Google offers to delay new Google Apps features

Stephen Withers
Wednesday, 16 March 2011 12:05

Business IT - Technology

It may seem strange to you, but not everyone wants the latest features of Google Apps as soon as they are available.

One of the big attractions of web applications (whether you call them SaaS, cloud or anything else) is that you don't have to mess around with updates. The provider implements a new feature, and it's there the next time you use the application.

But some administrators want time to check out the changes, perhaps in order to determine whether any compatibility issues arise, to determine whether any new procedures are needed, or to notify users of the change and possibly deliver any training that's thought necessary.

To accommodate such customers, Google Apps is moving to a two-track scheme for introducing new features.

Most users will remain on the 'rapid release' track and continue to see new features and other changes as soon as they are deployed. But administrators can choose to put their users on the 'scheduled release' track instead.

Accounts set for scheduled releases will get new features on Tuesdays (presumably US time), giving administrators a minimum of seven days to check out the changes.

So how do you find out what's coming? See page 2.