SaaS Updates for May 4, 2016

Microsoft is making a bold move to promote its cloud first, mobile first approach: A SharePoint app is coming soon to iOS devices. Google released a few announcements yesterday including one that outlines its plans to discontinue outdated Google Drive for Mac/PC versions. Lastly, Zenefits is making background check setup more user-friendly.

On July 1, 2016, Google will end support for Drive for Mac/PC Versions 1.22 and Older – In a push to promote new versions of the sync client, Google is discontinuing support for Drive for Mac/PC sync client. The newer versions of the sync client have improved security features. Over the next few weeks, Google will be reaching out to domain administrators to alert them of users with older sync clients.

Google Contacts is Now Available for Preview from the Admin Console – Once Google Contacts is enabled, admins can provide users access to the new Google Contacts, which includes the ability to import contacts from a long list of options.

SharePoint App for iPhone Coming Soon – SharePoint is Microsoft’s collaboration app and a very important piece to the Office 365 suite. According to Business Insider, Sharepoint generates more than $3 billion for Microsoft. In the office, SharePoint serves as a company’s intranet and it’s designed to serve the same purpose on a mobile device. Considering the SharePoint app, Microsoft is living up to the cloud first, mobile first approach.

All Blogs Hosted on Google Blogger Are Now Secured with HTTPS – Any time you visit a Google Blogger site, your URL will be preceded with “HTTPS.” Last September, HTTPS was offered as an option to bloggers, but now it is enabled by default. Site owners also have the option to redirect their original HTTP sites to the new HTTPS site.

Zenefits Releases New Feature to Allow More Customization to Email Messages and Updates to Background Check Setup – The new insert auto text feature allows administrators to add dynamic fields to custom email messages, making it much easier to create and personalize email messages. Also, the Background Check setup has a much clearer interface, making configuration for background check settings simple.