Google Chromebooks Pit Local Loyalists Vs. Cloud Converts

eWEEK
...One of those places where Chromebooks thrive is at reseller Appirio, where the majority of their computing operations are run in the cloud. The company uses Google Apps for collaboration, Salesforce.com for customer relationship management and WorkDay for human resource management, CTO Glenn Weinstein told eWEEK.

Appirio is a pilot partner for Google's Cr-48 Chromebook, with 250 U.S. employees using the machines since January. With the exception of desktop sharing apps, such as Citrix GotoMeeting, Appirio workers used Chromebooks for just about every work function that involves a computer, including Google Docs, Gmail, Google Calendar, and Google Chat.

Weinstein added that Appirio, one of Google's top reseller partners, would love to not only use Samsung and Acer Chromebooks in house, but to begin selling them to partners...

Google Chromebook pilots ahead: What we can learn from the CR-48?

ZDNet
...With those questions looming, we caught up with Glenn Weinstein, chief technology officer of Appirio. Weinstein handed CR-48s—a precursor to the Chromebooks coming June 15—to all 250 U.S. employees in a pilot to see what would happen. Appirio workers get a choice of a Dell laptop or Apple MacBook Pro. Weinstein wanted to see how the Chromebook would be used in the field.

It should be noted that Appirio isn’t exactly the average enterprise. It operates completely in the cloud, which makes sense because it integrates Amazon Web Services, Google Apps, Salesforce, Workday and other SaaS applications such as NetSuite. “We vowed that we would never have a server,” said Weinstein. “The entire business is operated in the cloud.”...

How Google Apps could boost Chromebook sales

CNET
...Meanwhile, Google Apps resellers, third parties that typically offer services such as training and migration to ease the transition to the technology, are champing at the bit.

"We've already seen interest in multiple Google Apps customers in moving to Chromebooks," said Glenn Weinstein, chief technology officer of reseller Appirio, which used Google's Cr-48 Chromebook prototype internally for its own business for three months. "The timing is good, and the interest is high. If we had Chromebooks today, I think we'd have interest tomorrow."...