Monday, December 14, 2015

To Cloud or not to Cloud? Google Apps for Work

Google Apps and Cloud computing in general has always been uniquely susceptible to myths due to the confusion and hype surrounding it. Although moving to the cloud has undoubtedly become a growing trend among various kinds of business and organizations, the vast majority of IT decision makers frequently ask us questions about how moving to Google Apps will affect them. These questions, if not addressed with the correct knowledge, can impede innovation, distract from real progress, and sometimes even induce fear. Ultimately the truth gets skewed and myths are born. Here are the most common ones:

Myth 1: Cloud is more expensive.
Google Apps is delivered to your business over the web at a fraction of the cost of installed systems. It may seem like purchasing a continuous cloud subscription of services over a one-time on-premise installation is costing you more money, but when you review the total cost of ownership you'll recognize that cloud-solutions such as Google Apps for Work save you money in the long run. The cloud yields substantial savings as you no longer need to invest in hardware, IT personnel, maintenance, upgrades etc. for on-premise infrastructure.

Myth 2: Cloud isn't secure and it's better to keep data on-premise.
This is probably the most common one. Kimbley IT goes over some of the security myths of Google Apps. Over 5 million businesses already use Google Apps for Work and it's helping them improve teamwork and reduce costs without compromising security. Some business owners still have concerns about security and understandably so if they've been given the wrong impression of the cloud. Google does not sell your information and your data will always belong to you. Unless you use the services to do so, Google does not share your data with other people and protects its transit over the internet with SSL encryption. Plus, most SMB owners don't have recent back-ups and don't secure their data off-site. With Google Apps, data is automatically backed up in global data centers, protecting it from accidental damage, loss, theft, and fire. You can also enable extra security protocols like 2-step verification in addition to your password to make unauthorized access nearly impossible. Learn further details on Google Apps security.

Myth 3: You are ‘locked-in’ once you move to the cloud.
Google keeps your data for as long as you have an account with them - but in the rare event of wanting to exit the cloud, they have tools to help you export your emails, contacts, calendars, documents, and sites. For example, you can export your documents to various Microsoft compatible formats. Check out Google Takeout for further details.

Myth 4: Migration to the cloud is more hassle than its worth.
While some cleaning and infrastructural management may be required, especially if you are running on very old servers, migrating into the cloud is relatively pain free if you work in partnership with a trusted and experienced cloud migration company like us! It can all happen fairly quickly and seamlessly with minimal downtime. What is important to understand is that the short-term inconvenience cannot and does not outweigh the long-term benefits of having greater efficiency, cost effectiveness, and a business that is virtually future-proof, regardless of the changes the market brings.
Between its reliability and low cost compared to other sources, the Cloud is a piece of technology that isn't going away anytime soon and is growing rather rapidly. Cloud solutions have given SMB owners access to the same level of services as larger companies and solutions like Google Apps have leveled the playing field and introduce an incredible amount of power, efficiency, and collaboration to its users. H3 Secure Cloud Services do an excellent job explaining the benefits of switching over to the Cloud. If you're looking to take your organization off of it's outdated footprint into a new and improved direction, be sure to contact us at InterlockIT to help you make your leap into the cloud!

Monday, November 16, 2015

Our top 5 Android phones!

Our last post was inspired by iOS users that wanted to see Google applications integrate into Apple's mobile platform. Although there are many iOS users that use Google services, we also see a lot of Android users in our customer base. The iPhone is a popular smartphone in North America, but Android is steadily growing and owns over 80% of the global market share.


Android users typically already use a Google application such as Gmail, Calendar, Hangouts etc., which makes sense since Android is an open-source operating system from Google built for mobile phones and tablets. Androids are known for their customization, usability, and come in many flavours. Companies such as Huawei, LG, Motorola, and Sony are among a few that offer Android phones in a variety of builds, specs, and sizes. What sets a great Android experience apart is user-friendliness and a well-rounded seamless mobile Google experience.

Our top five picks are based on two main components of any smartphone; hardware and software. The phones listed below offer a beautiful build and most of them are paired with a buttery smooth OS - Android 6.0 Marshmallow. Note some devices, like the Nexus', receive OS updates before others. Nexus phones are our first picks since our team members find them simpler and more reliable than non-Nexus phones.

Here is our list of the top five Android phones:
Nexus phones are pure Android, which basically means they were designed under Google's requirements and specific guidelines. Essentially, Nexus phones are how Google intends Android to be - slick and easy to use - and are available unlocked to any carrier if purchased directly from Google. A huge advantage Nexus devices have over other Androids is frequent and timely firmware updates, so you're always first to run the latest version of the OS. After having used both Nexus and non-Nexus Androids, one of our biggest gripes with non-Nexus devices is bloatware (factory installed apps you can't remove and don't need). Nexus devices don't come pre-installed with bloatware or a skinned version of Android such as Samsung's TouchWiz. This is one of the primary reasons our boss switched from his Asus ZenFone 2 to Huawei's Nexus 6P. Even though the ZenFone 2 has good hardware for the price, the software end user experience between the two devices is night and day. Manufacturers such as Asus and Samsung make great quality hardware, but it's a shame the user experience falls short of great due to bloatware and software add-ons.
Nexus 5X (left) & Nexus 6P (right)
To illustrate the difference between Nexus and non-Nexus Android phones, say for example, you go to buy a new car. It's a great car and you can tell the designer put a lot of thought into every detail. It's very refined and elegant.  Now the dealership you are buying the car from has given it a few 'upgrades' including things like racing stripes, a fuzzy dice, steering wheel cover, extra cup holders, and several bumper stickers. This all comes pre-installed as a package. Maybe you don't really want or need all that, but it's all or nothing. Oh, and the radio presets are already installed for you and cannot be removed. After you purchase your new car the manufacturer releases a safety recall, but you can't get the safety issue resolved for 8 months because it's not compatible with those cup holders yet. Of course, this is an exaggerated example but hopefully this analogy emphasizes the difference.

All in all we do have non-Nexus Androids listed on our top five which should indicate that not all of them come pre-installed with heavy bloatware and get well-delayed firmware updates. At the end, it really depends on user preference as some user's find the Nexus Android experience too bland and prefer a skinned version of Android such as Sony's Xperia Home. There are other factors that can steer your decision when purchasing an Android device; like price, display, battery life, and even the camera. Checkout GSM Arena for detailed specs on the latest and greatest smartphones.

This is by no means a conclusive ranking of all Android phones - it's simply a list of what we consider the best five out there for businesses. Be sure to contact our InterlockIT team for all your mobile support for Google apps!

Monday, November 9, 2015

Google infiltrates iOS - Googlifying your iPhone/iPad/iPod

We get a lot of requests from novice and veteran Google users alike who want to better integrate the Google experience into their iOS devices. Not all users of Google's massive ecosystem are Android users which makes the Google-on-iOS combination quite appealing if you enjoy Apple's hardware, customer service, and general usability.

If you use an iOS device, replacing Apple's default apps with Google alternatives is now a seamless experience, especially compared to the painful past. It's very easy to do, and if done properly, you'll probably never need to open the default Apple apps ever again. Begin by downloading the Google apps you'll need to begin the 'Google-fication' of your iOS device. Here's a list of some of the most popular ones.


These are just a handful of the many Google apps that can replace most, if not all, of Apple's default apps. Although Apple does not allow you to pick a default app for a specific service, Google has implemented a clever workaround for this: all of Google's apps (and even many third party apps) have an "open in" option that gives you the ability to open links in the intended Google app. For example, this will allow you to open links in Chrome, videos in YouTube, and addresses in Google Maps.

The Google Hangouts setting here shows a list of existing Google apps that links will direct to.
You'll find that nearly all of Google's apps have this setting to some extent, enabling you to stay fully within the Google world. Although this setting allows fluidity between Google apps, you still can't change things like your default email or calendar app, which is an understandable compromise if you fully buy into the plethora of Google's ecosystem.

Google's apps weren't always the best on iOS as they weren't as polished as Apple's were, but in our experience, this has changed and they now far outstrip Apple's default offerings. Google Maps and the Drive suite of apps (Drive, Docs, Sheets, and Slides) are both great examples of how far Google has come on the iOS platform. Google Maps offers better driving directions than Apple Maps, as well as cycling and transit directions, and navigation inside buildings where supported. Furthermore, Drive is much easier to use for storage than iCloud and offers you access to all of your files without configuring and searching through unnecessary settings. And as you'd expect, Drive automatically opens any files in the appropriate Google app, ignoring Apple's defaults entirely.

With all these Google Apps taking over iOS defaults, there are still a few small drawbacks. Google tends to update its iOS apps more slowly than its Android counterparts. Unless you really need to have the latest updates, this isn't really problematic, but it does mean they won't integrate with the latest iOS features immediately. For example, many Google apps don't have Notification Center support, and none of them have Force Touch support yet. If these aren't of concern to you, then your Google experience on iOS can be near-perfect. 

If you're faithful to iOS, but still want or need to indulge in Google's apps for personal or work reasons, hopefully you now see that Google and iOS can harmoniously coexist. Sometimes, you can have the best of both worlds! Check out this article from LifeHacker to learn about more Google apps and their integration to iOS.