Category Archives: Google for Work Blog

Work is going Google

Google and Intel announce strategic alliance to accelerate cloud adoption in the enterprise

Today, the Google Cloud team is excited to announce a strategic alliance with Intel to support and accelerate enterprise adoption of the cloud. We’ve worked closely with Intel for years on datacenter processor technology, and are now expanding our collaboration to help enterprise customers move from legacy infrastructure to an open, secure and future-proof cloud. The alliance will focus on technology integrations and joint market education efforts.

Google and Intel have been working closely for many years to engineer and validate processor technology within the data center. With this new alliance, we'll explore technology solutions for our enterprise customers in the areas of Kubernetes, machine learning, IoT and security, combining Google Cloud software capabilities with Intel’s advanced hardware. The alliance will focus on:

  • Kubernetes - Optimizing Kubernetes for Intel architecture to support a broad range of workloads. Intel is a major contributor to the Kubernetes ecosystem and enables enterprises to run OpenStack as a managed Kubernetes workload. Intel and Google engineers have already delivered code optimizations that have improved feature transparency on Intel architecture. This work is also expected to improve workload capabilities, including virtual network performance and prioritization of shared resources.

  • Machine Learning - Accelerating TensorFlow performance on Intel processors, for example by allowing TensorFlow to leverage all CPU cores and vector lanes for improved parallelism, integrating high-performance libraries such as the Math Kernel library (MKL) into TensorFlow, and optimizing memory allocation and data layer operations across a range of topologies.

  • IoT - Creating a secure platform for connecting Intel’s IoT edge devices to Google Cloud Platform (GCP), where the data can be analyzed to inform better decisions — a critical capability for industries like retail and manufacturing.

  • Security - Enhancing security integrations between Intel hardware and GCP infrastructure that will further improve security for enterprise customers.

In addition to exploring a number of new joint cloud solutions, with Intel we’re focused on developing technical education and market development materials that support the IT practitioners who are managing the transition to a multi-cloud world.

By deepening Google’s unique relationship with Intel, we can better help enterprises transition to the cloud.


Source: Google Cloud


Google and Intel announce strategic alliance to accelerate cloud adoption in the enterprise

Today, the Google Cloud team is excited to announce a strategic alliance with Intel to support and accelerate enterprise adoption of the cloud. We’ve worked closely with Intel for years on datacenter processor technology, and are now expanding our collaboration to help enterprise customers move from legacy infrastructure to an open, secure and future-proof cloud. The alliance will focus on technology integrations and joint market education efforts.

Google and Intel have been working closely for many years to engineer and validate processor technology within the data center. With this new alliance, we'll explore technology solutions for our enterprise customers in the areas of Kubernetes, machine learning, IoT and security, combining Google Cloud software capabilities with Intel’s advanced hardware. The alliance will focus on:

  • Kubernetes - Optimizing Kubernetes for Intel architecture to support a broad range of workloads. Intel is a major contributor to the Kubernetes ecosystem and enables enterprises to run OpenStack as a managed Kubernetes workload. Intel and Google engineers have already delivered code optimizations that have improved feature transparency on Intel architecture. This work is also expected to improve workload capabilities, including virtual network performance and prioritization of shared resources.

  • Machine Learning - Accelerating TensorFlow performance on Intel processors, for example by allowing TensorFlow to leverage all CPU cores and vector lanes for improved parallelism, integrating high-performance libraries such as the Math Kernel library (MKL) into TensorFlow, and optimizing memory allocation and data layer operations across a range of topologies.

  • IoT - Creating a secure platform for connecting Intel’s IoT edge devices to Google Cloud Platform (GCP), where the data can be analyzed to inform better decisions — a critical capability for industries like retail and manufacturing.

  • Security - Enhancing security integrations between Intel hardware and GCP infrastructure that will further improve security for enterprise customers.

In addition to exploring a number of new joint cloud solutions, with Intel we’re focused on developing technical education and market development materials that support the IT practitioners who are managing the transition to a multi-cloud world.

By deepening Google’s unique relationship with Intel, we can better help enterprises transition to the cloud.


Source: Google Cloud


Save time with new custom templates in Docs, Sheets, Slides and Forms

We recently launched new tools in G Suite like Explore, Action items, and other features to help your teams save time and focus on what’s important: creating impactful work, quicker. We know time spent re-creating files in the workplace takes away from the time your team can spend collaborating and achieving results.

That’s why, today, we’re rolling out custom templates in G Suite for the Docs, Sheets, Slides and Forms files your teams use the most.

With this new feature, your team can simply submit files to shared template galleries in the Docs, Sheets, Slides and Forms home screens for your co-workers to adapt and use as needed. With these customizable templates, your teams can focus less on formatting and more on driving impact and sharing success.

submit a template gif

G Suite for Business and Education customers can require templates be approved before they appear in the gallery or restrict who can submit new templates. Admins can learn more about enabling and using custom templates on the G Suite Apps Updates Blog.

Source: Google Cloud


Build data-rich presentations in seconds with integrated apps and the Slides API

Presentations are a staple in business communication. When done right, they help tell a story that can captivate, persuade, or inspire audiences. But crafting that story can be tedious, especially if you’re constantly flipping between screens to copy and paste charts, images, or figures into your slides.

If only there was an API for that….

Today, we’re announcing the general availability of the Google Slides API which gives developers programmatic access to create and update presentations in Slides from any data source. We previewed the Slides API at I/O earlier this year to change how business presentations are built. Now, your teams can use a number of ready-to-go integrations to turn your business data into presentations, with just a click.

Build beautiful, up-to-date presentations in seconds using Conga, Trello, Lucidchart and Zapier

Whether you’re looking to populate a quarterly business review (QBR) deck, add specs for weekly design review slides, or refresh event registration data for your daily update, the third-party apps below let you quickly and easily build beautiful, data-rich presentations.

  • Generate your next QBR deck with Conga: Conga makes document creation and reporting for Salesforce easy. With its Slides API integration you can create a quarterly business review presentation in Slides from your standard Salesforce Account records in seconds. Read more here.

Conga gif

  • Create vivid project updates with Trello: Trello helps you organize and prioritize project information in highly visual ways. With its Slide API integration, you can turn any Trello board or set of cards into a Slides presentation with just a click. Read more here.

trello gif

  • Review complex visualizations with Lucidchart: Lucidchart helps you create complex diagrams and visuals easily. With its Slides API integration you can export flowcharts, mockups, and other such visuals, break them into slides to cover specifics in more detail, and rapidly iterate on the content. You can find Lucidchart on the G Suite Marketplace and read more about the integration here.
  • Create and respond to custom proposals requests with Zapier: Zapier lets you create and automate business workflows. With its Slides API integration you can create, collaborate, and share dynamic presentations using Slides with just a few workflow rules. You can get started with the Slides integration on Zapier or learn more about it here.

All of these app integrations are available to try today — and this is just the beginning. We’re working with many other software vendors, including ProsperWorks, AODocs and Form Publisher to help you do more in less time in all sorts of ways.

Developers can start using the Slides API today. Documentation and demos are available at developers.google.com/slides and they can read more about it here.

Source: Google Cloud


Google Cloud Platform Tokyo region now open for business

Google Cloud Platform (GCP) continues to rapidly expand our global footprint. Today, we're lighting up our latest cloud region in Tokyo – asia-northeast1.

As one of the fastest growing technology markets, the Asia-Pacific region has been important to GCP since the beginning. Building on our existing Taiwan cloud region, Tokyo doubles our presence in Asia, for a total of six zones.

These cloud regions build upon Google’s networking backbone, including recent investments in FASTER and PLCN submarine cables. Google has an immense worldwide networking presence, in Asia and around the world, resulting in high performance for GCP customers.
tokyo-region-ga

Low latency and high performance are key considerations when choosing a region to deploy resources. By opening a dedicated cloud region in Tokyo, we’re bringing Google’s compute, storage and networking services directly to Japanese businesses. Based on our testing, customers in cities like Tokyo, Osaka, Sapporo and Nagoya experience 50-85% lower latency on average when served from the Tokyo region compared to Taiwan.

tokyo-region-ga-mercari

"Our mercari atte service provides the best user experience with GCP’s highly available network capability and edge caching. Now that the Tokyo region is open, we can use GCP for other services that have low-latency requirements." - Tatsuya Tsuruoka, Principal Engineer, Mercari

tokyo-region-ga-recruit

“We have been using GCP services in big data analysis for the entire Recruit Group. We are very glad to hear this news and really appreciate the launch of GCP Tokyo region, which will enable us to leverage more GCP technology and services that require low latency. We would like to use the advanced services of GCP Tokyo region, such as machine learning, and are looking forward to growing our business through our mutual partnership with Google.”      - Keiichiro Maeda, Corporate Executive Officer (Big Data, ID Point), Recruit Technologies Co.,Ltd.

Available now, the Cloud Region in Tokyo offers the following core services:

To help onboard customers, we’re also working with several partners in Japan who will provide their services from the new Tokyo region. Some of our early partners include JSOL, a provider of data analytics and machine learning solutions, and Groovenauts, which develops online gaming technology.

In the last few years, GCP has grown to serve a diverse set of customers from mobile gaming studios to traditional enterprises, all of whom depend on our cloud regions and network to reach their customers across Asia and beyond. We look forward to welcoming businesses to the Tokyo region and are excited to see what they build with our platform.

You can follow our locations page for updates on the availability of additional services, including new regions in Singapore and Sydney coming in 2017. For more information about how to deploy your resources, visit our zones and regions page. Fill out this survey to request early access to our future regions, and to help us prioritize which regions Google open next.

Source: Google Cloud


Google Cloud Platform Tokyo region now open for business

Google Cloud Platform (GCP) continues to rapidly expand our global footprint. Today, we're lighting up our latest cloud region in Tokyo – asia-northeast1.

As one of the fastest growing technology markets, the Asia-Pacific region has been important to GCP since the beginning. Building on our existing Taiwan cloud region, Tokyo doubles our presence in Asia, for a total of six zones.

These cloud regions build upon Google’s networking backbone, including recent investments in FASTER and PLCN submarine cables. Google has an immense worldwide networking presence, in Asia and around the world, resulting in high performance for GCP customers.
tokyo-region-ga

Low latency and high performance are key considerations when choosing a region to deploy resources. By opening a dedicated cloud region in Tokyo, we’re bringing Google’s compute, storage and networking services directly to Japanese businesses. Based on our testing, customers in cities like Tokyo, Osaka, Sapporo and Nagoya experience 50-85% lower latency on average when served from the Tokyo region compared to Taiwan.

tokyo-region-ga-mercari

"Our mercari atte service provides the best user experience with GCP’s highly available network capability and edge caching. Now that the Tokyo region is open, we can use GCP for other services that have low-latency requirements." - Tatsuya Tsuruoka, Principal Engineer, Mercari

tokyo-region-ga-recruit

“We have been using GCP services in big data analysis for the entire Recruit Group. We are very glad to hear this news and really appreciate the launch of GCP Tokyo region, which will enable us to leverage more GCP technology and services that require low latency. We would like to use the advanced services of GCP Tokyo region, such as machine learning, and are looking forward to growing our business through our mutual partnership with Google.”      - Keiichiro Maeda, Corporate Executive Officer (Big Data, ID Point), Recruit Technologies Co.,Ltd.

Available now, the Cloud Region in Tokyo offers the following core services:

To help onboard customers, we’re also working with several partners in Japan who will provide their services from the new Tokyo region. Some of our early partners include JSOL, a provider of data analytics and machine learning solutions, and Groovenauts, which develops online gaming technology.

In the last few years, GCP has grown to serve a diverse set of customers from mobile gaming studios to traditional enterprises, all of whom depend on our cloud regions and network to reach their customers across Asia and beyond. We look forward to welcoming businesses to the Tokyo region and are excited to see what they build with our platform.

You can follow our locations page for updates on the availability of additional services, including new regions in Singapore and Sydney coming in 2017. For more information about how to deploy your resources, visit our zones and regions page. Fill out this survey to request early access to our future regions, and to help us prioritize which regions Google open next.

Source: Google Cloud


Google Cloud Platform Tokyo region now open for business

Google Cloud Platform (GCP) continues to rapidly expand our global footprint. Today, we're lighting up our latest cloud region in Tokyo – asia-northeast1.

As one of the fastest growing technology markets, the Asia-Pacific region has been important to GCP since the beginning. Building on our existing Taiwan cloud region, Tokyo doubles our presence in Asia, for a total of six zones.

These cloud regions build upon Google’s networking backbone, including recent investments in FASTER and PLCN submarine cables. Google has an immense worldwide networking presence, in Asia and around the world, resulting in high performance for GCP customers.
tokyo-region-ga

Low latency and high performance are key considerations when choosing a region to deploy resources. By opening a dedicated cloud region in Tokyo, we’re bringing Google’s compute, storage and networking services directly to Japanese businesses. Based on our testing, customers in cities like Tokyo, Osaka, Sapporo and Nagoya experience 50-85% lower latency on average when served from the Tokyo region compared to Taiwan.

tokyo-region-ga-mercari

"Our mercari atte service provides the best user experience with GCP’s highly available network capability and edge caching. Now that the Tokyo region is open, we can use GCP for other services that have low-latency requirements." - Tatsuya Tsuruoka, Principal Engineer, Mercari

tokyo-region-ga-recruit

“We have been using GCP services in big data analysis for the entire Recruit Group. We are very glad to hear this news and really appreciate the launch of GCP Tokyo region, which will enable us to leverage more GCP technology and services that require low latency. We would like to use the advanced services of GCP Tokyo region, such as machine learning, and are looking forward to growing our business through our mutual partnership with Google.”      - Keiichiro Maeda, Corporate Executive Officer (Big Data, ID Point), Recruit Technologies Co.,Ltd.

Available now, the Cloud Region in Tokyo offers the following core services:

To help onboard customers, we’re also working with several partners in Japan who will provide their services from the new Tokyo region. Some of our early partners include JSOL, a provider of data analytics and machine learning solutions, and Groovenauts, which develops online gaming technology.

In the last few years, GCP has grown to serve a diverse set of customers from mobile gaming studios to traditional enterprises, all of whom depend on our cloud regions and network to reach their customers across Asia and beyond. We look forward to welcoming businesses to the Tokyo region and are excited to see what they build with our platform.

You can follow our locations page for updates on the availability of additional services, including new regions in Singapore and Sydney coming in 2017. For more information about how to deploy your resources, visit our zones and regions page. Fill out this survey to request early access to our future regions, and to help us prioritize which regions Google open next.

Source: Google Cloud


Jamboard — the whiteboard, reimagined for collaboration in the cloud

Bringing the right team together for a meeting or brainstorm can take an idea from being good to great. When we tap into ideas from teams across the globe, our work becomes more collaborative and productive. It doesn’t feel like...well, work.

At Google, we’ve set out to redefine meetings. So today, we’re introducing Jamboard — a collaborative, digital whiteboard that makes it easy for your team to share ideas in real-time and create without boundaries. We’re moving the whiteboard to the cloud.

Your team’s collaborative, cloud-first whiteboard

Jamboard raises the bar on collaborative creativity, bringing the same real-time collaboration found in G Suite, combined with the best of the web, to your team’s brainstorms and meetings. You can work with teammates from across the world on other Jamboards or remotely use the smartphone or tablet companion app.

jamboard small 1

Jamboard makes it easy to enrich your brainstorm with the power of Google Search and your team’s work in G Suite. Grab images and content from the web and bring them straight into your “jam.” Pull in work from Docs, Sheets and Slides, or add photos stored in Drive. To capture your ideas clearly, Jamboard is packed with tools like sticky notes and stencils as well as intelligent features like handwriting and shape recognition.

It’s a hassle when you use a whiteboard, reach the end of your meeting and have to quickly scramble to snap a picture of your work. How many times have you scribbled “do not erase” above your idea? Jamboard lets you take your work with you. When you “jam” with your colleagues, it lives in the cloud in Google Drive, so you can easily share what you’ve created or come back to iterate at anytime. Your brainstorm doesn’t have to end when the meeting does.

Designed for precision and ease

Jamboard is intelligently designed to speed up collaboration among your teams with a 55-inch 4k display that features a best-in-class touch response time. Combine this with a built-in HD camera, speakers and Wi-Fi, and you’re set up to collaborate and broadcast your work globally with Hangouts.
jamboard small 3

Jamboard’s touchscreen was built for precision drawing. It automatically recognizes the difference between using the stylus to sketch or the eraser to start over, and neither require batteries or pairing. Jamboard can also sense when you’re using your finger to wipe work off of the screen, just like a classic whiteboard (except you won’t get ink on your hand). The intuitive, single-cable setup makes it easy to start creating quickly with Jamboard — just wheel it in, turn it on and start brainstorming.

Time to jam

jamboard small 2

We want to help teams get back to the heart of what they love to do: create new ideas. That’s why we’ve worked closely with G Suite customers like Instrument, Netflix, and Spotify to refine the blend of hardware and software that drives Jamboard. We're also partnering with BenQ to tap into its network of channels and resellers to help bring Jamboard to market.

While touch displays have traditionally been expensive, at under $6,000 USD, Jamboard is a competitively-priced way to transform your team’s meetings and will be available for purchase in 2017. As we “jam” on the final product details, we're ready to partner with a broader set of G Suite customers to perfect Jamboard through an Early Adopter Program. If you're interested, submit the form on the Jamboard website to receive more information about eligibility.

Source: Google Cloud


Jamboard — the whiteboard, reimagined for collaboration in the cloud

Bringing the right team together for a meeting or brainstorm can take an idea from being good to great. When we tap into ideas from teams across the globe, our work becomes more collaborative and productive. It doesn’t feel like...well, work.

At Google, we’ve set out to redefine meetings. So today, we’re introducing Jamboard — a collaborative, digital whiteboard that makes it easy for your team to share ideas in real-time and create without boundaries. We’re moving the whiteboard to the cloud.

Your team’s collaborative, cloud-first whiteboard

Jamboard raises the bar on collaborative creativity, bringing the same real-time collaboration found in G Suite, combined with the best of the web, to your team’s brainstorms and meetings. You can work with teammates from across the world on other Jamboards or remotely use the smartphone or tablet companion app.

jamboard small 1

Jamboard makes it easy to enrich your brainstorm with the power of Google Search and your team’s work in G Suite. Grab images and content from the web and bring them straight into your “jam.” Pull in work from Docs, Sheets and Slides, or add photos stored in Drive. To capture your ideas clearly, Jamboard is packed with tools like sticky notes and stencils as well as intelligent features like handwriting and shape recognition.

It’s a hassle when you use a whiteboard, reach the end of your meeting and have to quickly scramble to snap a picture of your work. How many times have you scribbled “do not erase” above your idea? Jamboard lets you take your work with you. When you “jam” with your colleagues, it lives in the cloud in Google Drive, so you can easily share what you’ve created or come back to iterate at anytime. Your brainstorm doesn’t have to end when the meeting does.

Designed for precision and ease

Jamboard is intelligently designed to speed up collaboration among your teams with a 55-inch 4k display that features a best-in-class touch response time. Combine this with a built-in HD camera, speakers and Wi-Fi, and you’re set up to collaborate and broadcast your work globally with Hangouts.
jamboard small 3

Jamboard’s touchscreen was built for precision drawing. It automatically recognizes the difference between using the stylus to sketch or the eraser to start over, and neither require batteries or pairing. Jamboard can also sense when you’re using your finger to wipe work off of the screen, just like a classic whiteboard (except you won’t get ink on your hand). The intuitive, single-cable setup makes it easy to start creating quickly with Jamboard — just wheel it in, turn it on and start brainstorming.

Time to jam

jamboard small 2

We want to help teams get back to the heart of what they love to do: create new ideas. That’s why we’ve worked closely with G Suite customers like Instrument, Netflix, and Spotify to refine the blend of hardware and software that drives Jamboard. We're also partnering with BenQ to tap into its network of channels and resellers to help bring Jamboard to market.

While touch displays have traditionally been expensive, at under $6,000 USD, Jamboard is a competitively-priced way to transform your team’s meetings and will be available for purchase in 2017. As we “jam” on the final product details, we're ready to partner with a broader set of G Suite customers to perfect Jamboard through an Early Adopter Program. If you're interested, submit the form on the Jamboard website to receive more information about eligibility.

Source: Google Cloud


Helping universities build what’s next with Google Cloud Platform

Google Cloud Platform (GCP) now serves over one billion end-users through our customers’ products and services. And today I’m happy to say that we’re investing even more resources to bring these tools to higher education. We’re excited to offer universities the same powerful infrastructure, data analytics and machine learning that we use to drive innovation and performance.

We believe that universities can benefit from Google Cloud Platform in three areas: research, infrastructure and teaching. In research, GCP big data and machine learning tools can power experiments and analyses that weren’t even possible just a year ago. GCP frees academic IT organizations from the overhead of managing infrastructure, provisioning servers and configuring networks, and in teaching we enable professors to teach modern cloud computing subjects on Google Cloud Platform.

Supporting university research and infrastructure with Internet2

We’re committed to working closely with users to understand their needs. With the aim of exploring opportunities for the cloud with universities, Google is pleased to announce that it has joined Internet2, a US-based not-for-profit, member-driven technology and advanced networking consortium dedicated to advancing new innovations and scientific discoveries for the next generation of research and education.

Founded in 1996, Internet2 provides a collaborative environment for U.S. research and education organizations to solve shared technology challenges, and to develop innovative solutions in support of their educational, research and community service missions. Internet2 operates a research and education network and serves more than 317 U.S. universities, 70 government agencies, 42 regional and state education networks, 80 leading corporations and more than 65 national research and education networking from over 100 countries.

Internet2 and Google will work with universities across the United States to explore how GCP can better serve higher education. We hope to develop projects that address the higher education community’s needs around big data and machine learning technologies that can be met by Google’s cloud tools.

educause-1

Powering computer science teaching

In June we announced Google Cloud Platform Education Grants, and I'm pleased to share that hundreds of courses have been awarded free credits for their students. GCP is helping universities level the playing field, providing students with equal access to best-in-class compute resources. For example, at California State University, San Bernadino, Professor Vasilia’s students are learning about networking and cybersecurity by using GCP’s API’s to program database information. Students are learning to display geolocation signal strength heatmap information for internet access points, set up virtual private networks in the cloud, test firewall rules, set up network segments and read machine data between networks using GCP’s virtual network infrastructure. Fall classes are just underway, and we can’t wait to tell you more about what students learn and create with GCP tools. Professors teaching courses in computer science and related fields at universities in the US can still apply for grants for classes this year or next year.

Connecting with universities at EDUCAUSE

This week we’ll connect with hundreds of universities at the annual EDUCAUSE conference. If you'll be at the conference in Anaheim, visit us at booth #1800. There,  you can see demos of GCP, G Suite for Education (formerly known as Google Apps for Education), Chromebooks, Chrome digital signage, student and faculty programs and the latest in virtual reality. You can also join us for “Machine Learning 101” Wednesday 2:30-3:20pm PT in Room 210D. Learn more from universities who are benefiting from Google technology by attending our session “The Impact of Collaborative Tools - Lessons from Universities Using G Suite for Education (formerly known as Google Apps for Education)” on Thursday at 1:30-2:20pm PT in Room 210C.

We're committed to strengthening our partnership with the broader higher education community, and look forward to seeing the results.

Source: Google Cloud