SaaS Updates Summary: June 1–3

Last week, Google rolled out several new features and changes to Google Docs (for iOS devices), the Google Apps Marketplace, and the Google Bar. Microsoft introduced a new feature to offer greater visibility and control over Office 365 environments. Asana added a commenting feature to project status updates, so that project members can add questions or feedback.

Removing Account Owner Name From the Google Bar – In the past year, Google has made some changes to the Google bar that is displayed across the top of most Google apps. For instance, if a user has a picture associated with their account, they’ll see that picture in the Google bar; if they don’t have a picture, they’ll see their initial. Because these changes have made it easier for account owners to identify the account they’re currently signed into and using, there’s no longer a need to display their name in the Google bar as well. With that in mind, starting today, account owner names will disappear from the space next to the app launcher in the Google bar in any Google apps where they previously appeared.

Document Outline Now Available in the Google Docs App on Your iOS Devices – In March, Google introduced the document outline in Google Docs on the web and Android devices. This feature simplifies and speeds up the process of navigating long, complicated documents. Today, we’re excited to announce that you can also use the document outline in the Docs app on your iPhone or iPad.

Gain Enhanced Visibility and Control with Office 365 Advanced Security Management – The cloud offers many security benefits to organizations, but also raises new security considerations. It can also add to existing ones such as shadow IT, the use of software that is not formally sanctioned by the organization. Today, Microsoft is thrilled to introduce Office 365 Advanced Security Management, a new set of capabilities powered by Microsoft Cloud App Security—to give you greater visibility and control over your Office 365 environment.

Project Status Updates: Now Have Comments – As the final feature of Polish Week, Asana has added commenting to project status updates. Project status updates help you communicate the state of a project. They let you set a color (Green: on track, Yellow: at risk, or Red: off track ) and post a summary of your progress to project members. But until now, you couldn’t comment on a project status update. Now you can! Project members can reply to updates with questions and feedback, or they can create a task directly from a comment.

Introducing New and Notable apps in the Google Apps Marketplace – For six years, the Google Apps Marketplace has helped businesses do more by being the number one source to find third-party apps and integrations that extend what’s possible with Google Apps. But with hundreds of popular apps to choose from, it’s sometimes hard for customers to discover the newest and most innovative ones. Enter New & Notable, a new section in the Google Apps Marketplace that surfaces the latest and best third-party apps and integrations for Google Apps, and the developers behind them.