Google Calendar Sync - Just Plan Stinks

Michael Gartenberg | March 27, 2008, 09:25 AM

Lots of buzz on Twitter about Google and Enterprise and Google apps. I've been looking at Google Calendar Sync for Outlook and based on that experience, Google isn't ready for the Enterprise. It isn't ready for kids managing a lemonade stand. Basic problem? It just doesn't work in the worst way possible. It syncs parts of your calendar but not other parts. I think that's a fatal flaw in software of this kind and that's why the pretty harsh title.  Calendar sync that doesn't reliably work 100% of the time for 100% of the entries is worse than useless.

Fortunately, Google is aware of this problem. Here's the helpful advice they have.

Certain events aren't syncing

If you've noticed that certain events aren't showing up in either your Google Calendar or Microsoft Outlook Calendar after syncing, you may need to check which Sync Option you've selected. Please keep in mind that if you've selected "1-way: Google Calendar to Microsoft Outlook calendar," events from Microsoft Outlook Calendar won't appear in Google Calendar. Similarly, when selecting "1-way: Microsoft Outlook calendar to Google Calendar," events in Google Calendar won't be synced to your Microsoft Outlook Calendar. If you'd like all events in your default Microsoft Outlook calendar to show up in your primary Google Calendar and vice versa, make sure to choose "2-way" sync in the Google Calendar Sync Settings window.

Also bear in mind that it's not possible to sync events on secondary calendars at this time. Google Calendar Sync will sync only events from your primary Google Calendar and your default Microsoft Outlook calendar. If you've scheduled events on a secondary calendar in Google Calendar that you'd like to sync with your Microsoft Outlook Calendar, you can either move the event to your primary calendar or export your entire secondary calendar and import the events to your primary calendar.

Huh? How on earth will an ordinary person understand that gobbledeygook? Backlash indeed! Ok. I actually understood what they wanted me to do and yes, I even waited for it to sync all over again. Same problem (although this time it was only two appointments each week that didn't get transferred.) Sorry important client client, i missed the conference call because Google Calendar didn't sync correctly. To add insult to injury, something about the process didn't sit well with Entourage, so I had to re-sync my Mac from scratch. I'm not the only one with these issues it seems. (but Plaxo? sheesh, that was an even worse experience)

Sync is important. The ability for information and content to flow seamlessly from service to service, to device to device and screen to screen is critical. In fact, whoever effectively controls sync properly is going to be one of the really big winners. Huge winners. Hard to imagine how this one slipped through QA. Beta release? not even an alpha IMHO. There's a lot of potential if Goog can get this right.

Maybe they should give these folks a call?