Another step in the browser-based desktop revolution

Posted by Rajen Sheth, Group Product Manager, Chrome for Business

Two weeks ago at Google I/O, we unveiled the first Chromebooks, a new kind of computer built and optimized for people who live on the web. Chromebooks are fast, secure and easy to manage. With a monthly subscription that includes a Chromebook, a web-based management console and 24/7 support starting at $28 for businesses and $20 for schools, Chromebooks will delight users, reduce IT complexity and save money.

The best part is: most organizations can use Chromebooks today because they’re already using web-based applications, or they’re using browser-based apps and virtualization technology to remotely access any remaining desktop apps. In fact, a recent survey we commissioned found that two-thirds of companies could switch the majority of their employees to an exclusively browser-based computing environment like Chromebooks by using a combination of web apps and application virtualization.¹ To this end, we’ve worked closely with Citrix to bring application virtualization to Chromebooks.

Today we’re excited that Citrix has announced Citrix Receiver for Chromebooks, based on HTML5 standards - coming soon to the Chrome Web Store. This is great news for businesses and schools that want to take advantage of a modern browser-based operating system while preserving access to their existing desktop applications. At I/O for instance, we demonstrated Citrix Receiver running on Chromebooks and accessing a virtualized version of Adobe® Photoshop® right from the browser.

Now Chromebook users can not only access the huge number of business web apps and browser-based applications behind the firewall, but through Citrix Receiver they can also access an exhaustive set of desktop applications. This means that organizations don’t have to repurchase or rewrite existing applications when moving to Chromebooks, and they can offer Chromebooks to a wider range of users. We’re working to make the browser the platform for business computing, and we’re happy to be collaborating with Citrix on this transformation. Learn more about Chromebooks.

¹Google-commissioned 2011 Hall & Partners online survey of over 400 IT decision makers.

Chrome notebooks check-in to the world’s largest hotel chain

Editor’s note: Bryson Koehler is Senior Vice President for Global Revenue & Guest Technology at InterContinental Hotels, the world’s largest hotel group. IHG owns a portfolio of well recognized and respected hotel brands including InterContinental Hotels & Resorts, Hotel Indigo, Crowne Plaza Hotels & Resorts, Holiday Inn Hotels and Resorts, Holiday Inn Express, Staybridge Suites and Candlewood Suites and also manages the world’s largest hotel loyalty program, Priority Club Rewards with 52 million members worldwide.

At InterContinental Hotels, we’re always looking for the latest and greatest technologies to better serve our customers. For instance, our IT staff develops most of our new internal applications as web apps using Google Web Tooolkit, a set of development tools that make it easier to build complex browser-based applications. So when we heard about Chrome notebooks, we jumped at the opportunity to try them out in several different parts of our business. The speed, simplicity and security benefits of this pure cloud computing model were too compelling to resist, particularly in contrast to the costs and hassles of desktop computing.

Some compelling use cases for Chrome notebooks include:

Call centers: We have 13 call centers around the world with thousands of agents whose goal is to get our customers the information they need as fast as possible. We believe the Chrome notebooks will provide our agents with the fastest experience for the web apps and sites that they use to support our customers. By reducing the average time per call, we’ll both increase customer satisfaction and significantly reduce our costs. And from an IT perspective, we won’t have to spend countless hours manually installing security patches and upgrades to operating systems and client software. Instead, we’ll be able to focus our time on creating more innovative apps to the benefit of our customers and our agents.

Business service centers: We have thousands of business service centers around the world that provide Internet access to our guests. The guest login feature of the Chrome notebook is great for this situation since it gives our hotel guests an extremely secure, state-of-the-art browsing experience while preventing them from leaving behind any sensitive information. With the Guest Mode feature, a user doesn’t even need to login to the notebook and all of their information including browsing history, cookies, etc. is deleted when they log out of Guest Mode.

Hotel guests: We’re even looking into providing Chrome notebooks to some of our hotel guests during their stay. Imagine leaving your laptop at home on your next trip, and just picking up a Chrome notebook from the front desk at check-in. You log-in and it’s just like your notebook at home: all your apps, bookmarks and preferences are available at your fingertips!

This is just the beginning. We are excited to pilot Chrome notebooks in all these areas of our business and begin exploring using them for every employee at the company. For us, the web is the platform and we’re excited at the potential of Chrome notebooks to delight our users, save us money, make us even more secure, and allow IT to focus on what makes our business unique. I look forward to making Chrome Notebooks our default computer!

Editor’s note: If you’re interested in getting Chrome notebooks for your team or entire organization, apply for the Chrome notebook Pilot program.

Posted by Kevin Gough, Head of Enterprise Partner & Platform Marketing

Chrome notebooks for business

Today we launched the Chrome notebook Pilot program. Chrome notebooks will be great for businesses, schools and government agencies -- especially Google Apps customers -- because they deliver a faster, simpler and more secure computing experience, with lower total cost of ownership than traditional PCs.

Learn more on the Official Google Blog and visit the Chrome notebook site to apply for the pilot.

Posted by Cyrus Mistry, Product Manager, Chrome OS for business