14 DAY TRIAL // Google has big plans for its enterprise suite, Google Apps, but it also has a long way to go before even making a dent in the market share of traditional players, especially Microsoft. So Google is firing at all cylinders trying to get as many companies and schools to use Apps. And it seems to be paying off, Google has announced that two more US states have adopted Google Apps for their public schools. The company is also introducing some new free training programs for just these kind of schools.
“We recently announced that Oregon is the first state to begin offering Google Apps to public schools. Today, Colorado and Iowa are joining the movement. Google Apps for Education will now be available to more than 3,000 schools across the two states,” Jaime Casap, Google Apps Education Manager wrote.
“These state-wide agreements enable schools and districts to benefit from centralized resources such as deployment support and training materials, paving the way for an easy transition to Google Apps,” he added.
Google is very interested in the Educational market and for good reason. It may not bring much financial benefits in the short term, quite the contrary, but it paves the way for the future. With a generation of students growing up and getting accustomed to Google Apps while in high school and college, it will be much easier for Google to pitch its services to businesses once these students enter the workforce.
And Google is going all out to eliminate any snag that may prevent schools from implementing Google Apps. It is now introducing a few new training tools for schools that want to completely manage their own accounts or don’t have the funds to do otherwise.
“These Google Apps for Education training solutions encompass three components: a free online training center, a set of qualification exams for teachers, and a Certified Trainer and Partner program,” Dana Nguyen, Product Marketing Manager, Google Apps Education, explained the new training programs.