SaaS Updates Summary: July 23 – July 27

Google Cloud Next ’18 is a wrap, which means there are LOTS of announcements and new features for G Suite. Among the highlights: an AI-powered grammar correction tool for Google Docs; an intelligent search box in Google Drive; an enterprise telephony offering; a new “investigation tool” in the G Suite security center; and much more. Also, some big news: Slack announced it’s buying — and shutting down — HipChat and Stride.

Read on for more details.

Building a Better Cloud with Our Partners at Next ‘18
The Keyword | Google is rolling out a new set of programs to help their partners bring SaaS applications to their customers. They’re also announcing both new and expanded integrations that will bring more options to their cloud customers.

New Google Sheets Enterprise Data Integrations with BigQuery and SAP
G Suite Updates | Google is introducing two new Google Sheets integrations to make it easier to analyze your data. They’re opening a Beta program for a data connector that dynamically connects Sheets with BigQuery. They’re also announcing the general availability of an integration with SAP ERP that enables teams to seamlessly pull their business data into Sheets.

Work Reimagined: New Ways to Collaborate Safer, Smarter and Simpler with G Suite
G Suite Updates | “Google is excited to share some of the new ways organizations can use G Suite to focus on creative work and move their business forward—keep an eye out for additional announcements to come today as well. Here’s what they announced yesterday: Security center investigation tool (available in an Early Adopter Program* for G Suite Enterprise and Enterprise for Education customers); data regions (available now for G Suite Business, Enterprise, and Enterprise for Education customers); Smart Reply in Hangouts Chat (coming soon to G Suite customers); Smart Compose (coming soon to G Suite customers); Grammar Suggestions in Google Docs (available in an Early Adopter Program for G Suite customers today); and Voice commands in Hangouts Meet hardware (coming to select Hangouts Meet hardware customers later this year).”

Triage and Remediate Threats with New Investigation Tool in G Suite Security Center Early Adopter Program
G Suite Updates | Google is launching an Early Adopter Program (EAP) for a new “investigation tool” in the G Suite security center. It will help G Suite admins and security analysts identify, triage, and remediate security threats within their organization. This tool builds on the existing capabilities in the security center to help admins identify security issues within the domain using advanced search capability; triage threats targeting users, devices, or data; and take bulk actions to limit the propagation and impact of threats.

Choose the Regions Where Your Data Is Stored
G Suite Updates | Google is making it possible for G Suite Business, Enterprise, and Enterprise for Education customers to designate the region in which primary data for select G Suite apps is stored when at rest — globally, in the US, or in Europe.

New Grammar Suggestions in Google Docs Launching to Early Adopter Program
G Suite Updates | Google is introducing grammar suggestions in Google Docs along with a revamped interface for spelling and grammar review. The new features build on the existing spell check functionality to also highlight possible grammar errors in your text and help you correct them. These features will initially launch as an Early Adopter Program (EAP).

Helping Enterprises Stay Competitive with New Updates in G Suite
G Suite Updates | Here’s a snapshot of what Google announced yesterday: New Gmail (redesigned security warnings, snooze, offline access and more generally available for G Suite users); Cloud Search (being deployed by an initial set of customers); Google Voice for G Suite (available in our Early Adopter Program); Drive Enterprise SKU (available for purchase).

Google Voice Now Available to G Suite Customers Through Early Adopter Program (Beta)
G Suite Updates | Google is expanding their meeting solution beyond just messaging and video and introducing an enterprise telephony offering with the Google Voice for G Suite Early Adopter Program (Beta).

New Gmail Now Generally Available
G Suite Updates | Google launched an Early Adopter Program (EAP) for the new Gmail in April to help businesses work safer, smarter, and more efficiently. They’re now making the new Gmail generally available so that more businesses can take advantage of its innovative features, like snooze, nudging, offline access, and more.

New Intelligent Search Box in Google Drive
G Suite Updates | Google is improving how search works in Google Drive. When you click in the search box, you’ll now see a range of options. Click on an option to quickly perform a search with a relevant filter applied. You may see your top collaborators, suggested search queries, or file types, edit history, priority items, and more.

Easily Connect with Salesforce from Google Sheets
G Suite Updates | Google is publishing an add-on for Google Sheets to connect with Salesforce. You can use it to import data and reports from Salesforce into Sheets, and to push updates you make in Sheets back to Salesforce.

More Customized and Scalable G Suite Reporting with BigQuery Integration
G Suite Updates | Google is making it easy for G Suite Enterprise customers to move G Suite reporting and audit data from the Admin console to Google BigQuery. This can help you create highly customizable, comprehensive, and scalable reports to audit and analyze G Suite usage and adoption.

Expand the Content Your Company Searches with Third-Party Indexing in Cloud Search
G Suite Updates | With new third-party indexing capabilities, Cloud Search can now intelligently and securely index your data beyond G Suite, whether it is stored in the cloud or on-premise. Google is excited to have 15 launch partners on board, including SADA, Onix, and Accenture, and they’ll be adding more in the future.

Avoid Version Conflicts When Editing Microsoft Office Files in Drive
G Suite Updates | Google is adding a new feature to Google Drive that lets you see when other people are editing files in Microsoft Office products. This will help you collaborate better and avoid version conflicts.

Get Things Done Faster with the Dropbox Add-on for Gmail
Dropbox Blog | With the Dropbox add-on for Gmail, you’ll be able to view, store, and share any file without leaving your inbox. This new add-on will work with any browser, as well as the Gmail app for Android and—coming soon—iOS.

Atlassian + Slack
Several People Are Typing | Atlassian and Slack are announcing a new partnership. “As part of this partnership, Atlassian will discontinue Hipchat and Stride, and provide a migration path to Slack for all their customers. We are purchasing the IP for Hipchat Cloud and Stride to better support that path to Slack, while Atlassian is making a small, but symbolically important investment in our business,” writes April Underwood, Slack’s chief product officer.

For last week’s SaaS updates (and beyond), click here for our archive.