As your company adopts Google Apps, there are likely other features or other applications you would like to integrate with. Google Apps APIs allows you to create custom applications and gadgets for your users that extend Google Apps.
Imagine that there are some specific ways you use documents in your company workflow. You might want to create a Google Apps API application that integrates with an internal application to pull in the custom data for the next step in a process.
Or your Google Calendar might feed another sales system which syncs user data based on specific rules.
Or you may have an archiving structure you would like to implement for inbound and outbound emails. Programming such solutions based on your custom requirements can be done quickly within the Google Apps platform.
Integrating For Business Process
In our work with our consulting clients, Google Apps is the everyday productivity tool of an organization. Over time, there are new requirements which come from the desire to make business processes more efficient. The data which is inside each users’ instance of Google Apps becomes valuable for further next steps. Often times, double data entry may be tedious. Thus, a custom application built for an internal or customer process can speed up the workflow for a team.
If you watch how your users are adopting Google Apps, consider the types of data which would be valuable to bring into other systems within your organization. Then list out requirements for an integration app that would work to keep data flowing one-way or both ways.
Typically, the programming for such custom applications can be done quickly and changed as requirements change over time.
Your uses may want special gadgets they can add to their Gmail as well which can be other smaller projects to create as you find opportunities for productivity and collaboration enhancements.
What kind of applications would you wish to have working with Google Apps? Feel free to comment below.
Hi Don – Thanks for the Google Apps tips. Have you seen any workflow apps integreated with Google? Ted
Typically, workflow apps are custom developed for your organization.
You can always work with a system like http://www.integrify.com and then based on your requirements, have those two systems talk to each other.
If you have marketing workflow from your customers, then Salesforce.com as a CRM or a marketing automation system can be integrated. They have API’s which can work with a custom developed Google Apps application.
We would be glad to help map it out based on your requirements. Thanks.