Google applications challenging Microsoft office software monolith
by
Alan Zisman (c) 2007 First published in
Business
in Vancouver
March 6-12, 2007; issue 906
High-Tech Office column
The timing was, perhaps, less than coincidental. Only two weeks after
Microsoft released
the retail version of its Office 2007 suite, Internet search giant
Google
announced its own business application suite, Google Apps Premier
Edition, challenging Microsoft both by providing its software online
and with affordable pricing of US$50 per year per user (free through
April 30).
Included in the package: Google’s Internet-accessible word
processor and spreadsheet, both of which can be used to edit and share
files originally created with Microsoft Office’s Word and
Excel.
Users also get accounts with Google’s Gmail e-mail and
contacts,
Google Talk instant messaging and Google calendar services.
Users who feel they can live without support can sign up for free; $50
buys you a year’s worth of 24/7 phone support, a guarantee of
99.9% uptime, and more online storage space (for a total of 10 GB
versus 2 GB for the free service). Paid users can also make their Gmail
e-mail accounts appear to be on their own web domains and get all
services ad-free.
Blackberry users now can access Gmail accounts, whether
they’re
signed up for a paid or free account. Google boasts a user base of more
than 100,000 small business and university users.Missing from the
package: there’s no PowerPoint competitor though there are
hints
that Google is working on one. Both the word processor and spreadsheet
are anemic compared with Microsoft’s products. Though they
might
be feature-rich enough for some, the lack of spreadsheet charting is a
big hole in that application’s capabilities.
And while working online is better than it used to be,
there’s
still a performance hit compared with running applications stored on a
local computer or network.
Because all the applications and user documents are hosted online,
they’re accessible from any computer with Internet access
rather
than tied to a single computer or network. Keeping documents online can
be a boon to collaboration. (Microsoft offers SharePoint collaboration
services with its Office suite, but using this add-on requires
additional software, a dedicated SharePoint server and IT time.)
The flip side is that your work is inaccessible if there’s no
Internet access, on a plane or ferry, for instance.
I would have preferred the ability to download and run the Google Apps
and to store my current documents on my local computer so I could work
on them when I’m off-line, synching them when I’m
reconnected.
And it means being prepared to trust Google with your business
documents. Google uses secure SSL for its online storage, including its
Gmail service. Arguably, storing business data on Google’s
servers is more secure than toting it around on easily stolen laptops,
and the company certainly provides better back-up and anti-spam and
virus technology than most small businesses.
Microsoft is responding with Office Live, with both ad-supported and
subscription online services. Like Google Apps, they are targeted at
small business, offering quick and easy (and free) ways to get a web
page online along with e-mail. There are monthly US$20 and US$40
packages offering additional storage and e-mail accounts, and
workspaces, a wiki-based collaboration tool. The premium version
includes time and project management tools. Unlike Google’s
service (and despite its name), Office Live does not include online
word processor or spreadsheet tools. (Like Google, free trials are
available; unlike Google Apps, access requires Internet Explorer on a
Windows system.)
Most companies will not be ready to dump their full-fledged (and
expensive) copies of Microsoft Office for either the free or paid
versions of Google Apps. It may prove to be a strong competitor,
though, for individuals and small-business users who are often on the
road, want simple collaboration or don’t need high-powered
word
processing or spreadsheets.
Full-disclosure time: I’ve been working full-time using
Google’s Gmail, contacts and calendar services for the past
year.
My zisman.ca website has generated a small amount of advertising
revenue hosting Google’s AdSense ads. For more on Google
Apps:
www.google.com/a/;
Microsoft Office Live:
http://officelive.microsoft.com.