Google adds user management to enterprise apps

Google Apps admins can now lock down features on a user-by-user basis

Google has increased the amount of control it gives enterprise administrators over its Apps packages.

From today the firm is offering new features described as the "most highly requested" that will improve policy management, and let admins lock down features on a user-by-user basis.

The announcement follows enhanced security features touted earlier this month.

According to a blog post by Adam Dawes, Google Apps product manager, administrators will be able to split users into distinct groups, and allocate them access to apps and features, such as the instant messaging tools, depending on their role.

The tools should also let firms better manage their move from on-premise applications, said Dawes, who explained that, for example, working groups could be moved over to Google's hosted apps on a case-by-case basis.

Dawes added that firms would be able to use the new controls to test applications with a selection of users before rolling them out company-wide.

Google customer Temple University confirmed this claim. Sheri Stahler, associate vice president for computer services at the university, said: "Using the new user policy management feature in Google Apps, we're able to test out new applications like Google Wave with a subset of users to decide how we should roll out new functionality more broadly."

The new features begin a rollout from today, and Google said that Premier and Education edition users would get them for free.