Google+ is now an Enterprise Social Network? Who knew? - Forbes

Google (NASDAQ:GOOG) launches Google+ for businesses. Its entry into the enterprise social networking (ESN) market adds new collaboration features to Google Apps â€" the cloud-computing office service â€" including 10-way desktop videoconferencing with real-time editing.

It also adds all the security tools you’d expect, to help IT help users to keep sensitive data inside the organization.

On the one hand, Google doesn’t seem to know what to call this new thing: Google+ For Work? Google+ Enterprise? Or is it just a part of good ol’ Google Apps?

On The Other Hand, this could be strong competition for Microsoft‘s more expensive Office 365 service.

With a little background, Juan Carlos Perez reports:

Google first indicated last year that it planned to release an enterprise version of Google+. … Google+ was launched as a consumer social networking site in mid-2011, but [now]Google is joining the hot ESN trend [with] employee profiles…streams, microblogging, document sharing…blogging, discussion groups and…communities.
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[It's] critical for Google Apps, since ESN by now is considered an essential element in enterprise collaboration suites. … Google+ is also gaining IT administration controls to…establish policies for usage and content sharing.

Fruzsina Eördögh is easy for you to say:

These new features include…videoconferencing…turning Google “hangouts” into business meetings [and] private, intra-office Google+ posts. (Think…Facebook for the workplace.) …”restricted posts” can’t be reshared outside the organization.
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The new features are available for free until 2014, but the company has not announced what the eventual pricing will be. … Google says it plans to roll out more business features.
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Google+ hasn’t been able to significantly challenge Facebook in the consumer…space, but the enterprise market is…wide open.

Google’s Clay Bavor is “excited to move into a full preview mode”:

Web-based collaboration and social tools have dramatically changed the way people connect. … So today we’re launching an initial set of Google+ features designed specifically for businesses.
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Google Apps users now have more control over the content they post to Google+…when you create a post, you [can] share it with specific partners [and/or] colleagues outside the organization…if you choose. …administrators can now set company-wide defaults.
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These latest business features…are just a start. We have a lot more planned for the coming months, including a mobile version…for enterprise users and more administrative controls.

But Barb Darrow says it “should come as no surprise”:

Google [is] linking Google+ to everything and tightening ties between [with] the Google Apps suite. … There are the usual nods to IT. … And Google Apps users will now get more control.
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Google Apps, the company’s response to the Microsoft Office juggernaut, used to be perceived as a lightweight…but it has gotten considerable traction and has forced Microsoft to respond with Office 365.

Yet Quentin Hardy is intrigued:

It’s still early…but it’s easy to see how this could be an efficient way to [hold] a virtual meeting, collaborate…and embed in a calendar the future work commitments and follow-up that result.
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There are a number of ways to look at [it]. The sour grapes version is that Google Plus isn’t getting anything like the buzz or traffic of Facebook, so Google is [trying] to make the service relevant. Less judgmentally, it’s another sign of the consumer technology drifting into the enterprise.
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While business looks like the follower here, [it] may make social networking more valuable than it is in the consumer world. … We may use Facebook a lot to talk about our lives, but few of us click on the ads there.

Meanwhile, Cynthia Boris can’t wait to give it a spin:

Google+ has been looking for a way to distinguish itself from the competition. … This time, I think they got it right. … The concept is this: instead of only using your Google+ Page to talk to your customers, why not use it to talk to your co-workers?
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The big news is how you can use Hangouts to run meetings. … The best part, you can open a Google Doc in the Hangout so everyone can work on [it] in real time. … I’m always looking for better ways to collaborate on projects and this is it. … It sounds too easy to be true.

Now read this:

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Richi Jennings is an independent analyst, writer and editor. You can Google-Plus him at +richij, follow him as @richi on Twitter, pretend to be his friend at Facebook.com/richij or just use boring old email: fs@richij.com. A cross-functional IT geek since 1985, Richi also publishes a full profile and disclosure of his industry affiliations.