Google Apps fills the Office alternative gaps

Alex Zaharov-Reutt
Friday, 23 February 2007 23:39

Your IT - Entertainment

Google Apps is also another step on the path for Google to earn money beyond advertising revenue. While Google already sells a professional version of Google Earth, along with a hardware Google search box for enterprise customers, and so thus already has a non-advertising revenue stream on the books, Google Apps, at least in its premium edition, is squarely aimed at earning ever more of the corporate dollar.

That said, any earnings Google does make from Google Apps will, at least in the short to medium term, be massively overwhelmed by the billions of dollars that Google’s advertising empire has brought to the company, giving it a huge cash balance that has been used to massively grow Google, its hardware, storage and computing capabilities, and the cash needed to acquire companies as desired, with Google swallowing Youtube at US $1.6b without financial issues, the only issues being the indigestion of dealing with Youtube’s copyright issues.

Google Apps won’t be knocking Microsoft Office off its perch anytime soon. But Microsoft can’t rest on its laurels – their biggest competitor has just signaled that it’s finally serious about getting as big a chunk of the office apps business as it can.

What next, a Google Linux to compete with Windows Vista? We already know Google has its own in-house version of Linux, and with competition to Microsoft at already a sky-high level, it’s a possibility that simply can’t be discounted.

As for Google Apps vs Microsoft Office - the die has been cast, the dice rolled and the cards laid out on the table. Microsoft can push it's shiny new Office 2007 all it wants, but if the market demands a software-as-a-service solution, Microsoft might be the one left scrambling to catch up.