Gadgetrepublic.com - News: Personal Tech

Business applications from Google Apps are nothing new but the Marketplace allows for vendors to quickly and easily get their product on a recognisable online platform.

Many of these ad-ons and services are free and they integrate with Google Apps both for the consumer and the premier edition for business.

Google's decision to launch fully into this field is thus: "In recent years, many talented software providers have embraced the cloud and delivered a diverse set of features capable of powering almost any business," says Chris Vander Mey, product manager, Google Apps Marketplace.

"But too often, customers who adopt applications from multiple vendors end up with a fractured experience, where each particular application exists in its own silo. Users are often forced to create and remember multiple passwords, cut and paste data between applications, and jump between multiple interfaces just to complete a simple task."

These apps, such as Tungle and Manymoon fit in with Google Docs, Calendar and Gmail for project management, appointment management and so on.

One of the main advantages, says Vander Mey, is that there will be no need for users to sign in and out of various services and they can all be managed from the Google Apps control panel.

"The Google Apps Marketplace eliminates the worry about software updates, keeping track of different passwords and manual syncing and sharing of data, thereby increasing business productivity and lessening frustrations for users and IT administrators alike. That's the power of the cloud," he added.

By Marie Boran