Google Docs live on Google’s servers and are edited in a web browser. One of the most challenging aspects of leveraging this type of a cloud environment is workflow. Looking at every users workflow before making institutional changes is so daunting a task that it is rarely performed, resulting in users being left out of the process and at times also resulting in a breakdown in adoption from these “edge cases.”

Luckily, Google is wise to this predicament and has acquired DocVerse, which has resulted in a new option from Google: Google Cloud Connect for Microsoft Office. Cloud connect was announced last week without much fanfare. But the Cloud Connect toolbar for Microsoft Office is one of the more important new features of Google Docs in a long time, because it bridges the gap between the cloud and the client. In so doing, Cloud Connect breaks down some of the more critical arguments against adoption in the enterprise: retooling the entire workforce, redesigning workflow and working with documents while offline.

At 318, we have been working closely with many of our customers on transitions of data to cloud environments. Whether you are using Google or a competing vendor, please feel free to contact your 318 account manager or our sales department to discuss how this announcement can help to ease a transition to the cloud for your environment.