Here’s Gooru’s Guide to the Google Apps Control Panel! This is a great overview for any IT professionals that are new to Google Apps.

1. First click on the Organization and Users tab

• From here you can create new users and manage membership between org units and sub org units.
• You can also manage which services are turned on in your domain. All of these services can be turned ON/OFF for individual org units and sub org units by selecting the Services tab within each org unit (or sub org unit).
• You can also edit information for a particular user, such as changing passwords, nicknames, group membership, etc.

2. Click on the Groups tab

• This allows you to view all of your groups within your domain.
• To edit groups, click on View in Group Service and make the necessary changes.

3. Next, click on the Domain Settings tab

• In the General tab, you can edit contact information, time zone, and other basic settings. We suggest enabling SSL for security purposes, as well as hiding all advertisements.
• You can also adjust how your users receive new Google Apps features, through Rapid Release or Scheduled Release. Rapid Release provides your users access as soon as new features become available, while Scheduled Release delays your users access by 1-2 weeks.
• Similarly, you can choose if your users receive new services. Automatic will give users access as they become available, while Manual will allow you to determine when your users can use a service.

4. Click on the Reports tab

• Reports gives you the ability to view Usage Reports, Audit Log, and Additional Reports.
• This is a good tool for administrators to view how your Google Apps account is being used.

5. Next, click on the Advanced Tools tab

• If you would like to create multiple users, this tab gives you the option to upload a CSV file.
• We also suggest you enable 2-Step verification for additional security.
• Document ownership transfer is a helpful tool that allows you to switch documents from one user to another, which is especially useful when one user leaves your organization, for example.

6. Next, click on the Settings tab

• From here you can edit settings for all of your Google Apps services. We suggest you review all of these to make sure you are comfortable with your organization’s settings.

7. Finally, if you ever feel there are not sufficient features in the control panel, there are plenty of third-party tools in the marketplace that take advantage of the Google Apps APIs to provide you with additional functionality.

If you have any questions related to the Google Apps Control Panel, don’t hesitate to ask in the comments section below the video!