Google Takeout: It’s Deliciously Simple to Get Your Data Out of Google

If you have ever wondered how to, or even if you could, get your data out of Google’s services, here’s how and yes, you can. Though we won’t name names, there are a lot of other businesses out there where once you put your data in (think about uploading a photo or chatting, for example) it remains forever with that business. Not so with Google.

There’s an engineering team at Google whose singular goal is to make it easier for users to move their data in and out of Google products. They are quick to say that people usually don't look to see if they can get their data out of a product until they decide that they want to leave. That makes us agree that we should all ask ourselves a few questions before starting to use a product that will store our data:

• Can I get my data out in an open, interoperable, portable format?
• How much is it going to cost to get my data out?
• How much of my time is it going to take to get my data out?

Google.com/takeout is an online service run by Google engineers (the Data Liberation Front) where, once you put in your credentials, it’s easy to download a copy of, for example, all your Google Docs. It even converts them to the closest usable file formats (PDF, RTF, text, Word, HTML, etc.) and creates a single zip file with all of your files in it.

How long do you have to wait for Google Takeout to provide a copy of all of your data, you ask? The answer: minutes. Probably less time than you’d wait for the other kind of takeout from the restaurant down the street. It’s easy, it’s fast, and it’s free (or at least no more than you’re already paying, if you’re paying for Google Apps.)

At Agosto, one of the questions we are asked by our Google Apps prospects is, “what if in a year we don’t like Google Apps?” We advise that everyone of course should follow their licensing agreement, but that if they want out when the license period is over, Google cares enough to have created an entire program to help them get their data out, for good.

The Google Data Liberation Front believes that “you should be able to export any data that you create in (or import into) a product”, that it shouldn’t cost much and that it should be fast. We’re believers. You really can get your data out of Google’s services including Chat, Docs, Calendar, Voice - even YouTube videos. It’s also pretty darned easy to get your data in. That’s more our specialty here at Agosto. We can help you go Google quickly and easily and migrate data into Google Apps for your users.

Now that you know that you can get your data out if you need to, once you try Google Apps we’re still pretty sure you’ll never actually want to.

Microsoft Exchange vs. Google Apps: Installation Showdown

One of Agosto’s sales engineers just created a demonstration lab to be able to show on-premise tools for legacy systems. His goal was to be able to show the difference, online, between working with Microsoft Exchange and with Google on-premise tools. He wanted to be able to demonstrate Google’s Directory Sync tool, and what it’s like migrating data and synchronizing calendars while some users are still on Exchange, and others are already starting to use Google Apps. We’ll share more about that soon. For now, let’s just look at what it takes to install and maintain Exchange as a solution.

First you need servers, the Exchange server itself plus an active directory server. These have to be configured and licensed, updated and patched and then you can install Exchange. Our sales engineer went ahead and put these pieces together. He set up the servers, configured all, licensed, updated and patched all, and started installing Exchange on a Monday.

Nearly a week later, Exchange was still installing. All in all, it ended up taking about a week just get to the point of even being able to start comparing any capabilities of Microsoft Exchange to Google Apps.

Google Apps requires no servers, no patches and no special licensing, and takes about an hour to install and set up. There are hard and soft costs to every solution. Purchasing servers is expensive and the maintenance of legacy systems, like Exchange, can cost companies a lot more. The combined soft and hard costs of hardware, software updates, patches, time and staff to maintain things really add up.

Agosto and Google Ready for Business in Canada

After a lot of planning, scouting and strategy meetings it's official: Agosto has opened its Toronto office and the company is the first Google Apps Premier Enterprise and SMB Reseller to establish a local presence in Canada. Over the past few months, we have co-hosted several events with Google in Canada, where we have heard about the opportunities for a company like Agosto to provide both a strong partnership for Google Apps migrations and deployments. Agosto's managed service experience, spanning over 11 years, also uniquely positions Agosto to help create new and more cost-effective mobile apps, cloud-based services and solutions for our clients.

View Larger Map

Speaking of clients, as a Premier Reseller of the Google Apps suite of communication and collaboration tools, Agosto already helps companies in Canada including The Second City, to successfully deploy and use Google Apps. At Agosto, we serve clients of all sizes, from CIOs of the largest companies to the volunteer IT staff at small non-profits. A recent complex project included the migration of over 17,000 employees from Microsoft Exchange to Google Apps, with employees located in 41 locations across four continents and training for users in eight languages. Agosto is pleased to be able to offer a high level of service to Canadian businesses.

Our new office is located in Suite 2500 of Toronto's beautiful Eaton Town Centre at 1 Dundas St. West, Toronto, ON M5G 1Z3, Canada. You can reach Agosto at sales@agosto.ca. Send us a message and let us know what IT projects have been lingering on your plate that you'd really like to see through, and let us lend a hand.

The Agosto Team is excited to be in Canada. Look forward to meeting with you soon at one of our events.

Agosto marks milestone in Google Apps partner ecosystem

Today marks a milestone in Agosto’s continued growth in the Google Apps partner ecosystem. In 2007 we became a Google Apps partner, in 2009 we became a Google Apps Authorized Reseller, and today we became a Google Apps Premier Reseller in both the Enterprise and SMB segments. Becoming a Premier Reseller is a monumental accomplishment requiring significant effort and dedication from the Agosto Cloud Services team. One of our last projects best captures our abilities: a complex migration from Exchange to Google Apps, 17,000 employees, in 41 locations, across 4 continents, and training users in 8 languages. I am very pleased with what we’ve accomplished and proud to be recognized as one of the top Google Apps partners in North America. I look forward to 2012 and continuing to help customers leverage Google Apps to further their business.

- Aric Bandy, CEO

Asset Recovery Conference

Careers in Information Technology

In the past few years, I've found that our youth, specifically the graduating class, doesn't always have an opportunistic outlook on future careers. Launching out in a new career isn't the easiest given the unemployment rates. That said, this is one of the best times to be in the IT sector. With this in mind, I jumped at a chance to speak at Forest Lake High School on careers in IT. Here's what I covered:

- Aric

Innovation doesn’t occur in a vacuum: Atmosphere 2011 Recap

At Google’s 2011 Atmosphere conference Google attempted to answer one question; what does it really take to be innovative?

In front of 350 Fortune 500 CIO’s, speakers used example after example to drive home the point that innovation comes from collaboration not just inspired thought.  

Amit Singh, Google Vice PresidentDr. Astro Teller explained how Ben Franklin sat in coffee houses discussing the theory of electricity.  How Gutenberg created the printing press after visiting a winery and learning about wine presses.  Vince Cerf, the inventor of TCP/IP discussed how TCP/IP only came into existence though the collaborative efforts of many different teams across different companies.  The point was succinctly captured by Steven Johnson who coined his speech - chance favors the connected mind.  Innovation doesn’t simply occur.  

Businesses today must figure out how to enable an inter-disciplinary exchange of ideas.  This means real-time collaboration and socialization.  As CIO’s, the greatest struggle is to build this collaborative and socially-enabled IT infrastructure that retains a level of control especially as more and more consumer products (iPhones, iPads, MacBooks, etc.) make their way into the organization.  

This point was not lost on this audience.  CIO after CIO articulated this point in their own words; each acknowledging that Google’s collaborative products is certainly one crucial step.  

Most CIOs admitted to struggling with finding the right balance between corporate governance and collaborative flexibility.  And to make matters harder, their users are putting more and more demands on their IT department by expecting support for their consumer products.

By no means trivial, each CIO had their own plan for overcoming these challenges. The CIOs I spoke with seemed to have the same three items on their list for 2012 initiatives:

1.     Developing and executing a comprehensive cloud strategy
2.     Adapting existing IT governance and controls to better accommodate a cloud strategy
3.     Device agnostic mobile management strategies

These seemingly universal challenges are those that CIOs across all organizations will face in the months ahead. The content forced participants to think big and an atmosphere of innovation. Through Atmosphere 2011, the best and brightest forward-thinking CIOs, sought answers and shared concerns.

- Aric Bandy

Agosto Recognized in Top 200 Cloud Experts

Talkin’ Cloud, the go-to guide for cloud computing in the IT channel, recognizes the industries top 200 experts on cloud computing.   Included on the list are representatives from Gartner, SugarCRM, RackSpace, Oracle, Cisco, Microsoft, and many others leading technology firms.  Agosto is honored to be included in such a distinguished list.

 Read More 

Agosto Featured In Twin Cities Business Feb 2011

Agosto, along with two of their existing customers, were featured in Twin Cities Business Magazines February 2011 edition in an article describing how Cloud Computing has help transform their organizations into more competitive, nimble and profitable organizations: Cloud Confidence. This article continues to solidify Agosto's position as a leader in consulting for cloud computing and SaaS based services.  Here is a downloadable copy of the article for your reference: 

 Download PDF 

Agosto Coffee Talk Series: MOVING TO THE CLOUD ~ Why should you care?

Available Dates:     Every 4th Thursday - January 27th, 2011 -  May 26th, 2011

Time:                       8:30 a.m. to 9:30 a.m

Location:                 AGOSTO Offices

                                Basset Creek Business Center 

                                901 N 3rd St. Suite 115, Minneapolis, MN 55401

                                For map [Click Here]

Phone:                    612.605.3520

Presentation Highlights

In this fast-paced, interactive presentation, you will walk away with a good understanding of how your company can take advantage of Cloud Computing and what impact it may have on your bottom line.  Takeaways include:

• What is Cloud Computing?
• Why Should I Care?
• 2nd Wind Financial Case Study for Cloud and SaaS. 
• What are the Best in Class Doing?
• How Can I Determine if My Company is a Good Fit?

Presenter

Aric Bandy, CEO of Agosto, has 15 years of industry experience. Since joining Agosto in 2007, Aric has become a well known and respected leader in Managed Services, Strategic Services and Cloud Computing. Through Agosto's Strategic practice, Aric provides valuable insight as CIO for several organizations, including 2nd Wind Exercise and Dunn Bros Coffee. Aric serves on the advisory board for Google, has had SaaS projects featured in Inc. Magazine, and continues to be a sought after public speaker on the topic.