Elders Real Estate moves to Google cloud

Elders Real Estate has set Gmail as its corporate email system as part of a wider project that saw it adopt several cloud-based Google products.

The firm, which has a branch network of over 320 offices, has adopted the Google Apps for Business suite.

Gmail replaced an email system that business solutions manager Andrew Simpson said was "difficult to configure, issue-prone and incapable of supporting the rapid uptake of mobile devices", resulting in a high volume of IT support calls.

Delimiter reported that about 1200 users now had Gmail access, and that the rollout was completed at the end of last month.

Elders Real Estate also took up Google Docs, attracted in part to its version control features for shared documents.

Although Docs was not actually mentioned in the scope of the Google move, Simpson said Elders Real Estate had 100 Docs users in the few weeks after adopting the Apps suite (pdf),

Elders Real Estate is also using Google Sites to power its intranet.

Simpson noted productivity improvements internally, such as from shared calendar access. He also saw cloud adoption changing the company's internal culture.

"We're seeing a wholesale culture shift toward a more community-based approach," he said.

Elders Real Estate engaged Google partner Cloud Assist on the transition project.