Google Apps Management, Security: BetterCloud Gets Funding
BetterCloud, a Google Apps Marketplace partner, has raised $2.2 million to focus on cloud security and management tools for Google Apps. The seed funding came from angel investors and CEO David Politis — blending good-old bootstrapping with external dollars to drive growth.
BetterCloud has also launched a beta of FlashPanel, a Google Apps management tool. The company expects the management tool to be generally available in the Google Apps Marketplace by mid-2012. I don’t believe pricing has been announced.
According to BetterCloud, FlashPanel offers:
- Domain management from one dashboard: Allowing domain administrators and managed services providers (MSPs) access to domain vitals including users, groups and organizational units, as well as Google Docs quota usage and profiles tracking active, suspended and unused seats.
- Granular management and shared contacts: Day-to-day domain management ike adding users to new groups and shared contact sync with mobile devices.
- End-user tools: Including standardized email signature standardization creates a unified company brand. Also, Apps Butler, integrated with Google Chat, retrieves company directory contact information on-demand and can be used to broadcast company-wide announcements.
- Reporting, surveillance and user on-boarding: Scheduled and on-demand scans provide domain stats and email inbox monitoring. User on-boarding allows admins to provision and de-provision employees from within FlashPanel.
BetterCloud already promotes DomainWatch, a Google Apps security tool for domain admins. Domain Watch allows managed services providers (MSPs) and customers to more closely watch and control how end-users leverage Google Apps on a daily basis, the company claims.
Google Apps Partners: Growing Up Together?
Meanwhile, BetterCloud CEO David Politis also is chairman of the Cloud Alliance for Google Apps — which includes a growing number of Google Apps partners and ISVs (independent software vendors) working in the cloud. It sounds like the Cloud Alliance for Google Apps is set to grow in the next few weeks, and many of the existing members have cloud channel partner programs for resellers, VARs and MSPs.
An interesting side note: Roughly 33 percent of the world’s Top 100 Cloud Services Providers are Google Apps Authorized Resellers or partners, according to our second-annual Talkin’ Cloud 100 report, which will debut May 16. (The Talkin’ Cloud 100 report is formerly the Talkin’ Cloud 50).
