Customer Case Study: SingleFeed
We’re constantly hearing from customers how they’re using Syncplicity in their businesses to help them save money and succeed better. We’ve heard from many that they’d like to hear how others are using Syncplicity so we’re starting a series of case studies to highlight some of our customers. Join us in meeting some companies who are using Syncplicity Business Edition to solve real and critical business problems.
Interested in highlighting how you use Syncplicity Business Edition in your company in a future blog post? Send an e-mail to Pat Richardson at pat@syncplicity.com and let us know!
“We rely upon Syncplicity Business Edition to keep our business running smoothly.” – Brian Smith, SingleFeed CEO
Customer
SingleFeed is a 10 person company with offices in Portland and San Francisco and contractors across the country. With a geographically distributed team that often travels, they adopted Google Apps to provide a Cloud Computing solution for their distributed workforce. Gmail is used for all of their internal e-mail, Google Calendar for their calendaring, and Google Docs internal collaboration. Google Apps is part of the standard IT configuration for every employee.
Challenge
While Google Apps worked well for internal communication and documents of less than 10MB, larger files were shared internally using a file server and VPN. External communication was done using an external FTP server which was slow and cumbersome. In addition, the multitude of places that were being used to store, share, and collaborate on files was unwieldy.
“It was a huge challenge to manage and maintain all of our files across Google Apps, File Servers, and FTP servers – not to mention people’s laptops and desktops – across our geographically distributed locations. We had to remember where our files and latest versions were, were hitting limitations that differed by system, and were always worried about losing important information. The system was too fragile, costly, and time consuming,” said Brian Smith, CEO.
Solution
Syncplicity Business Edition is used to handle all of their file management, sharing, and collaboration needs in conjunction with Google Apps. Through this solution, SingleFeed was able to replace their File Server and FTP Server along with the associated costs and hassle. In addition, files on laptops and desktops that were previously unmanaged are now centrally managed, backed up, synchronized, and accessible anywhere both in the cloud and offline.
“I stopped having to worry about forgetting an important file at the office while on the road, not having backups and previous versions of my important information, or jumping through hoops to share files with coworkers or customers,” said Ryan Douglas, Business Development Manager.
According to Smith, “Syncplicity Business Edition and Google Apps are a winning combination. We love the tight integration from sync to single sign-on between the two. Syncplicity has brought together our files and our team so that wherever we’re working, whether in a web browser or a desktop, we always know we have what we need to get the job done.”
Click here to learn more about SingleFeed.
Syncplicity Running on Google Storage
We’ve been hard at work with our friends at Google to enable Syncplicity to run directly on top of Google Storage.
We were excited to be one of Google’s two partners at the Google Storage launch at Google IO earlier this year. As a sneak peek of things to come, the video from Google IO is now up online for you to see Syncplicity running on top of Google’s storage backend publicly for the first time.
Fast forward to 20:19 to view the Syncplicity demo.
With Syncplicity’s direct desktop sync with Google Docs, full support for Google Apps’ any file upload, native Google Apps UI integration with Google Account single sign-on, and upcoming support for Google Storage, Syncplicity has the highest level of first-class support for Google’s cloud offerings of any solution available today.
Mac Client Update – Faster than Skype!
The Syncplicity team has made a ton of progress on the Mac client this week, and we wanted to share a quick video to show one of the enhancements that will go in the next Beta client update.
Check out the video below to see how fast Syncplicity reconnects when waking up my computer:
For the Syncplicity user on the go, this improvement means a minimum of lag time as you switch your Internet connection between Wi-Fi hotspots, your home network, and your workplace. Getting up and connected faster than Skype? We’re pretty darn proud of that!
Can’t wait for the final release Mac Client? Apply to become a Beta Tester!
Mac Attack
We’ve been hard at work over the past few months on Syncplicity for Mac. We’re really excited about the possibilities for Syncplicity on the Mac platform, and so far we’ve had a great response from our helpful and dedicated group of beta testers. Most Syncplicity operations are available, and we’re moving quickly to complete our set of features before making Syncplicity available to all Mac users.
Over the course of this project, we’ve learned a great deal about the Mac world. You’ll see this illustrated in a number of features, including:
- Single- and multi- selection aware Finder context menus.
- Menu bar and dock item access to common Syncplicity functionality.
- Native Cocoa user interface throughout the application, not an ugly imitation of a Mac interface.
So far, we’ve been focused on making synchronization as solid as possible. Now, we’re working on building a more powerful and intuitive user interface. Stay tuned for future updates.
Syncplicity Adds News Feed to the My Syncplicity Website
We’ve started rolling out a new feature to select Syncplicity users last week – at my.syncplicity.com, you’ll notice a new tab called News Feed.
The News Feed feature shows you the most recent events that have taken place in your account. Think of it like a Facebook news feed for your files! While it’s a great way to view recent activity on your account, it’s also the first phase of a bigger restructuring project that will make Syncplicity faster and easier to use.
If you have this tab already, please tell us what you think. Don’t have the News Feed yet? Hang tight, we’ll be rolling it out to more users shortly!
Now accepting applications for the Syncplicity Mac beta!
About a year ago, we made the hard decision to withdraw the Mac Beta Client. It was difficult to see many of you go, but we knew we wanted to provide our users with a better, faster, and more reliable tool.
For many months, the engineering team has been hard at work at the Mac client – eager to address the needs of our Mac user population, and eager to build a Mac client that meets the highest of expectations. They’re excited to show you the results of their labor – but we need to test it with a larger group of users and get your feedback first!
We are excited to let you know that we are opening up the Mac Beta Client for the first round of beta testers. We are looking for a small pool of Mac users to test this product. Interested? Apply to be a Mac Beta Tester here. We look forward to having you test the Mac Beta Client!
Edit (5/11/2010): We have just contacted the users who are accepted into the first Mac Beta period. If you’re still interested, please sign up for the next round of testing. We’ll be in touch over the next few weeks!
Hello Google Marketplace!
I’m excited today to announce that Syncplicity Business Edition will soon be available through the Google Apps Marketplace — Google’s new online storefront for Google Apps and services that is being announced today. Earlier this year, Syncplicity and Google announced a seamless integration which allows users and organizations to directly synchronize files and folders on their desktops, laptops, and file servers with Google Docs. Since that time, we’ve seen great adoption with nearly 2 million unique files synchronized.
Syncplicity is the only solution that enables Google Apps users to synchronize their Microsoft Office Word, Excel, and PowerPoint, JPEG, ZIP, CAD, Adobe Acrobat PDF and other files with Google Docs directly. You now have the choice to use your preferred desktop application such as Microsoft Office or Open Office and then collaborate on that file in Google Docs without having to manually upload or download any files. Simply open or create a file on your desktop and it’ll be waiting for you within Google Docs. Create files or change files in Google Docs and they will be synchronized to your desktop and the desktops of others you are collaborating with.
For IT admins, files within Google Apps are synchronized, backed up, versioned, and managed using Syncplicity’s Central File Management, so you never have to worry about losing track of your organization’s files regardless of where they are stored and with no file size, file type, storage, or user limitations.
Create and edit files and folders on your desktop or in Google Docs. Syncplicity keeps your files backed up and in sync between Google Docs and your desktops automatically.
We’re excited to support Google in their new Google Apps Marketplace. It not only makes it easier for users to find Syncplicity, but also makes it easier for users to install and use Syncplicity. Through the benefit of Single Sign-On, you will soon be able to login directly to your Google Account, install Syncplicity into the Google Apps interface, and then access the Syncplicity Web Interface directly without having to log-in separately again.
Syncplicity Personal Edition free and paid users — don’t worry, you can sync your files now as well. Simply log into your account and click on the Google Docs link to get started!
Don’t have a Syncplicity account? It’s easy to get set up with a FREE 30-day trial of Business Edition or a FREE Personal Edition Account. If you are Google Apps Premier customer, click here for a limited-time discount off your first year’s subscription!
Syncplicity Enhances Sync and Cloud Computing for Google Apps
I am excited today to announce the availability of our latest Syncplicity Business Edition. This release focuses on adding new capabilities for Google Apps users in conjunction with Google’s announcement of the Upload any file feature to Google Docs. By using both Syncplicity and Google Docs, customers may now seamlessly sync and store any file from their computers to and from Google Docs. Docs can then be used to access and edit these files anywhere.
We’ve had the pleasure of working with Google and their new Google Docs API over the past several months to bring business customers new and critical capabilities around sync, file management, collaboration, sharing, automated back-up and instant restore. We also had the benefit of more than 5,000 joint Google Apps and Syncplicity customers using our products together to sync nearly one million files to guide our requirements for a more integrated, feature-rich solution.
Feedback from many customers shows that they want to move more aggressively to cloud computing and online storage using applications like Google Docs, but want to do so without entirely abandoning the desktop or the ability to use existing desktop apps like Microsoft Office. Our customers, however, don’t want to worry about uploading files and downloading files manually, which computer or place they last left a file, not being able to use their preferred app, and if they were working with the latest version of a document.
In addition, customers want to move between those environments seamlessly. They want a solution that supports centralized file management of any file inside or outside of the firewall, any file type or size, automated back-up and instant restore, as well as policy-controllable sync, sharing and collaboration. And they want these things to automatically work in the background through an integrated solution.
With today’s release, along with Google’s announcement, we now offer that solution to customers.
A 30-day free trial of the latest Syncplicity Business Edition is available for any user to try by clicking here. If you’re a Google Apps Premier Edition customer, we’re offering a free 30-day trial and if you order by March 31st, you’ll get 3 months free with your first annual subscription by registering here.
With the new capabilities, customers can now sync, upload, and store any file with Google Docs. Microsoft Office documents such as Word, Excel, and PowerPoint files can also be richly edited.
Google Apps customers who also are using Syncplicity can:
- Seamlessly use existing files, such as Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Adobe Acrobat PDFs already on their desktops, with Google Docs without the need to manually upload them.
- Synchronize, share, back-up, and centrally manage all file types with one seamless and easy to use solution.
- Continuously synchronize files in real time between Google Docs and desktops. Customers are assured that users are always working on the up-to-date latest versions of each file.
- Open and edit their documents within existing desktop applications such as Microsoft and then open and edit those same documents seamlessly within Google Docs.
- Provide different users on the same team with the choice of collaborating using Microsoft Word, Google Docs or another preferred application.
- Have automatic real-time back-up with previous version support and instant restore of any file.
- Set policy and administrative controls on an individual or company-wide basis.
- Synchronize and back-up any file type of any file size.
- Scale to an unlimited number of users and storage.
Pricing for Syncplicity Business Edition starts at $45 per month for the first 3 users and scales with the addition of more users and storage.
We’ve been very happy to work with the Google team. They are focused on delivering new ways to give customers the best and easiest access to all their information online. Working together to leverage cloud computing along with Google Docs, we’ve taken a lot of pain out of file management and synchronization.
Google’s new Documents List API has given us the ability to tightly integrate our solutions, allowing customers to use Google Docs and work at a whole new level.
-
If you are a Google Apps Premier customer, register here to receive a free 30-day trial and 3 months off your first annual subscription.
Best Regards,
Leonard Chung, CEO
Saving Time and Money with Syncplicity
Justin is a user who started out using Syncplicity Personal Edition, but quickly saw the value in rolling out Syncplicity Business Edition with his team of mobile realtors.
InfoWorld’s Cratchit Hall of Fame recently interviewed Justin on his Syncplicity usage, and in this article Justin shares how Syncplicity helped his team manage their critical work files from home, the office, and on the go while saving his company money and the frustration of manually syncing their files:
“[Syncplicity] has saved us a lot of money. It allowed us to work efficiently. We were pulling our hair out before. This product has taken a lot of the ‘painstaking’ out of syncing and collaborating.”
Have a story like Justin’s? We’d love to hear it – leave a comment below!
December 1st: Syncplicity Business Edition Live Demo
The Syncplicity Business Edition live demo is tomorrow! Our very own Rachel Pennig will be running you through the Syncplicity Business Edition service and the benefits to your company with Q&A shortly thereafter.
Click here to register for the December 1st live web demo at 11am PST / 2pm EST.
If you can’t make the time, let us know if you would like to see more live demos in the future.
Cheers,
The Syncplicity Team