Google launched the Google Apps Marketplace where developers can create apps that will integrate with Google Applications and sell them to users. According to Google, they can reach over 2 million businesses and 25 million users.
The Google Apps Marketplace launched with more than 50 applications from companies like Intuit and Atlassian. Expect more apps to follow from companies like NetSuite and SuccessFactors.
“Once installed to a company’s domain, these third-party applications work like native Google applications,” explains Google Apps Marketplace Product Manager Chris Vander Mey. “With administrator approval, they may interact with calendar, email, document and/or contact data to increase productivity. Administrators can manage the applications from the familiar Google Apps control panel, and employees can open them from within Google Apps. With OpenID integration, Google Apps users can access the other applications without signing in separately to each. The Google Apps Marketplace eliminates the worry about software updates, keeping track of different passwords and manual syncing and sharing of data, thereby increasing business productivity and lessening frustrations for users and IT administrators alike. That’s the power of the cloud.”