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The Google Enterprise Collaboration Story +1: Page 2 of 2

Google+ also has potential as an enterprise social network, and Google says it is working on a configuration that would support secure, private enterprise social collaboration. No definite ETA on that, either.

Enterprises haven't necessarily been waiting, however. "Companies I wouldn't have thought would be ready for it" without more enterprise-specific security enhancements have started using Google+ and Hangouts for business collaboration, Singh said.

Google is starting to promote the business applications of Hangouts, the popular video chat service built into Google+, by making Google Docs integration a standard component. This means you can hold a video conference that switches between showing other participants as the featured image or showing a document that Hangout participants are collaborating on. In addition, Google recently introduced a half dozen third-party apps for use with Hangouts (of which SlideShare for co-browsing presentations is probably the most business-oriented) and threw open the doors for other developers to create integrations using the Hangouts API.

One remaining missing feature is a built-in ability to schedule a Hangout and invite participants in advance the same way you would set up a WebEx Web conference. "I think that's a top most requested meeting feature, so that will definitely be on our priority list to look at," Singh said.

Google Enterprise has also dabbled in cloud storage and file sharing and promoted the Google App Engine for application development in the cloud. Last week, Google added the Apps Vault for preserving a searchable archive of messages for e-discovery and regulatory compliance.

"We have more of a pull model, where we've been pulled into the enterprise, rather than a traditional enterprise selling model," Singh said. Before the advent of Google Apps, the enterprise division got its start promoting the Google Search Appliance, which was a way for enterprises to take the search technology they saw Google using on the consumer Web and bring it inside their companies. Google+ is following the same path, he said.

Follow David F. Carr on Twitter @davidfcarr. The BrainYard is @thebyard and facebook.com/thebyard

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