RSSOffice Execs: Google Not a Threat
By Ed Oswald | Published November 22, 2006, 11:53 AM
Executives in Microsoft's Office division seem to be discounting any possible threat to their business from Google's Web-based productivity software, according to Reuters. Antoine Leblond, co-head of the Office division, says the applications are not suitable for corporate use.
Google in recent months has turned out a host of applications that rival features within Microsoft Office. They include word processing and spreadsheet applications, along with calendaring and corporate e-mail functionality.
While CEO Eric Schmidt has told the media that the company is not looking to compete with Office, many industry analysts believe otherwise. Google does not charge for its services, which make the offering even more appealing.
However, Leblond says that while free software may be attractive, other free alternatives have been around for a long time and have never gained traction. "It turns out free doesn't trump the software doing what people need it to do," he told Reuters.
Additionally, Leblond and the company have a different philosophy when it comes to Web-based services. While Google and others believe that online software would eventually replace desktop software, Microsoft believes the future is in software that works with a Web-based counterpart.
Office 2007 will be released to business customers at the end of this month, with a consumer release scheduled for January 2007.
Most companies wouldn't want their sensitive information being stored on another company's servers...
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|So true; I can't argue with that.
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|Most managers and CEO's don't have the slightest clue about information security.
Funny how it takes firing one or two managers for being stupid regarding their data before the rest of them (and their replacements) wise up that when they are told to keep it off the net, they are actually expected to do so.
But, to prove I actually do care somewhat about their needs, we set it up so they can access their files from damn near anywhere...securely. Thank god for VPN. ;)
Relating to the article, I think this is why Office will continue to succeed in the face of Google's online offerings. Security. Until they can offer me an appliance that will host their services behind my firewall, they're going to be relegated to small businesses, hobbyists, and soccer-moms. (which is no small chunk of users, so I;m sure they won't be crying about it.)
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|But suppose someone came out with a very nice Firefox extension that transparently encrypted/decrypted the document on the way up/down respectively, using PGP, for example?
That would solve the sensitivity problem completely.
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|Depends on one's faith in the services reliability. Sensitive, or mission-critical documents should *never* be stored off-site for anything other than back-up purposes.
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|For quick, simple, and easy collaboration and conversion — even with Microsoft documents — Google Docs is pretty nice. And if you have a job where you travel and constantly communicate with clients and the home office, it's a great convenience, with a stupid-proof interface unlike Windows Live.
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|competition is always good for customers.
Google can actually use Microsoft tactic, using the profit generate from one business to feed another one.
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|"It turns out free doesn't trump the software doing what people need it to do,"
No, but it does help push the creative envelope.
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|And lower the price that can be charged, often.
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