Google has enjoyed only moderate success so far in the enterprise services game till now, the reason being the already popular services offered by its rivals, mainly Microsoft. The search giant is steadily making progress in this field and its Google Apps platform has been gaining popularity as the number of enterprise and educational institutes that adopt Google Apps is consistently growing in number. Google on 23rd Jan 2011 announced on its official blog that it would now start a certification program for IT professionals for their expertise in configuring Google Apps.
What this essentially means is that if you are experienced in the deployment, migration and integration of Google Apps for Business or Education, then you can now get a certification from Google for this.
For long now, Google Apps customers have been worried about the implementation and deployment of their services. Lack of exposure to such skilled professionals has hindered the adoption of this technology, to the disappointment of Google (obviously!). Google is looking to create a pool of highly trained and certified system deployment and configuration experts that add to the value that Google Apps brings to organizations.
What this means for individuals, entrepreneurs and educational institutes:
This certification program is aimed currently at individuals that have already have some experience with Google Apps and have configured some of these to run successfully in organizations. Entrepreneurs have been moving to Google Apps and so are many educational institutes that have been offered this services free.
Deployment and migration from existing platforms is a bit tricky and having a certified administrator helps greatly in freeing up important IT resources and allow you to focus on other more important tasks, thereby increasing efficiency and productivity of your technical team. The power of collaboration cannot be underestimated when it comes to startup organizations. Availability of data on demand is considered essential and could based services ensure just that.
Educational institutes that have already adopted the service are highly optimistic about its future, considering the collaborative power that this suite brings to its users. It allows IT administrators of educational institutes to be efficient in delivering high quality teacher trainings and professional development course materials. An all knowing system administrator can do wonders and revolutionize the experience that students and teachers have at a school or university
For individuals that complete this certification, employment opportunities will certainly grow from here on, considering how Google is aggressively pushing for the adoption of their platform. Enterprise and educational institutes both looking for certified professionals are sure to shell out handsome sums of money to simplify an otherwise laborious task of IT management. Google will also provide a ‘Google’ badge for online marketing and other marketing collateral. They will also provide additional visibility to qualified individuals on the Apps Marketplace.
Google aims at integrating its mobile operating system, Android also into the framework, essentially setting up its own rival that will challenge RIM( Blackberry ) in its mobile services and Microsoft in its enterprise services.
Google’s certification program is 100% web based, meaning certification courses can be taken online. The validity of each certification is one year and will have to be renewed every year. How this affects the program will be interesting to see. For now, it seems like a good opportunity for individuals looking to capitalize on their skills and organizations to better streamline their communication and collaborative infrastructure with the help of these highly trained professional, a win-win for all!!
What’s your take?
