BetterCloud Blog

Partner Spotlight – Agosto

Gail Axelrod — Thu, 13 Jun 2013 14:58:00 +0000

Whether you’re looking to go Google, need help with user training or are searching for software that allows your company to get more out of Google Apps, a reseller can help! BetterCloud partners with the world’s top Google Apps resellers to provide our growing customer base even more value.

This week I heard from Irfan Khan, the Co-Founder and CTO of Agosto, a leading North American reseller, to find out more about his organization. Company: Agosto Location: Headquartered in Minneapolis with offices in Toronto, Austin and Houston Market Served: All Website: www.agosto.com

BetterCloud: When was your organization founded?

Agosto: We have been in business since 2001, so nearly 13 years.

BetterCloud: What led to the founding of your company?

Agosto: After the dot com explosion, a network engineer and a systems engineer needed food. We decided to create our own path and Agosto was born. It has paid off, … Read more →

How to Create an Email Signature for Your Company

Gail Axelrod — Wed, 12 Jun 2013 14:39:00 +0000

Last week we updated our email signatures. Sure, they’re just a few lines at the bottom of an email, but a great signature – or a horrible one – can truly impact how you present yourself within and outside of your company.

Why Do You Need An Email Signature?

An email signature adds context to your emails, especially if you’re interacting with someone for the very first time. Or perhaps you’re trying to set up a meeting. By putting your office address and phone number or even a link to appointment slots in your signature, you can avoid the back and forth of scheduling.

The Basics

So what makes a good email signature? Well first and foremost, your signature should look great. A poorly designed signature can seem unprofessional. It’s not hard to create a nice looking signature, but people seldom take the time to do so. Second, your signature should be useful. You could have the best looking signature out there, but if it doesn’t include information like … Read more →

Announcing Paid Plans for FlashPanel

David Politis — Wed, 05 Jun 2013 18:09:39 +0000

Today, I am pleased to introduce paid plans for FlashPanel, which will go into effect September 12. For those of you who were customers back in February, you’ll remember the survey we sent regarding pricing – we read every single response (upwards of 2,700) and have taken that feedback to heart. This feedback has helped to ensure that our plans are affordable, simple and most importantly provide value to our users.

Table of Contents

Why Now Pricing Plans Pricing Explained What’s Next Final Thoughts Why Now

It was never a question of if we would introduce paid plans, but when. And it was always our foremost consideration to only start charging for FlashPanel when we could provide paying customers with the level of functionality they need and the support they deserve.

In fact, when we launched FlashPanel in the Marketplace last July, we knew we would be incurring the cost of providing a product to tens of thousands of domains for … Read more →

How the Cloud Helps Us Onboard Our Summer Interns + A Giveaway!

Gail Axelrod — Fri, 31 May 2013 17:12:04 +0000

It’s an exciting time here at BetterCloud. This year’s crop of summer interns will be joining us Monday and we’ve been preparing for the last week or so to make sure we’re ready come 9 AM. We’ve ordered new desks and chairs, fully stocked the kitchen and, most importantly, provisioned new Google Apps accounts.

Our interns are truly an integral part of the day to day at BetterCloud and with summer being so short, we need to make sure they get up to speed quickly. To both prepare for their arrival and train our new team members, we rely heavily on the cloud.

Google Apps

First and foremost, Google Apps, the platform on which our entire company is run, helps us onboard interns quickly. We’re able to instantly purchase new licenses through the Google Apps Admin Console and create accounts on the spot.

Once the Google Apps accounts are created, we’re able to provision relevant third-party applications on a user by user or OU … Read more →

Stumptown Coffee – A BetterCloud Case Study

Gail Axelrod — Wed, 29 May 2013 15:03:43 +0000

Employees: 250 Founded: 1999 Industry: Food and Beverage Website: www.stumptowncoffee.com

When Duane Sorenson founded Stumptown Coffee Roasters in 1999, he set out with a unique mission: find the best coffee beans in the world, pay a living wage to the farmers who harvest them and raise the expectations around a cup of coffee.

Since its founding, Stumptown has stayed true to this mission. Even while expanding to both coasts and opening a brand new 37,000 square foot headquarters in Portland, Oregon, the company has upheld its commitment to both quality and community – both here in the US and abroad in the communities in which Stumptown farmers work and live.

Going Google

When Stumptown moved to its new headquarters in the fall of 2012, the company also made the transition from Microsoft Exchange to Google Apps. The move, which was accelerated by a server crash, was based on Google’s ubiquity and heavy integrations. According to … Read more →

Partner Spotlight – LTech

Gail Axelrod — Wed, 22 May 2013 10:37:47 +0000

I spoke with Russ Young, Executive Vice President at LTech, a leading North American reseller, to find out more about his organization.

Company: LTech Location: New Jersey, USA Market Served: Enterprise, SMB Website: www.ltech.com

BetterCloud: When was your organization founded?

LTech: 2001

BetterCloud: What led to the founding of your company?

LTech: Tech was founded in 2001 to provide enterprises with best-of-breed technology solutions. Since then, we have evolved into a leading cloud technology integrator. As an early Google Enterprise Partner, we have helped hundreds of customers benefit from Google Apps and the Google Search Appliance. … Read more →

Why I’m Looking Forward to Google I/O Next Year

David Politis — Mon, 20 May 2013 18:11:07 +0000

For BetterCloud, this year’s Google I/O was vastly different from the 2012 conference. Last year, I was the sole BetterCloud representative. This year, six team members attended. Last year, we had yet to publicly launch our product. This year, we have a product used by nearly 10 million people. Last year, we hadn’t established any formal relationships with Google Apps resellers. This year, we’re working with some of the leading resellers in the ecosystem.

While it was great to get a sense of the amount BetterCloud has grown and achieved in the last year, a few things about I/O remained constant – the sense of community and the inspiration I always come away with.

Community

Am I guilty of sprinting to get into the epic three-hour keynote on the first day of I/O? Perhaps. Did I record the near stampede on my Google Glass? Maybe. Do I regret either? Not really.

During the … Read more →

Zingerman’s – A BetterCloud Case Study

Gail Axelrod — Tue, 14 May 2013 14:31:56 +0000

Employees: 650 Founded: 1982 Industry: Food and Beverage Website: www.zingermanscommunity.com

In 1982 Paul Saginaw and Ari Weinzweig opened Zingerman’s, a traditional Jewish deli, in Ann Arbor, Michigan. The popular deli served as the starting point for Zingerman’s now expansive community of eight businesses, known as the ZCoB, all located in the Ann Arbor area. While franchising the original deli would have been the obvious option, Zingerman’s founders opted instead to grow the business by developing new independent organizations, all rooted in the local community.

Now, the eight different businesses work together as one organization, but are managed by different partners. Together, the businesses are home to more than 650 employees and include the original deli, a bakery, a creamery, a catering business and more. Zingerman’s was named The Coolest Small Company in America by Inc. Magazine.

Deprecating a Dying Exchange Server

A company like Zingerman’s that isn’t afraid to … Read more →

Partner Spotlight – CloudWare360

Gail Axelrod — Thu, 09 May 2013 15:28:11 +0000

I sat down with Saul Chrem, the CEO of CloudWare360, a leading reseller in Latin America, to find out more about his organization.

Company: CloudWare360 Location: Latin America Market Served: SMB, Enterprise Website: www.cloudware360.com

BetterCloud: When was your organization founded?

CloudWare360: January 2010

BetterCloud: What led to the founding of your company?

CloudWare360: We wanted to be a part of the technological shift to cloud computing. We named our company “Cloudware 360” because we have a 360 degree approach to cloud computing. We care not only about technology, but have a strong focus on the user side – education, … Read more →

Granular Reporting for Google Apps

Gail Axelrod — Wed, 08 May 2013 14:29:18 +0000

When we first started building FlashPanel, we realized there was a huge opportunity to report on the vast amount of data surfaced by the application. Since then, we’ve steadily enhanced FlashPanel’s reporting capabilities, and today we’re excited to announce some major new updates to our Google Apps reporting tool.

In addition to churning out common reports found in the Google Apps Admin Panel like audit logs, email and Drive quotas and login activity, FlashPanel also reports on information far beyond what is available natively in Google Apps – specifically around Google Drive sharing, Gmail settings and more. We’ve also added handy tools like Canned Reports and the Report Builder, which give IT admins unmatched customization and visibility when it comes to reporting on a Google Apps domain.

Canned Reports

Canned reports in FlashPanel provide quick links to commonly requested reports. In the application’s canned reports section, you’ll find more than 20 ready-made reports for users, groups and org … Read more →