Frontal assault.

Last June, Google moved to build ties with Salesforce. The aim? To create a richer offering in the SaaS field. This announcement created a huge amount of interest in the tech industry. More recently the two companies announced the integration of the Salesforce CRM into offerings such as Gmail and Google Apps. This means that Google mail and messenger services can now be bound into CRM records. Based on this collaboration, many experts are now suggesting the possibility of Google acquiring Salesforce at some point.

Free for all?

Yes and no. The Google Apps basic edition is free. Customers wanting more functionality can sign up for the Premier Edition which will cost you £5 per month, per day. Based on these figures, it’s hard to see how Google can create significant revenue from this service. The search giant still generates most of its revenue from advertising. But as a business user do you really want to see sponsored links?

Growing pains.

A recent survey of 360 enterprises suggests that 6% of IT staff use Google Apps on an hourly basis. This rises to 33% doing so during the course of a day. However, of these enterprises, 89% of them use Microsofts collaborative services. On that basis, it would appear that Google has some way to go yet. The area of real concern to businesses is one of mission critical data being stored online. The technologies are relatively mature but it would appear that users are concerned about the availability and security of their data.

Usurping Microsoft.

Theoretically, Google is an ideal position to challenge the dominance of Redmond. But that simply won’t happen overnight. The concerns outlined in the last paragraph are major factors. Then you have to consider time. Many companies have been raised and suckled at the Microsoft breast. Changing attitudes and convincing businesses of the advantages will take a huge amount of work on Googles part. Mass adoption of Googles offerings may have an added bonus. In response to the loss of custom, Micrsoft could lower the price of their on-demand offerings.

Where does the future lie? It can’t be denied that SaaS is here to stay. IBM, Cisco and Microsoft have made huge investments in these areas. Mobility is a significant factor. Google is pushing Android as the platform for users on the move. Couple this product with advertisments and access to your business data and Google could be onto a winner.

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