Hi guys - I think I haven't been able to define my question properly. I've been doing a bit of reading on google applications and the idea of integrating their applications such to form a complete product. Especially after reading case studies of small companies shifting to google and 'customising' google applications.
Basically I have a strong php background and this is a bit new to me. I'm not very sure of how to approach it to begin with. Basically let me define the situation I have or rather the mental picture of what I want and whether or not such a thing is possible.
We have a collaboration system built up. Basically our company takes orders from clients via emails and processes them and once processed those orders are archived for billing and history. A single order may require a number of different resources which are attached along with the order. Basically in the realm of the collaboration system a single 'order' is an organised accumulation of all the resources such as documents, tasks, user roles, discussions, comments etc required to process and complete a single clients request.
The work process is like this:
1 - We get an email for a request
2 - The email is marked as such that bang a new order is created. (An order can be created from a single email or multiple emails can also be attached to an order)
3 - Users are assigned roles on the order.
4 - Resources required are accumulated and attached
5 - Notes are posted
6 - Contact details of related individuals and companies are attached
7 - Once all required resources are accumulated eg: order has been dispatched and reciepts etc recieved - the order is considered as completed and done. It is then archived for billing.
That was the scenario - currently what I'm having in mind is:
1- I login to GMail - we get email from a client - click some doohickey or button on the same interface to create an order from the email and mark it as such.
2 - Go into a custom Orders area where we can assign roles and users to work on the order - users log in with their gmail accounts - would have to set up a users management.
3 - Attach documents and resources using the Google Docs application interface or a widget to the order.
4 - Assign contact details by somehow attaching references to contacts already in google contacts Address book.
5 - Dates of order recieved and dispatched dates should be viewed on google calendar.
6 - In the custom orders module - we see all orders that are open or archived. A single order upon viewing would show - the related email(s) from GMAIL, the attached DOcuments from Google Docs, the concerned users who have been assigned the order...
Thats pretty much what I'd want to see - using the robustness of Google applications! Is the above solution possible I mean can I really integrate GMAIL, Google Docs, Google Calendar etc attached by a custom module which is supposed to handle my business logic - can it be customised to that extent.
Or is it the opposite and I have no idea of what google applications / enterprise really is. Basically we have an application running but its not very reliable to begin with taht is why we were thinking of using a google based solution ..
I really need a detailed answer on this - thanks in advance