Google has launched a business
version of its Google Apps hosted productivity software
service.
Charged at £26 per user per year, Google Apps Premier Edition is
designed to provide businesses with a low cost way to roll out
e-mail and desktop software to a large number of end-users.
The applications – which include Google’s Gmail web-based e-mail,
its Docs & Spreadsheets office productivity tools, instant
messaging, calendar and IP telephony – are hosted on Google’s
servers and accessed over the internet.
While some of these applications have previously been free to home
users, the Premier Edition includes 10Gbytes of storage per user,
application programming interfaces for business integration, a
promise of 99.9 % uptime and round-the-clock support for critical
issues.
Advertising is also switched off by default and IT directors are
able to customise the look and feel of the Google Apps page with
their own logos.
Premier Edition also integrates with third-party single sign-on
software and directory services that businesses may have deployed
to provide controlled access to IT systems for authorised
users.
From a corporate pitch point of view, the Google story is
compelling, according to Guy Creese, analyst at Burton Group.
Creese said it would appeal to companies that spend a lot on IT
infrastructure.
“However, IBM and Microsoft have a proven track record in the
corporate market – Google does not. The enterprise group within
Google is fewer than 500 people – or less than 5% of Google’s total
workforce,” he noted. He suggested the product would be something
that smaller businesses might consider evaluating.
Ovum’s principal analyst David Bradshaw said that while the model
offered by Google meant users did not have to worry about patching
or backing up, Google’s offering required a live internet
connection to work.
“Google Apps lacks a detached client. It does not appear to
allow users to work when there is no connection.”
One of the companies starting to look at the new tools is
Procter & Gamble Global Business
Services (GBS).
General Electric is also evaluating. Gregory
Simpson, CTO for General Electric, said, "GE is interested in
evaluating Google Apps for the easy access it provides to a suite
of web applications, and the way these applications can help people
work together.
Vodafone and Google team up on mobile Google Maps
Comment on this article:
computer.weekly@rbi.co.uk