Google Apps to take on Microsoft Office
Google so far had its major share of revenues coming from search advertising industry. This in fact, has been akin to putting all the eggs in one basket. No doubt Google’s rise over the years has been phenomenal but company has always been looking to broad base its revenues. The much touted Google Apps which includes word processing, spread sheets, presentations packages, was earlier considered an answer to Microsoft Office. But Google was fine tuning its Google Apps all these years and readying for the final assault.
Now Google is expected to go all out and launch its premium version of Google Apps in partnership with resellers. For this purpose Google has recruited a large number of IT resellers who will be able to customize, support and market these applications. Since its launch, Google Apps was sold directly to business users. Experts believe that such an arrangement with third party IT resellers is necessary to give Google a local touch and reassurance to the buyers of these products.
Microsoft sells about 95% of its products through these resellers. Google’s move to target these resellers was long expected and it was over due. Google partners will be able to buy Google Apps premium versions at some 20 percent discount and shall be retaining the recurring revenue during the lifetime of the product.
Market watchers and IT experts were awaiting this development with bated breath. Google Apps is sure to cut in to Microsoft Office’s share in coming times. But the move from MS Office to Google Apps will be gradual and slow. The ensuing competition will be a boon for the users all round the world.
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