14 DAY TRIAL // Last year, Google started enabling Google Apps users to access regular services and products from the company using their Apps accounts. This merger of the consumer and business Google products led to a great expansion of the number of services available to Apps administrators.
Google is showcasing the possibilities of using the regular version Groups, which is now available for Apps users, for companies and organizations.
"Google Apps for Business and Education customers have traditionally had access to Google Groups for Business, which has allowed the creation of groups and mailing lists within the organization," Chandrashekar Raghavan, Product Manager for Google Groups, wrote.
"Today we’re expanding the discussion by making the general Google Groups service, which allows users to participate in public discussions with others outside the organization, available with Google Apps," he announced.
Google Groups is not the most glamorous project under the company's roof and it's not one that makes the headlines quite often. But it's a useful tool and Groups houses one of the biggest such communities on the web.
It's a common place for developers to organize and discuss projects and one that's familiar to those that have been online way before Twitter, Facebook, webmail or even instant messaging.
Google already offers Groups for Business to paying Apps users, which enables them to deploy the technology inside the company with internal access only.
Now, Apps admins can enable users within their organizations to access the regular, public Groups as well. Both products can be enabled at the same time, but companies can also choose one or the other.
This should give companies and organizations more flexibility in the type of discussions they can engage in, but also enable them to have a more official presence in a public conversation.