Photo by Pinar Ozger, pinarozger.com
“Some businesses literally threw me out of the meeting five minutes in when they realized I asked them to move their emails outside of their firewall,” remembered Google’s Rajen Sheth at GigaOM’s Net:Work conference in San Francisco Thursday. Sheth is known as the father of Google Apps, and he told his audience Thursday that establishing these apps what a bit of an uphill battle.
Even Google’s executives initially didn’t believe in the idea, and it took months to finally get the approval for one single engineer. Seven years later, Chrome Google Apps have evolved into a huge success story with four million business customers.
However, Sheth already has his next battle picked: He is now Group Product Manager of Chrome for Business at Google, and in this role is trying to sell Chromebooks to enterprise customers. “I feel like it’s a déjà-vu,” he said when asking about the challenges around establishing the device in the enterprise world. Some people already get it, he said, others aren’t quite there yet.
Google officially introduced the Chromebook at its Google I/O conference in May, and is charging enterprises $28 per month and device. Sheth said that Google wants to do to the desktop with Chromebooks what it did with Apps for enterprise IT. The upside for webworkers and companies alike is that the individual device matters much less than before. “We want to get to a point where any device is your device,” he said, adding that he doesn’t even carry a computer anymore. “I know when I log into my Chromebook at home its the same as my Chromebook at work,” he explained.
So how can Google win this battle and repeat the success of Google Apps? Sheth said that the product is continuously getting better, and also implied that there could be products other than laptops and the workstations currently available. “We are building it as a generic operating system,” he said, explaining that it would be up to the CE partners to come up with compelling form factors.
Photo by Pinar Ozger.
Chromebooks: Google’s next uphill battle http://t.co/HFK7si3M @amarchugg #news
Chromebooks: Google’s next uphill battle http://t.co/XLUaviHZ @amarchugg #news
Chromebooks: Google’s next uphill battle: “Some businesses literally threw me out of the meeting five minutes in… http://t.co/NhE8dnU0
Chromebooks: Google’s next uphill battle http://t.co/1Id4b5V8
Chromebooks: Google’s next uphill battle: “Some businesses literally threw me out of the meeting five minutes in… http://t.co/uyRVigIA
Chromebooks: Google’s next uphill battle: “Some businesses literally threw me out of the meeting five minutes in… http://t.co/RReIPnut
Chromebooks: Google’s next uphill battle: “Some businesses literally threw me out of the meeting five minutes in… http://t.co/DkSXpZUr
Chromebooks: Google’s next uphill battle http://t.co/tVl9Q9qe
Chromebooks: Google’s next uphill battle http://t.co/JxGUDeSR
Chromebooks: Google’s next uphill battle http://t.co/srCzPMq6
Chromebooks: Google’s next uphill battle: “Some businesses literally threw me out of the meeting five minutes in… http://t.co/4fZ9apmO
Chromebooks: Google’s next uphill battle http://t.co/3wdMVhEb
Chromebooks: Google’s next uphill battle http://t.co/XKSxGyMG
Chromebooks: Google’s next uphill battle http://t.co/ERCU8obE
Chromebooks: Google’s next uphill battle http://t.co/t2CSVP4C
Chromebooks: Google’s next uphill battle http://t.co/TzUeG8Rp
Chromebooks: Google’s next uphill battle http://t.co/ufxmVuHg
Chromebooks: Google’s next uphill battle http://t.co/NhighFNn via Janko Roettgers
Chromebooks: Google’s next uphill battle http://t.co/gslyuRjj
#virtual events Chromebooks: Google’s next uphill battle: “Some businesses literally threw me out of the meeting… http://t.co/C11zNCEq
#virtual events Chromebooks: Google’s next uphill battle: “Some businesses literally threw me out of the meeting… http://t.co/gRpP8oKt
Chromebooks: Google’s next uphill battle http://t.co/iParnmOR #businessapps
Chromebooks: Google’s next uphill battle: “Some businesses literally threw me out of the meeting five minutes in… http://t.co/CkQKQj5c
Chromebooks: Google’s next uphill battle: “Some businesses literally threw me out of the meeting five minutes in… http://t.co/5MTVXVVf
Chromebooks: Google’s next uphill battle http://t.co/esJzljnl #smallbiztech
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#collabortion Chromebooks: Google’s next uphill battle: “Some businesses literally threw me out of the meeting f… http://t.co/WXsgGad4
Chromebooks: Google’s next uphill battle: “Some businesses literally threw me out of the meeting five minutes in… http://t.co/ZApMTcrS
Chromebooks: Google’s next uphill battle http://t.co/zloLBaY6
Chromebooks: Google’s next uphill battle http://t.co/Gg055vIE
Chromebooks: Google’s next uphill battle http://t.co/zaytVGNm
my latest on @gigaom – Chromebooks: Google’s next uphill battle http://t.co/QVioWC26
Chromebooks: Google’s next uphill battle @jank0 http://t.co/L125SujJ
Chromebooks: Google’s next uphill battle @jank0 http://t.co/L125SujJ
@AlanEniang http://t.co/FFlwmqYu
Chromebooks: Google’s next uphill battle: Getting enterprise customers excited about Chromebooks can … http://t.co/R0LL6A12 #JobCircle
Chromebooks: Google’s next uphill battle: Getting enterprise customers excited about Chromebooks can … http://t.co/R0LL6A12 #JobCircle
Fburnr: Chromebooks: Google’s next uphill battle: “Some businesses literally threw me out of… http://t.co/ifaTM1QU
Chromebooks: Google’s next uphill battle http://t.co/o6RAopRG #webdevfeeds
gigaom: Chromebooks: Google’s next uphill battle http://t.co/9aRt8ZJt
$28/devicemonth seems like a good deal to me. RT @gigaom: Chromebooks: Google’s next uphill battle http://t.co/cETI9Ghm
Love mine. Won’t succeed until MS Office isn’t a business requirement. Chromebooks: Google’s next uphill battle http://t.co/s9azg9h2
Chromebooks: Google’s next uphill battle – Getting enterprise customers excited about Chromebooks can be an uphill … http://t.co/drJb2iJm
Chromebooks: Google’s next uphill battle – Getting enterprise customers excited about Chromebooks can be an uphill … http://t.co/rXc40Y4Y
RT @gigaom: Chromebooks: Google’s next uphill battle http://t.co/f4elH93O #WorkConf
“Chromebooks: Google’s next uphill battle” – I’d put my money on this working (via @jank0) http://t.co/zeW58O4T
RT @jank0: my latest on @gigaom – Chromebooks: Google’s next uphill battle http://t.co/QVioWC26
Something I’ve never understood and I’d love his answer to is why someone would buy hardware that can ONLY run ChromeOS vs buying similar hardware that runs a regular OS and can also run the Chrome browser. The former seems to drastically limit my options whereas the latter leaves me with all of the advantage of Chrome and more options for a very similar price.
Here are things you get with a Chromebook that you do not get with a Windows machine of similar price running a Chrome browser: (a) lightning fast boot up time, less than 8 seconds from cold start to having the Chrome browser open due to the inherent simplicity of Chrome OS and the solid state drive on Chromebooks, or 1 second resume from sleep, (b) super long battery life, typically 6-9 hours depending on the model, (c) the security of verified boot which basically eliminates the need for antivirus software, (d) integrated 3G in some models. For people that own Windows laptops but find themselves spending nearly all their time in the Chrome browser anyway and not using any native applications, the Chromebook is a superior device for them.
Zero maintenance and associated very low provisioning, maintenance, and support cost of Chromebooks are also a big part of the advantage of Chromebooks over Windows.
A Chromebook has value for what it _doesn’t_ have: need for loading software, anti-virus protection, Windows bloat. The simplicity of the device is appealing. Like driving a nimble jeep instead of a large Hummer or trunk that can haul anything. Doesn’t solve all computing needs, but covers a great percentage of them if one adopts the model.
A massive saving in desktop provisioning, maintenance and support labour costs is the reason.
RT @WebWorkerDaily: Chromebooks: Google’s next uphill battle http://t.co/zloLBaY6
Chromebooks: Google’s next uphill battle http://t.co/iyuia4Im #li
RT @jank0: my latest on @gigaom – Chromebooks: Google’s next uphill battle http://t.co/QVioWC26
Chromebooks: Google’s next uphill battle http://t.co/l7cBI6i5
RT @gigaom: Chromebooks: Google’s next uphill battle http://t.co/srCzPMq6
If I can run all my business application out of the cloud for my staff…with enhanced security, no update issues and access any where any time…. that alone would be great. When you factor in 5 minute replacement of new local chromebook and cheap hardware…it’s an IT dream.
Chromebooks: Google’s next uphill battle: “Some businesses literally threw me out of the meeting five minutes in… http://t.co/hwMgyH8v
Freelance Advice | Chromebooks: Google’s next uphill battle: “Some businesses literally threw me out … http://t.co/u186p8KW #webdesign
Chromebooks: Google’s next uphill battle: “Some businesses literally threw me out of the meeting five mi… http://t.co/7C29clic #gigaom
Chromebooks: Google’s next uphill battle: “Some businesses literally threw me out of the meeting five minutes in… http://t.co/wPUcmpPM
Chromebooks: Google’s next uphill battle: “I know when I log into my Chromebook at home its the same as my Chrom… http://t.co/OqmhByoC
http://t.co/5jPEsZo3 @mngpromo
RT @gigaom: Chromebooks: Google’s next uphill battle http://t.co/srCzPMq6
Chromebooks: Google’s next uphill battle http://t.co/16zXsnaG
RT @gigaom: Chromebooks: Google’s next uphill battle http://t.co/Ad9TfYeI #edtech – unsurprising resistance to clouds.
Chromebooks: Google’s next uphill battle http://t.co/4tPfuc87
Chromebooks: Google’s next uphill battle http://t.co/0br4H47Z
Reading: Chromebooks: Google’s next uphill battle w/video of Rajen Sheth @GigaOm #workconf http://t.co/enloRqcL
Chromebooks are targeted to specific types of users that want an easy-to-use, Internet-friendly device. They are not meant to replace the traditional PC or laptop.
In addition, there are third party apps out there that can bridge the gap for Chromebook users that require occasional access to those tools found only in a Windows environment. For example, if a Chromebook user needs quick, easy, temporary access to a Windows desktop or Windows app, they can use Ericom AccessNow, a pure HTML5 RDP client that enables Chromebook users to connect to any RDP host, including Terminal Server (RDS Session Host), physical desktops or VDI virtual desktops – and run their applications and desktops in a browser.
Ericom‘s AccessNow does not require Java, Flash, Silverlight, ActiveX, or any other underlying technology to be installed on end-user devices – an HTML5 browser is all that is required.
For more info, and to download a demo, visit:
http://www.ericom.com/html5_RDP_Chromebook.asp?URL_ID=708
Note: I work for Ericom