I missed this a few weeks ago but it seems FreeAgent has done a Google Apps integration in the sense that you can use Google Apps as a way of single sign-on to FreeAgent. Trivial? Maybe.
How many of you sign into a variety of online accounts? I’m betting just about everyone. One of the things I consistently hear as a grump among users of saas systems is the problem of having to remember multiple login credentials. I’m also betting that like many others, you’ll likely have your favourite combination of username and password that are applied to multiple accounts. This is not a good idea at the best of times but given that comparatively few vendors have opted for OpenID it is hardly surprising that users are faced with the dilemma of managing multiple logins.
For all its issues around flaky terms of service, Google is very popular among those smaller businesses that don’t want to shell out for MS Exchange. The economics alone are obvious although such decisions are not a slam dunk with Microsoft offering Business Productivity Suite Online at competitive rates. (There is a 30 day trial.)
While 90%+ of the world may run on Windows and Excel may be the spreadsheet of choice, Google Apps also has an expanding marketplace – a sort of business apps, AppStore. Check out the SME accounting apps to be found there. Google is showing that by making integration easy, it can attract developers. This was one of the ways Microsoft expanded its business. The difference is that Google’s marketplace has everything that is integrated to its services in a single, searchable repository. As a side issue, document sharing in Google Apps is very easy. It was the method of choice we used when creating a complex document running 55 pages with five authors.
