One of the best things about SaaS and Google Apps specifically is that the product is continually evolving.  More times than not, I or a client has said "I'd really love this feature in Google Apps" and within a month or two its part of the feature set.  In the past year, over 100 new features have been rolled out to Google Apps.  In a way, the conspiracy theorists are right in saying that Google is listening in however its not while wearing trench coats, dark sunglasses or in-ear walkie talkies.  Google is listening to the clients.  With a solid social eco-system around Google, the Google Apps team can hear directly from customers and continually evolve the platform. 

So, with that, here's the best new features of 2009:

Google Apps Sync for Microsoft Outlook
Enjoy the reliability and affordability of Google Apps, but allow users to keep Outlook as their client if they want. Users can get their email, contacts, and calendars in Outlook while also being able to access all of their data in the cloud.

Mobile support for BlackBerry, iPhone, and Windows Mobile phones
With Google Apps, if you aren't in front of a computer, you can still access your data and be productive. Blackberry, iPhone, and Windows Mobile users can manage their email, contacts, and calendars from their mobile phones. And if you have a Blackberry Enterprise Server, be sure to take advantage of the Google Apps Connector for BlackBerry Enterprise Server, which adds administrative control and added security for BlackBerry access.

Offline access
Have your laptop but no Internet connection? Not a problem with Google Apps, which offers offline access to Gmail, Calendar, and Docs.


Shared contacts
Premier Edition admins can robustly manage shared contacts on their domains by creating a global address list for users accessible in both the Gmail web interface and Outlook. With this feature, users can access others' phone numbers, addresses, and custom fields that you define. As an admin, you can also use the directory sync service to connect Google Apps to your exisitng LDAP directory.

- Aric Bandy