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SaaS Updates Summary: July 25–29

BetterCloud Monitor

July 29, 2016

3 minute read

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This past week, Google introduced new Android add-ons for Docs and Sheets, as well as updates to Google Drive’s shared folders, Hangouts, and Chrome devices for meetings. Microsoft announced two new tools for Outlook–Focused Inbox and @mentions–and the rollout of new SharePoint lists with integration of PowerApps and Microsoft Flow. Zendesk, Asana, Box, and Workday also announced new features and updates.

Google Drive shared folders are now easier for recipients to use – Many Google Apps customers use Drive shared folders to collaborate on projects, keep historical records, or complete tasks with their team. Google is rolling out several improvements to Google Drive’s shared folders to make them more actionable and useful to the recipients they’re being sent to.

July 2016 updates for Get & Transform in Excel 2016 and the Power Query add-in – The Excel team is pleased to announce 12 new data transformation and connectivity features that have been requested by many customers.

Microsoft announces the rollout of new SharePoint lists with integration of PowerApps and Microsoft Flow – Microsoft today announced the rollout of modern SharePoint lists to SharePoint Online, along with one-click integration of PowerApps and Microsoft Flow. New SharePoint lists provide a new way for users to collaborate on structured data directly from their team site to help teams organize content.

Workday to Acquire Platfora – Workday signed a definitive agreement to acquire Platfora, a leading provider of operational analytics and data discovery tools that enable companies to visually interact with and analyze petabyte-scale data in seconds.

Better group chat controls are coming to Google Hangouts – Many organizations use group chats in Google Hangouts to manage projects, plan events, and participate in other chat and collaboration tasks. Google is happy to announce that in the coming weeks several features are coming to Google Hangouts to make it more easy and useful to use group chats at work.

Outlook helps you focus on what matters to you – We are being inundated with more information, more communication and more email vying for our attention. It is more critical than ever to have tools that help us cut through the noise and focus on what matters most. Outlook is expanding the availability of two new experiences to do just that—Focused Inbox and @mentions.

New to Office 365 in July—new intelligent services Researcher and Editor in Word, Outlook Focused Inbox for desktop and Zoom in PowerPoint – This month, Microsoft is releasing a new set of cloud-powered intelligent services in Office apps designed to save you time and produce better results. These features help you improve your writing in Word, deliver dynamic presentations in PowerPoint and prioritize the emails that matter most to you in Outlook.

What’s new with Chrome devices for meetings? – With the recent release of Chrome OS 52 stable, the Chrome for Work team is excited to announce the following updates: Timed reboot, promoting the present short link feature on CfM home screen, and device location reporting.

Beat the heat with these cool additions to the Zendesk Apps Marketplace – Zendesk has been adding new apps and integrations to the Zendesk Apps Marketplace at a nice clip these past few months, and July is no different. These 16 newcomers to the apps marketplace offer a range of functionality—from setting deadlines and reminders, to better integrating voice and SMS support—and promise better customer satisfaction, whether you’re sending a digital gift or rolling out a friction-free Help Center search.

Announcing Android add-ons for Docs and Sheets – The Google team knows many of you consider your mobile device as your primary tool to consume business information, but what if you could use it to get more work done, from anywhere? They’re excited to introduce Android add-ons for Docs and Sheets, a new way for you to do just that. They’ve worked with eight integration partners who have created seamless integrations for Docs and Sheets. They include DocuSign, ProsperWorks, AppSheet, Scanbot, and more.

DocuSign now enabled with Google Docs Android Add-Ons – The DocuSign team is excited to announce a product integration with one of the few mobile apps that can be considered “ubiquitous”–Google Docs. Our integration allows you to use DocuSign to sign and get documents signed directly within the app through its newly launched “Docs and Sheets Android Add-ons.” Now, users can pull up documents already saved in their Google Docs (or Sheets) app on Android and directly prepare the document to sign themselves or even send to others to get their signatures.

Learning Tools for OneNote supports more languages and themes and is now generally available – The OneNote team is moving Learning Tools for OneNote out of preview (announced in January) and into general availability (English only).

A simple way to manage complex workflows: Mark tasks as waiting on others – When collaborating on different parts of a project, it can be hard to keep track of all the moving pieces and where they stand. Task dependencies in Asana can help. Rolling out over the next few days to all Asana Premium customers, dependencies let you know which tasks are ready to start, and which tasks are waiting on others.

Legal Holds is now available to Box Governance customers – The Box team is thrilled to introduce Legal Holds as part of their Governance offering. With it, organizations can preserve content in place to kick off the eDiscovery process in the face of litigation. It’s easy to manage, helps limit your liability, ties seamlessly with your retention schedules, and integrates with the world’s best eDiscovery technologies, all while protecting your corporate assets.

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