Google+ Goes to Work

Google will give its social network Google+ new hooks that latch onto various parts of Google Apps. The integration of services could boost the network's use in the enterprise. "The goal for Google isn't about overall numbers but getting a chunk of a company to use Google Apps and Google+. That's a totally different game, and one that they can excel at," said the Altimeter Group's Charlene Li.

Google is looking at its enterprise customers with greater integration of Google+ and Google Apps. On Wednesday the search giant introduced a preview of how Google+ features have been optimized for workplace users with specific integration at Google Apps and Gmail.

While Google+ hasn't caught on to the degree that it will soon eclipse social heavyweights like Facebook, this new announcement shows that the company has a different end goal in mind.
"Google+ offers enhanced privacy controls and productivity tools via Hangouts and screen-sharing capabilities that all businesses can benefit from," Josh Crandall, principal analyst at Net-pop Research, told the E-Commerce Times. "The service should be considered a social network for increased productivity rather than simply a social network."
This move shows that Google remains an enterprising company that sees the potential in enterprise applications.
"It remains to be seen if Google were to gain traction in the enterprise, (if) that would also help Google+ on the consumer side," Greg Sterling of Sterling Market Research told the E-Commerce Times. "It's going to be a nice complement to other Google Apps for those enterprises already invested in the system. There's a great deal of potential for Google+ in the enterprise, led by Hangouts. But it could be broadly used beyond that for group collaboration."