Google Apps Tightens Control With User Policy Management
Tighter user policy management controls over cloud applications are one of the most requested features for Google Apps, wrote Adam Dawes, Google Apps Product Manager, in a blog post showcasing the new management features in Google Apps.
"Now administrators can segment their users into organizational units and control which applications are enabled or disabled for each group," Dawes wrote. "For example, a manufacturing firm might want to give their office workers access to Google Talk, but not their production line employees."
The addition of user policy management comes as Google continues to add more administrative controls in the cloud. Over the last six months, Google Apps has added multi-domain support, new data migration tools, SSL enforcement capabilities and more mobile device security controls.
The ability to more granularly control applications based on departments and groups give organizations a better grasp on what is being done in the cloud, Dawes said. Additionally, organizations can leverage user policy management to test applications with pilot users before completely rolling out an application or service.
"The ability to toggle services on or off for groups of users can also help customers transition to Google Apps from on-premise environments," Dawes wrote. "For example, a business can enable just the collaboration tools like Google Docs and Google sites for users who haven't yet moved off old on-premise messaging solutions."
Google is rolling out the user policy management tools to Premier and Education edition users now.