Google Apps Marketplace has hit the six month mark. It has 200 apps and about four million users with access to the service.
It has provided another example for for how marketplaces can help create services that extend what a SaaS can offer. It’s a model that has worked for Salesforce.com and other services such as Sugar CRM.
But what is proving hot on Google Apps Marketplace?
Gmail
The marketplace is showing how much people rely on email and arguably is becoming a platform into itself. At Google I/O this past spring, Google introduced the ability to add contextual gadgets into GMail. By providing application logic, relevant information becomes part of the email experience. For instance, CRM apps, time sheets and other apps may be updated without needing to tab to a browser page and then back to email.
Google Docs
Scott McMullan, partner lead for Google Apps, said a new form of app is developing out of Google Docs. He calls it Docs++. These apps are using the Google Docs features to create specialized tools. Services that have emerged include Aviary, a graphics editing tool; Mindmeister, a braistorming app and Sliderocket, an app for creating, sharing and measuring slide presentations.
Top Three App Categories
1. CRM:
CRM is the most popular category in the Google Apps Marketplace. Popular apps include Batchblue, Capsule, Solve360 and Bantam Live.
2. Project Collaboration:
Apps to collaborate both to internal and external communities. Apps include: Mavenlink, Manymoon, Smartsheet and Harvest, which is also a contextual gadget in GMail.
3. Accounting and Finance:
You still have to collect the money. Popuiar apps include myERP, Freshbooks, Expensify and Concur.
