MIKESTOPFORTH

I hung back on posting about the recent announcement of Google Apps for Your Domain – apparently also known as Google Hosted Communications Services – Google’s latest offering. Now that most of the hype has subsided I want to make a few comments.

First, for those of you who like me don’t always get these sexy tech announcements first time around, Google Apps for Your Domain is as a free, ad-supported package combining Google’s E-mail (Gmail), Calendar, Instant Messaging (Talk) and web site software Page Creator, all in a browser. It will be hosted in Google’s data center, branded with customers’ domain names, and packaged with management tools for IT pros. Writely (a collaborative word processor) and Google Spreadsheet are rumored to be on the cards for inclusion soon (via InformationWeek).

Now all these apps are currently freely available for individual use, but the option to re-brand and share them with a large community of users is a significant step in Google’s evolution as a market leader. Not in the search space. Not even in the office space (this is not a dig at MS Office). Google is pursuing something bigger. Google wants to be an Information Technology solutions provider. A web-based computing platform. For business and consumers.

Google is not trying to steal Microsoft Office’s enormous market share – they want to capitalise on it by offering collaborative functionality and accessiblity that MS is struggling to answer to. All Google Apps are accessible, sync-able and compatible with MS offerings. Google doesn’t want you to stop using Excel right now, but rather to use Google Spreadsheet to collaborate on spreadsheets, until the day when you realise Google has developed all the functionality you thought only a desktop app could have. Then it will be easy to switch permanently.

This is so much bigger than Google Office, and we don’t have a clue…

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