Collaborated by Chad James and Phil Palm, IT Manager

Asset Management Real Estate, LLC (AMRE) is a highly experienced brokerage firm with thirty years experience in managing large scale real estate operations across the US in numerous business markets. They currently have approximately forty employees operating out of multiple office locations. In October of 2011, after extensive problems with the incumbent email host, they made the decision to implement Google Apps for Business with the support of MxToolBox; Email Systems Integrator and Google Apps Authorized Reseller.

AMRE came to MxToolBox after reports from clients that they weren’t receiving emails and weeks of receiving little to no support from their existing provider. AMRE chose Google Apps for a number of reasons including web-based email with enhanced security, deliverability, shared documents, and de-centralized remote access for mobile users.

“Our provider pointed us in the direction of MxToolBox for help. We were currently investigating implementing our own internal Exchange Server or moving to a Hosted Exchange platform. However, given the initial hardware and software costs that were associated with purchasing our own server, and after one conversation with MxToolBox, we knew that Google Apps with MxToolBox Support was the answer. They had the knowledge and expertise in email delivery that we needed and extensive experience implementing Google Apps for small businesses with a strong emphasis on resolving blacklist problems.

“One feature that we are very pleased with is Google Documents. With this feature, we are able to share documents both across our company and with external clients and not worry about backups or excessive security rights.  This simple-to-use feature has streamlined our operations considerably, and has greatly reduced stress when working with other businesses or clients who don’t have the same features available to them. We like the internet access and ‘Cloud-Based’ options which provide outstanding support.

“Google Voice has also given us an added benefit. Calls to our office phone system can be forwarded to Google Voice accounts, and then voicemails received can be accessed by email accounts.  This helps our mobile workforce to receive their voicemails wherever they are, and provides an accurate trail for assistance. The voicemails can be forwarded on to other workers or clients, and an action trail can be established. This feature is something that businesses like ours did not have two years ago at this time, so this puts us ahead of others in this regard.“

Implementing Google Apps can offer a tremendous savings versus installing and maintaining your own servers; both from a hardware and software licensing standpoint and in the time and energy it takes to manage that infrastructure. The native features as well as the new changes and improvements that come on a near weekly basis alone are worth the investment, plus you never have to pay for those additions. With MxToolBox providing email expertise and support, you can rest assured that the answers to your questions and the solution to your problems are just a phone call away!

Collaborated by Chad James & Bobby Pearson, Ivy Group IT Administrator

The Ivy Group, Ltd. is a full-service marketing consultancy firm specializing in research, strategy, branding, web design, print, communications, and visual media, servicing customers nationwide since 1989. With teams working out of two offices, reliable email and prompt, responsive communication tools are critical. In October of 2011, after facing a number of problems with server availability and storage problems due to other applications on the server and, for the most part, a “lackadaisical approach to data security,” they made the decision to transition from an in-house Exchange 2003 SBS environment to Google Apps for Business with the support of MxToolBox, a US-based Google Apps Authorized reseller and Email Systems Integrator.

The Ivy Group came to MxToolBox with outbound delivery problems resulting from a blacklisted server address. As it happens, several employees were already lobbying for the move to Google Apps based on the uptime, mobile support, and universal accessibility and preferred the Gmail interface to that of Outlook or Outlook Web Access. Additionally, with few to no spam filters in place, many users would spend upwards to half an hour a day just sifting through spam. Look what Bobby Pearson, IT Manager at Ivy Group, had to say:

“After reviewing the pros & cons about other providers and alternatives including upgrading our existing Exchange Server, we determined that Google Apps was the best choice with MxToolBox providing support. We chose to work with MxToolBox because they run an amazing website tool for DNS diagnostics and blacklist lookups and helped shed light on our email delivery problems when no one else could. When it came time to start the move, MxToolBox helped make the ordering and implementation process fast and efficient and fit within our 1-week rollout time.”

The cost of moving to Google Apps presents a tremendous cost-advantage over the support time, potential downtime, and the headaches of managing Exchange internally. As Bobby noted, “Terminating the Exchange services has freed up our server’s resources and it no longer freezes or stalls. Almost every employee now uses the Gmail web interface exclusively; they love the mobile accessibility, response time, and searchability and most of us use Google Chat on a daily basis to communicate about our projects. The conversation strings help track previous correspondence, and we no longer have annoying email delays for security purposes.”

“Although we each have an area of specialization, we work interdependently as a team on all projects, and Google Apps provides tools for more streamlined communications across our organization without costly infrastructure or training. Moving to Google Apps was definitely the best decision for our business!”

If you haven’t heard, Google Apps is phasing out the Postini Integrated services. You may have already received a notice from Google that your Postini / Google Message Security (GMS) Integrated settings are being dissolved. These legacy Postini features have been integrated into Google Apps and a few steps need to be taken to transition to the new Google Apps Email Security. If you haven’t received a notice from Google yet, be patient as they are doing this transition in phases. You will not have access to the transition tab in Postini until Google has alerted you.

All Postini GMS Integrated customers (Message Security for Google Apps) will be transitioned by the end of the second quarter of 2012. These customers will have access to the improved email security settings in the Google Apps control panel, including:
Content compliance
Objectionable content
Append footers
Approved sender lists
Blocked sender lists
Attachment compliance
Restrict email delivery

Customers using Postini archiving (Google Message Discovery), Google Message Encryption, or Policy TLS are not being transitioned at this time. For more details, go here. If you have any questions during your transition, see the Technical FAQs in this Transition Guide. To help you prepare for your transition, see the General FAQs.

NOTE: If your email is already flowing directly to Google Apps (i.e., your MX records point directly to Google Apps rather than to Postini), then no action is required on your part.

NOTE: The most visible change to an end user will be the loss of the Postini Quarantine Summary and Postini Message Center for spam management. Spam will now be managed by Gmail’s spam settings and users will access their spam messages directly in their Spam folder in Gmail. To begin transitioning to Google Apps Email Security, we recommend following the four steps outlined in the Postini Transition to Google Apps Email Security: Administration Guide .

As a Google Apps Authorized Reseller we are happy to assist or answer any questions about these changes, please reach out to us at sales@mxtoolbox.com.