change updates and real-time editing thus leveraging Google's powerful collaboration platform from Microsoft's familiar interface.

Google Apps - Gmail, Google Docs, Google Sites, and more - are reliable, secure, online applications available wherever you can access the web.

At SADA Systems we will be hosting a webinar on January 27th from 1:00pm-2:00pm EST demonstrating how to help organizations go further in their Google Apps adoption and take advantage of the great collaboration opportunities and streamline document management.

To join the webinar please register here and feel free to submit questions here.

Space is limited so please reserve your webinar seat now!