Google+ eyes the enterprise

Google hopes to integrate Google+ within the enterprise.

This is according to Louis van Schalkwyk, development and technology team leader at Grove Group, who says Google Enterprise developed out of Google's consumer division, and more specifically, from Gmail.

“Organisations started saying, 'Well, if you can run Gmail at that scale, why can't we run it, but on our own company domains',” he explains.

According to him, Google Enterprise is hoping to push Google+ into organisations as a professional platform.

Van Schalkwyk argues that enterprises can use the circles on Google+ to represent different

teams. He adds that the social platform also allows for video conferencing and document sharing, and that Google+ Hangout, the video conferencing tool on Google's social media platform, allows video conferencing for up to eight people, from any location, provided they have a Web browser.

He says document sharing and video conferencing allow for collaboration, pointing out that collaboration is one of the benefits offered by cloud computing.

Van Schalkwyk says that while cloud adoption in SA tends to lag that in more developed markets, there are exceptions to the rule. He says that although some companies do not mind being behind international technology trends, software development companies want to be up to date with the latest advancements.

Van Schalkwyk argues that migrating to the cloud does not work for all companies. Moreover, he says, different companies move to the cloud for different reasons, for example a desire to cut costs, to synchronise the different mobile devices used by the company's employees, or because of the added functionality offered by hosted platforms.

However, he says a lot of companies only realise the benefits of a hosted platform roughly seven months after their migration to the cloud.

Van Schalkwyk says these benefits include relying less on the IT department, which no longer has to spend time keeping the company's systems running, and collaboration.