We’re Not in Kansas Anymore: Tips for Google Apps Admins from Google Apps Admins

Remember in the Wizard of Oz when Dorothy and Toto first land in a strange new world? That’s how a lot of Google Apps users feel when they first start using this popular cloud technology. Most are probably familiar with Gmail but have never used Google in a business setting to collaborate with colleagues.

Most Google Apps admins can therefore relate to the “man behind the curtain” scenario. After all, they are the ones making sure a company’s Google Apps account runs as smoothly as possible for the entire organization and ensuring employees feel comfortable in this new Google Apps world.

In an effort to offer best practice advice to our fellow Google Apps admins, we pulled together a stellar panel of Google Apps experts and asked them to share a few tips and tricks. The panel consists of Karl Rivers of ClassThink.com, popular blogger on all things Google Apps Justin Gale, Kevin McGrail – one of the first Google Apps certified Administrators and a consultant at PCCC.com, Benoit Flama, who leads an organization of 45,000+ Google Apps users, Fintan Murphy, CEO and co-founder of Damson Cloud, and Melanie Masterson, a Senior IT Administrator at Marin Software.

The result is our brand new eBook “The Wizards behind Google Apps: Advice for Admins from Admins” and if you’re a fairly new Google Apps admin or are just looking to hear what other admins are up to, this complimentary guide is a MUST READ.

Below is a sampling of some of the advice found within the guide:

On Data Migration:

“I typically support enterprise installations that are still using Google Apps alongside traditional file servers,” says McGrail. “We used the ‘many hands make light work’ process to have users move their files to the cloud slowly but surely.”

On Account Sync:

“The initial configuration is slightly complicated, but once it’s running, it works brilliantly,” says Rivers. “In a very short period of time, you can replicate your local user accounts and passwords on your Google Apps domain.”

“You can also sync Active Directory to Google via different AD groups mapping to different Google orgs with different functionality,” adds Gale.

On Data Security:

“We use additional tools such as Flashpanel for data security monitoring, Google Vault for email compliance and Backupify for cloud-to-cloud backup of our corporate data,” adds Murphy. “We recommend to all of our customers that they put in place similar systems and procedures.”

To learn more from our Google Apps Wizards, download the free eBook below.