When I joined Box.net a few years ago, we weren’t using a web-based email and calendaring solution, despite being "born in the cloud." At first I POP-ed my email into my personal Gmail (insert groans from IT here). But as the company grew from 40 to 100, it wasn't hard to convince our IT guru, Jeff, that a move to Google Apps would be best for productivity...and his sanity.
Today, we no longer use our in-house system that required a lot of maintenance and back-ups. Instead we’re heavy users of the Google Apps. We use Gmail, Google Talk and Google Calendar to keep track of our busy schedules and stake out precious conference rooms. And since we’ve grown pretty quickly, being able to collaborate on projects using Google Docs has helped us to work together across our larger teams. Plus, since the launch of the Google Apps Marketplace, the Box and Google Apps platforms are integrated, resulting in the seamless connection of Box's cloud content management solution with Google Apps. We like to think that the two services were a match made in heaven...or at least the clouds :) Check out our snazzy video about the integration.
The Box-Google Apps integration helps us work faster and more efficiently. Being able to collaborate across departments as we've grown has been essential. My favorite part is the ability to create a Google doc in a Box folder. I get the real-time collaboration of Google Docs and can also assign my CEO a task to approve the final version. Plus our security-sensitive VP of Tech Ops is happy because he can now report on who's got access to which files in Google Docs. And everyone can access and link to their Box files from Gmail. Peanut butter and chocolate.
Thanks to our move to Google Apps, I'm happy to report that as a service and company, Box operates fully in the cloud. Now that the Box team is hooked on Google Apps, none of us can imagine life without it.
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