Top 10 Products and Services in the Google Apps Marketplace

If Google gets its way, on-demand applications that supplement the search engine giant’s own cloud-based applications will be about as common — and convenient —  as adding an app to your iPhone.

Last Tuesday, Google launched the Google Apps Marketplace, an online store where users can buy cloud-based applications designed to work with Google’s own apps. To date, Google Apps include Gmail, calendar, Google Docs and many other applications. By unveiling Google Apps Marketplace, Google expands its functionality to include office productivity, scheduling, workflow and management applications.

The unveiling of Google Apps Marketplace coincides with the company’s announcement that 25 million users and 2 million businesses are now using Google Apps. More than 50 developers have already signed up, including Aviary, Expensify, NetSuite and Intuit. Developers can pay a $100 fee plus 20 percent of each sale to participate and may add as many apps as they wish to the Google Apps Marketplace.

Google Apps Marketplace promises to deliver the greatest value to small businesses, especially in today’s educational and non-profit markets. With pricing that begins at free, and complexity becoming less of a deterrent, these applications promise to level the playing field for young companies that wish to compete in today’s global arena. However, large businesses may also select from apps with additional features and SLAs (service level agreements) that include uptime guarantees and greater security.

While it’s still early in the game, there are some first-to-market apps that are gaining traction among businesses large and small. Here’s a list of those that are fast attracting eyeballs and the reasons why.

1. Intuit Online Payroll: If you’re a small business with a modest HR department, keeping track of payroll dates can be a painful process. Intuit Online Payroll promises to ease the burden by integrating seamlessly with Google Calendar. Simply by logging on to Google Apps, users can run payroll anywhere, access payroll or paychecks from Google calenders, and print checks and pay taxes on the fly.
2. OffiSync: For those who aren’t getting what they need from Microsoft Office, OffiSync essentially combines the editing capabilities of Office with the storage and sharing functionality of Google. Users can save a file in Word, Excel or PowerPoint, and it will save simultaneously to your Google Apps account. There is also a premium edition available that costs $12 per user per year or $30 per user for a license.
3. myERP.com: Mention the acronym ERP, and most people think of high-priced, on-premise systems for deep-pocketed companies. myERP.com promises to change all that by streamlining your CRM, sales, projects, purchasing, inventory and accounting activities. This cloud-based business management suite fully integrates with Google Apps, Gmail and calendar and is free for up two users. After that, myERP.com costs $29 per user per month.
4. SurveyMonkey: Forget about capturing bounce and click-through rates. These days, online feedback analytics and survey tools are helping businesses gain a high-level understanding of their customers’ online experiences. SurveyMonkey is one of them. By helping companies collect data via polls and questionnaires, SurveyMonkey provides fast and accurate insight into customers’ buying preferences — and gripes — using intelligent and reporting analysis tools.
5. Aviary Design Suite: Because not every company can afford to hire its own marketing agency, Aviary Design Suite offers design tools and templates that allow users to create, modify and share images, logos, presentations, audio tracks, podcasts and other multimedia content. Teams can also collaborate on multimedia projects.
6. Tripit: Forget about emailing itineraries back and forth. Tripit is a free travel organizer that consolidates employees’ travel plans no matter where they booked. Colleagues can see one another’s travel plans using gadgets and mobile phones or who’s traveling where on a company travel map. It’s like having an in-house travel agent — for free.
7. ZohoCRM: Manage your entire customer relationship lifecycle for free for the first three users and $12 per user, per month after that. The ZohoCRM application streamlines enterprisewide sales, marketing, customer support and service and inventory management. By providing a single, consolidated view of customer interactions, sales forces and marketing executives alike are better equipped to push products, create targeted email campaigns, generate sales leads and forecast ROI.
8. FreshBooks Online Billing: For members of the self-employed ranks, FreshBooks Online Billing app serves as a cloud-based bookkeeper. The application lets users send, track and collect payments quickly and efficiently. Users can send and manage invoices online; create and track invoices; manage contractors; email invoices; and collect online credit card, Google Checkout or PayPal payments.
9. Smartsheet Project Management: The timing couldn’t be better for Smartsheet Project Management as Web-based project management finally comes of age. As businesses demand more efficient ways of collaborating with clients, partners and subcontractors, the popularity of project-management technology is rising. Smartsheet includes features such as a Gantt chart, collapsible sub-tasks, and attachments that enable users to collaborate on project tasks, as well as deliver automated email notifications.
10. Manymoon: Already used by tens of thousands of businesses, Manymoon is the most downloaded application in the Google Apps Marketplace. This application is a social networking platform that lets users attach Google Docs to tasks, projects and events; add project information to shared Google calendars; and Gadget for collaborative task management in Google Sites.

Over the next few months, the Google Apps Marketplace is certain to become flooded with apps promising to revolutionize the areas of office productivity, accounting, workflow and management. No doubt, this cavalcade of options is likely to confuse — or worse, overwhelm, many businesses interested in making the most of Google functionality. The key, however, is keeping a close watch on new app developments and ultimately deciding what’s best for your business, and what’s simply a passing fancy.