A Little Help for our Friends
April 9th, 2008 | Published in Google Apps, Google Enterprise
A little over a year ago, we realized there were so many new Google-related solutions being released by 3rd parties that our customers weren't able to keep up. To simplify match-making, we created the Enterprise Solutions Gallery, a simple site to connect our growing Google Enterprise customer base with products and professional services from our expanding developer and partner ecosystem.
Today I'm excited to announce the Google Solutions Marketplace, a site that makes it even easier for our customer and partner ecosystems to find each other and do business. The Marketplace's initial focus is connecting customers of our communications and collaboration products like Google Apps and Enterprise search with 3rd parties that sell complementary products and services. But that's just a start. We expect to grow to fit the needs of an expanding set of Google customers and developers.
For users, the Marketplace has search, browse, and end-user ratings to make it easy to locate and purchase from a vendor that meets their needs.
For developers and partners, the Marketplace makes it easy to create information-rich vendor and product listings to reach new customers and grow sales. And listing is self-service and free -- just sign in with your Google account, create a brief vendor profile, and start adding listings. (Note: your product or service must incorporate a Google API or service to qualify.) See the vendor guide for more info, or better yet, take a quick 2 minute screenshot tour:
Finally, to augment the end-user ratings and reviews associated with each listing, we've set up a companion customer success story blog to make it easier for users to find more in-depth customer stories from marketplace vendors. Click the "story labels" links in the left column to read a collection of customer success stories for a particular vendor, product, or customer scenario.