The great Google App. debate

On Thursday, Google, the Internet search giant, will unveil a package of communications and productivity software aimed at businesses, which overwhelmingly rely on Microsoft products for those functions.

The package, called Google Apps, combines two sets of previously available software bundles. One included programs for e-mail, instant messaging, calendars and Web page creation; the other, called Docs and Spreadsheets, included programs to read and edit documents created with Microsoft Word and Excel, the mainstays of Microsoft Office, an $11 billion annual franchise.

Unlike Microsoft’s products, which reside on PCs and corporate networks, Google’s will be delivered as services accessible over the Internet, with Google storing the data. That will allow businesses to offload some of the cost of managing computers and productivity software.

For corporate technology staffs, “we think that will be a very refreshing change,” said Dave Girouard, Google’s vice president and general manager for enterprise.

I finally had some time to check out Google Apps Premier Edition and I have to say they could easily win me over were it not for one missing item: Sync.

 
You have to have sync for Outlook and iCal before you can truly be enterprise (or even small business) functional. Maybe I just couldn't find it?

 
It's not realistic in this day and age to do calendar share etc. with the abundance of mobile devices and users. Otherwise its a great offering especially when you have a hugely disparate team like I do.

Posted by Dave Rosenberg on February 23, 2007 10:15 AM

The blogosphere has been abuzz with gushing commentary about Google Apps. Some of it is about how Google is now taking on Microsoft head to head. This couldn't be more wrong.

 
Google Apps is a completely different beast than Office even though they both seem to do the same thing: manage email and calendars, edit documents, and build spreadsheets. In this case, the means to this end makes a significant difference.

 
Google Apps is a Web application and, as such, is subject to law of mash-ups: anything that can be mashed-up will. An online application like Google Apps has the potential to become an ecosystem for other businesses that add value to overall mix in ways that even a company with resources like Google can't match.

Everything from my email to Google Docs runs through my browser. If I could find a computer for about £120 ($200) that would do everything I needed it to, which supported an admirable project and had no operating carbon footprint, I’d be on it in a flash. Wouldn’t you?