Google App Bake Off



Project: Google App Bake Off
Description: To create some sort of evaluation method for all the applications being thrown at the market today. The seem to be like viruses in that they appear to self replicate, and have a tendency to crash a lot. :-) I don't see as much planning going into these applications, and I don't see much customer service. From my viewpoint, it appears to be all about 'first to market' rather than the stability and value of the solution the application provides.

What I'm interested in is creating a framework using stable online applications to test, evaluate, and rate these applications. In order to do that there must be a 'standard' created to allow for fairness for all the applications.

If you're wondering what the benefit of being part of this project, then consider this. There are certain 'core' applications that must be implemented in order to manage this project. This in itself presents a few challenges as well as opportunities. For example, are you good at Picasa? What about all the mapping portions of Picasa? Have you pulled in your contacts in a way that you can use them to create Google Maps of your clients, and possible have them in your Google Voice or Wave contact list?

The point is all of these applications require expertise that very few people can master ALL of them. Yeah, you might be good at it.. But good doesn't seem to be good enough in today's market. You need to excel.

So, why not put together a team of people…all working towards one goal…and each focusing on their strong points? Have that team focus on using Google Apps to manage collaborative projects that they wouldn't be able to pickup, or handle as individuals.
Project Goals: Create a site to test, evaluate, and rate the various applications, as well as provide opportunities for individuals to increase their knowledge in their selected applications.
Suggested Steps:
  1. Define the core applications that warrant individual focus. Those that I have defined so far are:
    1. Adsense, analytics, Checkout, Gmail, Friend Connect, Maps, Page Creator, Talk, Webmaster tools, Adwords, Blogger, Docs, Groups, Knol, Picasa, Sites, Voice, Calendar, FeedBurner, Affiliate programs, Health, Local Business Center, Orkut, and Profiles. There are more, but this is a good start.
  2. Find interested, creative, self-motivated people to help create the site, environment, and methods.
  3. Setup the collaborative, protected site (or application) using Google Apps to allow for the collaboration between those involved.
    1. Use Google's deployment checklist to create this environment.
  4. Setup the method by which ALL contributors can easily participate in the project.
  5. Create the framework/requirements for selecting more participants.
  6. Setup an external site for posting results
    1. This includes rss feeds and other techniques to create the site content.
    2. Take a look at sites like Mashup, HolyKaw, Squidoo and others to glean ideas.
    3. Use Google Doc Forms to collect the data, subscriptions, and feedback.
  7. Use the site itself for a demo/test model of the applications.
  8. Document as much detail as possible concerning the process and create SME's along the way.
  9. Sell the concept
  10. Retire to the Bahamas

    Ok… maybe the last two steps were tongue in cheek. At any rate, I'm interested in USING ManyMoon, SocialWok, Wave, Voice, and the other applications in this project. 
    Any feedback or folks interested, please Tweet Facebook, or email me... and better yet, fill out this and lets's get started! 
Author
Contact: Stan Bush Contact Phone: (478) 227-4736 or (478) 227-4SEO
Contact Email : stan@salestrainingandnetworking.com
Contact Twitter : stanbush Contact Facebook : http://profile.to/stanbush
Company Name : Sales Training And Networking Company Twitter: StanInc

  Go here to get started " Google App Evaluation and Collaboration" 

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