Google's new web-based office software suite

Google's new web-based office software suite, which the company announced Thursday, is a swift kick to the teeth delivered squarely in the direction of Microsoft. Or is it?
Google Apps Premier Edition is a collection of office tools for businesses -- word processor, spreadsheet, e-mail, calendar and web page creator -- all of which are accessible through a web browser. Pricing is set at $50 per user per year, less expensive than Microsoft Office but with much the same functionality. Microsoft has its own web-based suite of tools in Office Live, but the company's offering doesn't match Google's. And Google isn't going after Office Live, it's going after Office.
The suite and others like it are visions of a possible future when all software will be delivered over the internet. Does the arrival of Google Apps Premier Edition signal the death of desktop software dinosaurs like Microsoft Office?
While the idea is compelling, the answer is no. Not yet, at least. There are many reasons to get excited about Google's new plan, but there are just as many reasons to stick with the status quo.
Reasons to switch to Google's web-based office suite:
Cost. Compared to the $500 list price for the full version of Microsoft Office Professional 2007, Google's $50-per-year price tag is cheap. Telephone, e-mail and web support are included in that price, so organizations could see a drop in IT support costs as well. Companies may be faced with a bump in training costs when the switch first happens, but Google offers some interactive training presentations that could help tilt the learning curve. Centralized data storage. Documents are available from any web browser, upping the convenience ante for remote workers. Plus, 10 GB is plenty of room. For most users, that's more than they'll ever need. Security. Data is accessed through secure connections and stored redundantly, and Gmail uses SSL for mail connections. On paper, that's just as secure as Microsoft's desktop solutions. Google also offers enterprise customers the ability to push all mail traffic through a self-hosted gateway. Users get Gmail's slick interface and corporations get to fold in existing procedures like traffic monitoring and archiving. A bonus: Gmail arguably has the best spam and virus filters of all the web-based e-mail services. Gmail automatically bounces executable files (even if they are wrapped in an archive) and employs platform-wide spam filters kept current by the user community. 24/7 access to the work space. The beauty of web-based applications is that they are accessible from any computer with an internet connection, anywhere in the world. Also, every worker in the company gets the same tool set -- like a standard corporate software install without the production and installation costs. Cut the Microsoft leash. Any company switching to Google Apps will be free of Microsoft's sluggish upgrade cycle and confusing, restrictive licensing requirements.
Reasons to stay on the desktop:
Privacy. This is a big one. Persuading any company, large or small, to store sensitive intellectual property, financial documents and customer data on a server owned, sheltered and maintained by Google would take a truckload of trust. And even if company execs are OK with it, customers and investors might not be. Regulatory compliance. Certain industries are bound by regulations concerning storage, transfer and privacy of data. Even though Google has strategies in place for disaster recovery (all of its Apps data is stored redundantly in multiple data centers) and offers optional enhancements to e-mail security, it's unlikely that the financial and health care industries will be switching away from Microsoft Office soon. Google Apps is incomplete. Where's the PowerPoint killer? Also, anyone who keeps their entire contact list in Outlook is going to be seriously underwhelmed by Gmail's contact-management features. Working on the web is weird. Users who have grown accustomed to the smooth responsiveness of desktop applications will feel like a stranger in Web 2.0 land. Latency issues, Ajax-powered user interfaces and the absence of true drag-and-drop functionality will prove a turnoff for many. No offline access. Even in today's "always on, always connected" corporate environment, the tubes occasionally get clogged. Plus, there's no Wi-Fi on airplanes yet. Web-based applications are useless when the user isn't connected to the internet. Also, documents stored at Google can't be retrieved when Google can't be reached.

By Michael Calore Feb 22 2007 14:00 PM