SHARE

Roche to Google App-ify 90,000 Employees

Also see: How to Build a Private Cloud –Real World Lessons Cloud Storage and Backup Benefits Protecting your company’s data is critical. Cloud storage with automated backup is scalable, flexible and provides peace of mind. Cobalt Iron’s enterprise-grade backup and recovery solution is known for its hands-free automation and reliability, at a lower cost. Cloud […]

Written By

Pedro Hernandez

Feb 17, 2012

Datamation content and product recommendations are editorially independent. We may make money when you click on links to our partners. Learn More

Also see:

How to Build a Private Cloud –Real World Lessons

Cloud Storage and Backup Benefits

Protecting your company’s data is critical. Cloud storage with automated backup is scalable, flexible and provides peace of mind. Cobalt Iron’s enterprise-grade backup and recovery solution is known for its hands-free automation and reliability, at a lower cost. Cloud backup that just works.

SCHEDULE FREE CONSULT/DEMO

Gaining Control of the Cloud without Losing Flexibility

Roche Group is transitioning all 90,000 of its employees to Google Apps. Dr. Alan Hippe, Roche’s CFO and CIO, announced that the pharmaceutical giant is making the switch in a guest post on the Google Enterprise Blog.

Hippe is in a unique position. As both chief financial officer and chief information officer, he can weigh in on the decision to adopt Google Apps from both a technical and financial perspective.

More Collaboration, Leaner Data Centers

Technology-wise, Google Apps allows Roche to focus more on its business and less on data centers. It’s an increasingly common refrain among businesses as they make the leap to cloud-based services for their technology needs.

Hippe writes that “being able to deploy Google Apps by simply enabling them via a control panel versus planning for and deploying complex infrastructure in our datacenters will help us focus on our core business — helping save patients’ lives.”

In a nod to the expanding role of mobility in the enterprise, he adds that employees will be able to collaborate from practically anywhere on web-enabled devices without setting up VPNs or taxing his company’s IT support teams.

Hippe didn’t divulge what financial factors motivated Roche’s decision. He did, however, hint at the cost of doing business under the old system — in lost productivity, for the most part. “For the last two and a half years, our two different email and calendaring platforms have often been an obstacle for effective collaboration.”

Ultimately, Google provides a better fit for Roche’s geographically distributed workforce. “The way our employees communicate and collaborate is diverse, and our employees are spread across over 140 countries,” Hippe states.

Gaining Business and Government Cloud Customers

In January, apparel maker Jordache Enterprises announced that Google Apps is the platform of choice for its 20,000 employees. Like Hippe, Jordache’s SVP of Operations, Ezri Silver, praised the ability to access its collaboration tools across continents and time zones. Moreover, it solved thorny interoperability issues between its Novell GroupWise setup and users of Microsoft Outlook.

Savings matter, too. Google is costing Jordache 20 percent less than GroupWise.

Google also continues to gain traction in government. Earlier this month, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) announced that it had selected Google Apps for Government for its 25,000 employees, contractors and associates. The move earns NOAA the distinction of being “the largest federal agency to complete the switch to cloud-based email and collaboration tools.”

Nearly all of Pittsburg’s 3,000 employees have made the move. The city’s former CIO Howard A. Stern, Ph.D., points to FISMA certification as one of the factors that sealed the deal. “Our data is more secure with Google than with the previous system.” Los Angeles isn’t faring as well, however. After making waves in 2009 with a five-year, $7.25 million contract for Google’s cloud services, the city had to scale back its plans citing data security requirements as they pertain to its police department.

Pedro Hernandez is a contributor to the IT Business Edge Network, the network for technology professionals. Follow him on Twitter @ecoINSITE

Ethics and Artificial Intelligence: Driving Greater Equality

FEATURE | By James Maguire,
December 16, 2020
AI vs. Machine Learning vs. Deep Learning

FEATURE | By Cynthia Harvey,
December 11, 2020
Huawei’s AI Update: Things Are Moving Faster Than We Think

FEATURE | By Rob Enderle,
December 04, 2020
Keeping Machine Learning Algorithms Honest in the ‘Ethics-First’ Era

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE | By Guest Author,
November 18, 2020
Key Trends in Chatbots and RPA

FEATURE | By Guest Author,
November 10, 2020
Top 10 AIOps Companies

FEATURE | By Samuel Greengard,
November 05, 2020
What is Text Analysis?

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE | By Guest Author,
November 02, 2020
How Intel’s Work With Autonomous Cars Could Redefine General Purpose AI

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE | By Rob Enderle,
October 29, 2020
Dell Technologies World: Weaving Together Human And Machine Interaction For AI And Robotics

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE | By Rob Enderle,
October 23, 2020
The Super Moderator, or How IBM Project Debater Could Save Social Media

FEATURE | By Rob Enderle,
October 16, 2020
Top 10 Chatbot Platforms

FEATURE | By Cynthia Harvey,
October 07, 2020
Finding a Career Path in AI

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE | By Guest Author,
October 05, 2020
CIOs Discuss the Promise of AI and Data Science

FEATURE | By Guest Author,
September 25, 2020
Microsoft Is Building An AI Product That Could Predict The Future

FEATURE | By Rob Enderle,
September 25, 2020
Top 10 Machine Learning Companies 2021

FEATURE | By Cynthia Harvey,
September 22, 2020
NVIDIA and ARM: Massively Changing The AI Landscape

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE | By Rob Enderle,
September 18, 2020
Continuous Intelligence: Expert Discussion [Video and Podcast]

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE | By James Maguire,
September 14, 2020
Artificial Intelligence: Governance and Ethics [Video]

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE | By James Maguire,
September 13, 2020
IBM Watson At The US Open: Showcasing The Power Of A Mature Enterprise-Class AI

FEATURE | By Rob Enderle,
September 11, 2020
Artificial Intelligence: Perception vs. Reality

FEATURE | By James Maguire,
September 09, 2020

SEE ALL
CLOUD ARTICLES

Pedro Hernandez

Pedro Hernandez is a contributor to Datamation, eWEEK, and the IT Business Edge Network, the network for technology professionals. Previously, he served as a managing editor for the Internet.com network of IT-related websites and as the Green IT curator for GigaOM Pro.