June 14, 2006

Google's Applications - Some Say it's not for business

I've been using many Google applications - Gmail and blogger and like them quite a bit. There's more, much more from Google such as calendar, notepad, search (of course) and so much more. If you want to implement these tools in your business should you? Are they robust enough?

eWeek's editor in chief Eric Lundquist writes Here is what the Google spreadsheet would require to make it in the corporate world: 1. Ownership. While Salesforce.com and NetSuite have shown that you can have your corporate apps running on a hosted server, they have also surrounded those apps with administrative and security safeguards. Customers want their corporate apps to be treated as distinct entities, not only for security, but also for compliance. The Google spreadsheet doesn't offer the robust administrative tools that a business would want.

He gives three more key points which you can read about here.

Read input from InfoWorld here - they write Google is limiting the spreadsheet alpha release to "invite only" members, as it did with Google Mail. The company will use the suggestions of its trial-user population to shape future development, rather than try to recreate Excel or Notes for the Web, Rochelle said.

In fact, despite the "David and Goliath" imagery of Google's entry onto Microsoft turf, Rochelle is an avid Excel user and sees Google Spreadsheet as a complement, not a replacement for Excel.

But Microsoft should not take much comfort in those words, said Jon Oltsik of the Enterprise Strategy Group.

Office licenses are a big source of revenue for Microsoft. The advent of free, Web-based replacements from Google or other companies could pressure the Redmond, Washington, company to lower costs for consumers and enterprises, he said.

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