Google I/O: A VAR's Eye View

Wondering what to expect from Google I/O this week (besides the rumored demo of a Samsung Chrome Netbook)? Google Apps channel partners can expect to hear from the tech giant's channel chief Jeff Ragusa about some of the more innovative ways Google Apps reseller partners have created solutions that work to enhance customer productivity.

Ragusa will be addressing partners May 10 during the conference in San Francisco on the topic: "Developing innovative custom business solutions with Google Apps."

A tease from the Google I/O page that describes Ragusa's talk notes that "increasingly VARs and integrators are bringing cloud apps from multple vendors to their customers to create comprehensive and custom solutions. This session will show some of the innovative solutions developed by Google Apps resellers to tie multiple business systems together with Google Apps for increased organizational productivity."

Ragusa's address comes two years and three months after Google launched its reseller program for Google Apps. The program grew to 1,000 partners by Feb. 2010 and to 2,000 partners by Nov. 2010. In February Google announced the program had reached 2,500 partners. At that point Google unveiled a partner certification program for Google Apps.

And while the Google I/O event is primarily aimed at Google's big development community, there are a bunch of other sessions that may also be of interested to the wider IT solution provider base, too. (And a handful of sessions, mostly ones about Android development, will be LiveStreamed from the event.)

Here's a quick overview of sessions most likely to be of interest to IT solution providers:

Apps Marketplace: Best Practices and Integrations
Just over 1 year ago the Google Apps Marketplace launched with 50 cloud apps integrated with Google Apps. Today, there are over 300 apps and growing. In this session we'll go over highlight some the best practices found in applications and explore how apps take advantage of APIs like contacts, docs, calendar, and gadgets to provide additional value for their users.

Developing Apps, Add Ins and More with Google Apps Script
This intermediate talk focuses on some less well known uses of Apps Script - building Add Ins for Google Apps, standalone applications and more! We'll focus on rapid application development features, and demonstrate deployment to several targets.

Enterprise Workflow with Apps Script
Developing comprehensive and user friendly workflow can be a time consuming and thankless task. We showcase several new features of Apps Script and demonstrate how they make workflow easier.

Launch and Grow Your Business App on the Google Apps Marketplace
The Google Apps Marketplace is an online store to discover and purchase web applications which are integrated with Google Apps. This introductory session will provide an overview of the Google Apps Marketplace. You'll learn product integration and marketing best practices directly from Marketplace vendors.

Building a Business Web Presence using Blogger APIs
Want to sell a website hosting solution to your clients that won’t keep you awake at night with the fear it might get crushed by becoming virally popular? Blogger’s new Admin APIs enable you to have a customer friendly interface that serves their needs, and yours. Come along and learn how to implement your next customer site atop Blogger.

Coding For The Cloud: How We Write Enterprise Apps for Google on App Engine
Google's IT department builds the enterprise apps that run Google as a company. Come hear Google's CIO and engineers talk about what they've built and learn the tips, techniques and software design patterns that you can use to build applications on App Engine.

Taking Android to Work
More and more people are bringing Android devices into enterprise environments. This talk will cover general enterprise adoption considerations and related Android features. We will also provide an overview of security issues, managed internal app development, corporate app directories, and an in-depth look at a sample implementation of device management policies.

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