Why the iPad and iPhone need cloud based applications

Some might decry that the lack of a physical keyboard and the limitation of only being able to install applications from the App Store mean that the iPad can't be used for "real" business work.

But if your company is already using cloud based solutions like Google Apps, or Salesforce.com the iPad is perfect for the business professional on the go who doesn't need a full laptop.

And soon Google will release the ability to edit Google documents on an iPad or Android device allowing you to edit a spreadsheet from your iPad simultaneously with a co-worker on an office PC.

P.S. We've seen many iPad and iPhone users incorrectly setup their phones using IMAP, POP3, or the Google Mail icon on their phone.  Yes, it's counterintuitive but a Google Apps account gives you Email, Calendar, and Contacts sync via Microsoft Exchange Active Sync technology on the iPad or iPhone.  The official Google iPad and iPhone setup instructions are available here.

Or give us a call at Interlockit.com and we'll walk you through it.

70% of Canadians have a wireless device

Integration with mobile devices is a critical component of any email and document management solution.

A study released by firm iSuppli Corp shows that 73.4% of the earth's population has a mobile phone.  In Canada, 70% of our population has a wireless device.

You can join a live webinar for businesses on 9/23: Google Apps for mobile.  Click here for more details and to register.

For additional reading:

• http://www.isuppli.com/Mobile-and-Wireless-Communications/News/Pages/Global-Wireless-Subscriptions-Reach-5-Billion.aspx 
• http://mobilesyrup.com/2010/09/21/73-4-percent-of-the-earth%E2%80%99s-population-has-a-mobile-phone/

Two-factor authentication for Google Apps released

This is powerhouse stuff that was normally only available to larger enterprises...  Organizations like the brokerage house BMO-Nesbitt Burns use expensive RSA SecurID two-factor authentication solutions for employee remote access.  Google is bringing the same two-factor authentication capability to our Google Apps customers through the use of mobile phones for no additional cost.

Ultimately any system open to the Internet is only as secure as your passwords.  The problem with passwords is that employees tend to over use them across many websites and systems.  Even if you force regular password changes many employees will rotate a single character leaving it easy for former employees to guess.

With two-factor authentication the employee must supply the password (something they know) and a one-time verification code from their mobile phone (something they have).

Only cloud computing can deliver rapid innovations like two-factor authentication at such a low cost and with no upgrades to install.

And by the way, 1 million businesses have adopted Google Apps in less than 12 months bringing the total to 3 million businesses and 30 million users.

At Interlockit.com we're always available to help with your Google Apps setup.

For more details visit: http://googleenterprise.blogspot.com/2010/09/more-secure-cloud-for-millions-of.html

Google Apps User Rename

There are more friendly tools for renaming Google Apps users that you can purchase but GAM (Google Apps Manager) is free and can do user renaming plus much more:
http://code.google.com/p/google-apps-manager/

It's command line driven.  We use it for various batch operations like turning off webclips for all Google Apps user accounts.

With the ability to rename users there is no need to backup and restore user accounts just to change their email address.