BasicGov / BLOG

Salesforce announced today a new AppExchange for Government that provides a central cloud app marketplace where government agencies can drive their social transformations and reduce costs by quickly identifying applications to meet their needs.  AppExchange for Government is a one-stop shop for everything from help desks and asset management, to program and project management, to constituent relations and more. Launching with more than 60 apps selected specifically for government and public sector agencies, AppExchange for Government includes apps like:

• BasicGov: BasicGov is a reliable, secure application built on Force.com that allows cities, counties, state governments and government agencies to streamline permitting and inspections, code enforcement, planning, licensing and citizen access.
  [click to BasicGov in AppExchange for Government]
• DocuSign: DocuSign is a leading eSignature application built on Force.com that helps organizations streamline workflows to accelerate transactions, reduce costs, and delight constituents with the fastest way to send, sign, track, and store documents in the cloud.
• SchoolForce: SchoolForce includes essential Student Information System (SIS) modules such as attendance, behavior, homework, student records and grade book, as well as collaboration and document management – all of which can all be shared with parents and students via a Web portal. SchoolForce powers data driven improvements in student outcomes and represents a significant advancement in the measurement of K-12 student, teacher and school performance by tapping the power of cloud technologies and advanced analytics.

As quoted by Dan Burton, the vice president of global public policy at Salesforce –in TechTarget article …

Government Cloud would allow, for instance, the mayor of a city to interact in a social network with citizens, Burton said. Or, for example, a municipal employee could answer tweets asking questions about a construction project, by posting the building permit as a response with an app called BasicGov.

More related articles:

• http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/04/25/salesforce-moves-into-the-government-cloud-and-social/
• http://www.crmbuyer.com/story/Salesforcecom-Reaches-for-Bigger-Slice-of-Government-Cloud-Pie-74950.html
• http://gcn.com/articles/2012/04/25/salesforce-government-cloud-app-exchange.aspx

Cloud-Based Google Apps Selected by State of Colorado

As Jeff James says in his Cloud Computing Blog, “Yet another battle has taken place in the ongoing war between Microsoft and Google over cloud-based office applications, with this latest round going decisively to Google.”

The State of Colorado is moving its 26,000 state employees to Google Apps for Government to consolidate employee email and calendaring into one system from 15 separate mail systems.

Reduced Cost

In the State of Colorado’s announcement they say that the cost will be reduced by half with Google apps …

• The cost to maintain current  on-premise email for state employees is approximately $5.2 million annually. The move to Google Apps for Government will reduce that amount by nearly half. Google’s cloud-based system will allow the state to pay only for what technology is used and reduce maintenance costs. This will allow the state to better plan and budget for email and calendaring services and more quickly adapt to changing demands from individual agencies.

State Governments selecting Google Apps

Many State Governments choosing Cloud-based Google apps

Colorado is not the first state to migrate to Google Apps for Government. Wyoming, Utah and Maryland have already made the transition. In Colorado, Google Apps for Government is being used by Larimer
County, Eagle County, Colorado State University, Metropolitan State College of Denver, Douglas County School District and Jeffco Public Schools.

• Read more about State Government and Google apps case studies here.