Google Enterprise Blog: Google Enterprise brings Travis Perkins family closer together, plus 1 more |  |
| Google Enterprise brings Travis Perkins family closer together Posted: 25 Oct 2013 09:36 AM PDT Editor's note: Today's guest blogger is JJ Van Oosten, Group Chief Information Officer for Travis Perkins plc, the largest supplier of building and home improvement materials in the United Kingdom. See what other organisations that have gone Google have to say. Travis Perkins has been in business for more than two centuries, and one reason we've endured is our ability to form lasting relationships with our customers. We work with builders for 20-30 years, and get to know them and their families well. And when builders retire, we continue relationships with the sons and daughters who take over the family business. We create a sense of family within our company, as well, and that's why so many employees stay with us for a long time. But because our company holds fast to traditions, and our processes have worked so well for so long, Travis Perkins is not always quick to innovate or react to trends. As an example, we still make our customers – who now prefer to do a lot of transactions via mobile devices – collect up to nine paper forms before they can leave one of our branches with the materials they need. When I took over the Group CIO role at Travis Perkins, I got to thinking about our culture and heritage, and wondered how we could embrace the efficiency, productivity, and mobility of the digital world while also maintaining our tradition of building deep relationships. When embarking on a major journey, you need a guide. Google was my natural choice for an innovation partner. Their products promote interaction and collaboration, they understand mobile, inside and out, and their technology is web-based and cloud-based. And Google's rapid consumer-centric innovation keeps the business moving fast. Within a few weeks of contacting Google, we worked to launch our Google Apps gateway and our IT department began using Google Apps. The transformative power of these tools soon became clear. Meetings with my IT team took only 15-20 minutes instead of an hour. We collaborated on documents in Google Docs, so there was no need to review that content when we met – we could focus instead on core issues. The time savings and efficiencies Google enables are undeniable. The company decided to bring in the whole suite of Google products, including Google+ and Google Chrome. To help with the transition, we trained 2,000 internal Google "champions." The training, conducted in person or via Google Hangouts, was fun and emphasised collaboration and the ideas of "space" and "freedom" – that with Google, you could access what you need anytime, anywhere. The champions, on their own, created a community on Google+. As we rolled out Google to 8,000 people at a time across 17 businesses and central functions, employees started to consult the community for advice. It was company wide collaboration evolving naturally, in real-time, and it was amazing to see. This collaboration appealed to the core values of our people, including those who've been with us for 40 or more years. They could see positive relationships forming between colleagues through Google and wanted to be part of it. We even bought 5,000 new Android phones because employees who hadn't been using smartphones now wanted to be more connected and mobile. Next year, we plan to use the Google platform to help our branches move away from outdated paper-based processes to approaches that are far more digitised and customer-friendly. We expect our Google champions to help us drive this change, and others, so we can improve the ways that we do business. You don't just move to Google for email or calendars. That's basic. You do it to embrace the digital world, and mobility, and release the creativity and collaboration that every human being wants to experience. Google has unleashed a great deal of energy and potential in our team at Travis Perkins. Importantly, the drive for change in our organisation is not being mandated from an executive's office, but growing from the grassroots up. It is originating from the employees at Travis Perkins who are now innovating with Google.    |
| Pateros Creek Brewing Company keeps craft beers cool with Google Apps Posted: 25 Oct 2013 09:21 AM PDT Editor's note: Colorado has enticed all sorts of pioneers since its Wild West beginnings. We're excited to highlight a handful of these trailblazers - the intrepid entrepreneurs, aspiring micro-brewers and ambitious thought leaders - who have helped create the adventurous and innovative culture the Centennial State is known for. Today, we hear from Steve Jones, co-founder of Fort Collins-based Pateros Creek Brewing Company.  Can you tell us about Pateros Creek Brewing Company?My dad and I spent years making, tasting, talking about, and investing in craft beers before taking the plunge and starting Pateros Brewing Company in 2011. The evolution from casual enthusiasts to full-time brewers happened slowly: I started producing my own small batches at home in 2004, asked my dad to join me to start a family brewery in 2008, wrote up a business plan and started making larger batches from a shared space at Grimm Brother's Brewhouse in 2010, then finally opened the doors to Pateros Creek in June 2011. We're now a team of 12, and my dad and I are loving every minute of it. Why did you decide to use Google Apps for your business? We went straight to Google Apps as soon as we decided to make Pateros Creek Brewery a reality. We needed email that showed we were a real business — that we really did, after years of talking about starting the company, mean business. We considered alternatives, but Google was so simple and easy to use that it made perfect sense for us. What's your favorite thing about being on Google Apps? I don't have any downtime. You hear people complaining about email issues or IT problems and we don't have any of that. Everything just works seamlessly, which is extremely important because we're a small business and don't have an IT department. I'm the co-founder and president, but on any given day I may also be the head brewer, operations manager and janitor. Thanks to Google Apps, I don't have to deal with IT issues; instead, I get to focus on crafting tasty brews and making our customers happy. What's one unique way you're using Google Apps? Our brewing tanks have their own Google calendars. So do our fermenters, our brew house, our tap room and our Outpost Room where we showcase live music and events. Shared Google calendars keep us organized and help us stay on track when it comes to planning events, getting new blends ready for market and knowing who and what equipment is available at any given time. Sure, calendars are traditionally meant for personal scheduling, but we get so much value from using them for our internal operations and event planning. How does Google Apps help the company stay mobile? Google Drive is a lifesaver for a team like us that's always on the go. Whether it's checking the fermenter tanks, serving our customers in the tap room or traveling to new cities to grow our distribution footprint, we're on our feet all the time. We know we can always access important documents from our phones, tablets or laptops without sitting down to a desk. Our employees can pull up one-sheeters about beer profiles in front of a customer if they're curious about what goes into a certain blend, its ABV value or how hoppy it is — no laminated (and quickly outdated) documents necessary.   |
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