Chromebooks and centralized management of devices

We've mentioned in past blog posts that we're well-equipped to tackle anything we might need with nothing more than a web browser and a laptop. So why bother spending hundreds or thousands of dollars outfitting the team with laptops that will only run a web browser? Why not invest in smaller, cheaper, faster laptops that are designed around a suite of web-based applications? That's where Chromebooks come in.

Google's Chromebook Pixel

Chromebooks can boot to the desktop in less than 10 seconds, automatically update on their own, include built-in virus protection, and integrate very tightly with the Google Apps suite. If you're already using Google Apps, it's the perfect laptop for your sales team that uses email, calendar, contacts, Solve360 CRM, Google Drive, and more. Chromebooks can even edit Excel and Word files for no additional cost.

If you still need to run Windows-exclusive software, install one of many RDP (Remote Desktop Protocol) clients from the Chrome Web Store and connect to a Windows Terminal Server or Windows desktop computer.

Add in the Chromebook Management Console and you can manage thousands of Chromebooks from your Google Apps admin control panel to make your life even easier. You can configure wireless networks so users are up and running as soon as they log in, allow or block guest access to the machines, and much more. By design Chromebooks are encrypted and highly secure, and since all your data is stored in the cloud, users can pick up any available Chromebook and be productive in seconds.

A Chromebook even works great offline for drafting emails, managing appointments, and editing documents.

The best part is, as always with Google, the price. Chromebooks start from as low as $249 CAD and a one-time license for the management console costs just $161 CAD for businesses or $32 CAD for education users, available from us here at InterlockIT.com.

Chromebooks for customers, employees, students, and guests in Canada

We've been using our new Samsung Chromebook for about a month now and it has become our favourite road device and preferred "Let Me Google That" tool. With an 8 second cold boot time, over 6 hours of battery life, and secure access for employees and guests, it's the perfect business and personal cloud productivity device. Today, Chromebooks have been enhanced for simple public kiosk use. For more details visit: Chromebook kiosks for customers and employees.

Public users leave no trace behind and IT managers have no viruses or malware to worry about. Starting at a price of $249.99 (on sale for $229.99 until May 2!) at Best Buy or Future Shop, it's a very cost effective business or family computing solution.

A Google Apps domain is not required to use them but certainly having one gives you enhanced administration and control over the devices deployed across your organization. For example, you can centrally configure the passwords for WiFi hot-spots your employees may access. For more details, take a look at Google's documentation on Managing Chrome Devices.

In Canada, Alberta School boards are fans and have deployed over 3,400 Chromebooks so far. Our customers that have already eliminated servers from their premises and moved to the cloud are ready to go!

The cost savings of Chromebooks add up quickly when you consider the alternative of buying a Windows netbook, Microsoft Office, antivirus, and a Windows Server (domain controller) to centrally manage passwords and computer policies. Yet on Windows devices, you are still at risk unless you encrypt the hard drive. Windows with Microsoft Office or Outlook store oodles of confidential email and other documents on your notebook hard drive that is easy to access if it falls into the wrong hands. With a Chromebook, you can still store email and documents offline for updating while on a plane but it's stored in an encrypted format and the built in secure boot features ensure that your data stays secure. Plus, it is easy for administrators to remotely wipe a Chromebook, leaving no trace of the data that was on the machine.

Contact us at InterlockIT.com to learn more and to determine if Chromebooks are a good fit for your organization!