Google Apps In The Game

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The question is whether it will be a game changer?

Google has officially launched its Apps marketplace this week. These are third party applications progammed to integrate with everything else you or your company has sitting on the Google cloud (i.e. Gmail, Google calendar, Docs&Spreadsheets, etc.).

The Good

These apps are built to seamlessly integrate with other Google offerings (like Gmail, for example). Ideally you can do all your work in one universe with one password. How handy!

The Bad

These apps are built to seamlessly integrate with other Google offerings (like Gmail, for example). So, what happens to your business when Google has another one of their day-long or even 3 hour outages?

The Ugly

These apps are built to seamlessly integrate with other Google offerings (like Gmail, for example). As the video below demonstrates, it is as easy as pie to set up an app on your network. Step one: give the third party app maker carte blanche access to all your Google accounts (that's Gmail, the calendar, files, etc.) so that it can do all that promised seamless integration.

((insert the souind of a car screeching to a halt))

The idea is to hand over the keys to your data kingdom to a thirdy party company (two college drop-outs working out of their parent's basement).

What about network security?

What about compliance?

If someone isn't already doing it, how long will it be before all the bottomfeeders who create elaborate phishing schemes and DNS attacks think to create apps just to get access to company information?

Renee Oricchio

Renee Oricchio is a technology writer and former supervising news producer for CNN Financial News. She has been covering the computer industry since 1987.