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Should You Move Your Small Business to the Cloud?

By Fei on February 2, 2010

By James A. Martin
February 2, 2010

SAN FRANCISCO - Cloud computing. For some, the term is wildly nebulous. Not long ago, even Oracle’s Larry Ellison publicly asked what the heck people meant by “the cloud.”

For others, cloud computing instantly raises concerns about security and reliability. After all, Gmail, a popular cloud-based e-mail service that has endured some high-profile outages, didn’t earn the nickname “Gfail” for nothing.

Before you dismiss the cloud as a lot of vapor, though, listen to what three small-business people told us about their experiences with it:

• “We saved over $4000 in up-front costs by moving to an entirely cloud-based solution [for e-mail, Web hosting, virus protection, and more]. We were also able to substantially reduce our power bill and the costs needed to maintain and upgrade hardware.” –Bob Everett, president, Bottom-Line Consulting, a three-person firm offering various small-business services.
• “As a non-IT person, I find cloud-based applications easier to set up and use than many [computer] applications, and I don’t need to rely on internal IT support as much for assistance.” –Cristina Martin Greysman, executive vice president, business development, Vuzit, a six-employee software company.
• “A power surge nearly destroyed our in-house e-mail server. Had we not recovered it, a great deal of historical knowledge and valuable information would have been lost forever, not to mention the lost productivity for days or weeks. Now we have a secure, redundant, cloud e-mail system we can access anywhere, anytime, with a consistent interface, and it’s made our business stronger.” –Kevin Hart, partner and founder, Hart-Boillot, a ten-employee marketing and communications agency.
To be sure, cloud computing has its shortcomings (more on that later); but small businesses looking to cut computing costs and improve efficiency during this long recession are finding the many benefits of Internet-based software and services increasingly attractive. In fact, companies with 100 or fewer employees are expected to spend $2.4 billion on cloud computing services in 2010, up from $1.7 billion in 2009, according to Ray Boggs, vice president of SMB research for IDC.

Here’s what you need to know about cloud computing: what it is, pros and cons, suggested services, and tips for applying it to your business.

What Does Cloud Computing Mean?

For decades, engineers have drawn a cloud to depict a network (such as the Internet) whose inner workings were unknown to them. From there, cloud computing evolved as a term to describe free or subscription-based services delivered in real time over the Internet.

Cloud computing can refer to software as a service, such as Salesforce.com for customer relationship management (CRM); to file storage, synchronization, backup, and other utility computing, such as Dropbox; and to infrastructure as a service, including Amazon’s Elastic Compute Cloud, which delivers customizable computing capacity over the Internet.
For further discussion of what the cloud covers, see “Cloud Computing Explained.”

Examples of Cloud Computing Services for Small Business

We queried dozens of small businesses about the cloud services they use, and why they use them. Among the most popular services were these:

• Google Apps ($50 per user per year) and Google Docs (free) are offerings from the Google cloud empire. Google Apps is a business-class version of Google Docs and includes souped-up Gmail, Google Calendar, and Google Docs (for word processing, spreadsheet, presentations and forms) components along with administration capabilities.
With either Google Apps or Google Docs, your data remains in one place no matter where you access it from, according to Brian Armstrong, founder of BuyersVote, a product review site that relies on Google’s premium services. Despite Gmail’s periodic outages, Armstrong says, Google’s cloud tools are “actually more secure on the whole because, although you’re trusting your data to an external provider, Google works hard to secure a ton of data; and it’s the sort of attention to detail that you probably don’t have time or money for in your local IT department.”
• Box.net (free for 1GB of storage; $10 for an individual plan; $15 monthly for three or more users) is an online workspace service for file sharing and collaboration. Paul Rosenfeld, cofounder and CEO of Fanminder, a mobile marketing firm with 12 employees, calls it “incredibly easy to use and powerful”: “Having a virtual team makes it nearly impossible to coordinate workflow without their tools,” Rosenfeld says.
• QuickBooks Online ($10 to $35 per month), unlike QuickBooks installed on PCs, makes collaboration easy across a small team. “It enables our bookkeeper, accountant, and outsourced CFO to all look at the same up-to-date information to advise us on our financial situation,” says Nicolas Boillot of Hart-Boillot, whose company uses the service.
• Skype is popular for its free video chats as well as for the low-cost calls to landline and cell phones that it makes possible. Brand Thunder, a browser customization firm with 11 members, uses Skype for all-team meetings, says Patrick Murphy, the company’s founder and CEO. Though Skype call quality varies, the service “allows easy and open communication between team members, despite their being geographically dispersed,” he says.
• Highrise for CRM and Basecamp for project management ($24 to $149 per month each, depending on the level of service you choose) both come from 37signals. A number of small businesses we contacted recommended these services for their feature sets and ease of use.

The Benefits of Cloud Computing

Cloud-based services can help small businesses dramatically reduce their software and other computing costs.

For example, Microsoft Office 2010 Home and Business will cost $199 for a downloadable version and $279 for a boxed version. By comparison, Google Docs, which offers office productivity tools via the cloud, is free. (Microsoft is currently working on Web-based versions of Office 2010 apps.)

Storing files on a secure, reliable, cloud-based service helps eliminate backup worries and gives you anytime access to your files. Usually, cloud-based services are simple to use–the only things you need are a computer (or in some cases, a mobile handset), a browser, and an Internet connection. And such services require no maintenance from the user.

Easier collaboration with colleagues in distant locations is another oft-cited cloud benefit.

“If you’re the kind of small business that has employees who work from different places–or has remote employees, board members, or vendors who need access to your data–cloud computing is the only way to go,” says Rosenfeld of Fanminder.

These benefits enable small businesses to “stay focused, be more collaborative, and bring products to market more quickly, because they’ve got access to the kind of infrastructure that only large companies used to have,” says Judith Hurwitz, president and CEO of Hurwitz & Associates and a coauthor of Cloud Computing for Dummies .

The Cloud’s Dark Side

The biggest misgiving that most businesses have about the cloud involves security, according to two recent surveys.

In a December 2009 Forrester Research survey, 51 percent of SMB participants said that security and privacy concerns were their top reasons for not using cloud services.
Similarly, respondents to an IDC survey in late 2009 said that their biggest worries about cloud computing were, in descending order, security, availability, and performance.
It’s not difficult to find instances of security breaches in cloud computing, of course. On the other hand, you can’t entirely eliminate risk from any computing environment. Intruders may hack into files stored on your business’s own servers or hard drives. Hard drives may fail. Unencrypted information stored on laptops may lead to identity theft or lawsuits when the laptops go missing.

Cloud computing security lapses are “like airplane disasters,” says Rosenfeld. “Trillions of transactions happen without any problem every day. You only hear about it when something goes wrong.” Rosenfeld adds, “I know enough both to worry about [cloud computing] security and to not give it too much thought.”

Here are some other commonly cited concerns about cloud computing:

• Privacy: How much data are cloud companies like Google collecting about you, and how might that information be used?
• Availability: Will your cloud service go down unexpectedly, leaving you without access to critical customer records, e-mail, or other information for hours or more? Gmail outages are widely reported, but Salesforce.com and other well-established services have gone dark on occasion, too.
• Data loss: Some online storage sites have shut down abruptly, sending users scrambling to recover their data, sometimes with only 24 hours’ notice. And T-Mobile Sidekick users were unhappy to discover that their personal data had been erased from their devices–especially when Microsoft said that the data loss was irrevocable. (A few days later, Microsoft announced that it had recovered most of the data.)
• Data mobility and ownership: Will you be able to share data between different cloud services? If you decide to stop using a cloud service, can you get all of your data back? What format will it be in? How can you be certain that the cloud service will destroy all of your data once you’ve severed ties with it?

• Tool robustness: Cloud-based tools frequently aren’t as powerful as software applications. Google Docs, for instance, lacks a number of features that Microsoft Office has had for years, such as the ability to track changes in a text file.

Tips for Moving Into the Cloud

Once you’ve weighed the pros and cons, you may be ready to take your first steps into cloud computing. Before you do, consider these tips from small businesses that have already made the transition.

• Start small. Cloud computing is a different way of working from what most people are used to, and building familiarity and trust takes time, says Trevor Doerksen, CEO and founder of MoboVivo, a 12-member video content portal/software company. Doerksen recommends starting small–for example, by having two or more workers collaborate on a Google Docs file. Once team members grow more comfortable with the new work environment, you can start adding more cloud services to the mix.
• Think big. Can the service you’re considering scale to meet your needs as your business grows? If not, keep looking.

• Make sure you can export your data in standard formats. You’ll want to be able to export in the formats used by Word, Excel, and other programs you use. That way, you can back up (and access) your data locally or move it easily to another service later.

• Read the agreement closely. To use the service, you’ll most likely have to accept an endless service-level agreement or other contract at the outset. Read it carefully to ensure that you know what you’re paying for, what the service provider’s privacy policy is, whether there are fees for early termination, and so on.

• Get creative. Look for ways to use free or low-cost cloud tools instead of more-expensive ones, suggests Doerksen. For example, his team uses free Google Docs spreadsheets as a basic CRM system, rather than springing for a paid CRM cloud service.

• Evaluate more than one service before deciding. Most services offer a free trial, and “you can usually figure out in 10 minutes whether the service’s user interface will drive you mad or is easy to use,” says Rosenfeld.

• Consider open-source cloud services. This arrangement encourages third-party developers to build add-ons that make a cloud-based service even more feature-rich. Plus, it allows you to create your own tools for using the service that are unique to your business.

• Don’t be afraid. It makes sense to cautiously approach any big change in how you do business, and this certainly applies to moving to the cloud. But many feel that the business world is already making the transition to cloud computing, and–given the lousy economy–now is a good time to make the transition.

“I can’t think of any company that shouldn’t try it,” says Doerksen. “If you don’t, you’re missing out on an opportunity to prepare your business for the future.”

Google Docs Desktop App Available Now

By Fei on January 22, 2010

By David Coursey
January 22, 2009

SAN FRANCISCO - Memeo Connect for Google Apps is a desktop application that syncs desktop files with the Google Docs cloud. It helps with file conversions, too, and is available for both Mac and Windows.

The application was the centerpiece showpiece of Google’s Jan. 12 announcement that all types of files can now be stored in Google Docs. This makes Google Docs a more useful tool but also reveals more of its lack of depth.

Memeo Connect, released Monday, requires a Google Apps Premier Edition account to function. Premier Edition is the paid version of Google Apps and costs $50 per user annually.

Priced at $9 per user annually, Memeo Connect tries to solve two issues, first that Google and Microsoft use different file formats for document storage, and second, the challenge of keeping files synchronized between Google’s cloud-based storage and multiple desktops.

I’ve had a chance to test the release version of the application, which has worked just fine for me.

The program does a good job–sometimes too good–of demonstrating the formatting problems involved in moving documents in and out of Google and Microsoft formats.

Microsoft formatting and features are lost when converting to Google formats. The less-rich Google formats are, in my experience, pretty much unchanged when converted for use in Google Docs.

As a workflow, it is best to start a document in Google Docs and leave it there for collaboration and editing before flowing it into Word for formatting and pricing/distribution.

Microsoft-formatted documents are best downloaded from Google Docs using Memeo Connect for local editing in Microsoft Office. At this point, I would definitely not recommend the wholesale conversion of Word or Excel files into Google formats.

Maybe when Google Docs grows up, but not before. That maturation would include the ability to view Microsoft docs from within Google Docs, which I could as a major shortcoming once you can load such files to the cloud.

Also, Microsoft documents added to Memeo Connect must thereafter be opened from inside Memeo in order to keep the changes synched with Google Docs. The synchronization is automatic.

The program also creates local PDF versions of Google Docs for offline viewing, which is a nice touch.

If your only need is to store files in Google’s cloud, Memeo is an excellent helper. I really can’t find anything wrong with the program that somehow isn’t Google’s fault. Nice user interface, drag-and-drop to add files, almost too simple to use.

Yes, you could manage your files directly in Google Docs, but Memeo Connect for Google Apps will do it with much less work and attention on your part. And at a reasonable price.

Google Embraces Partners to Straddle Desktop-Cloud Divide

By Fei on January 15, 2010

By Tony Bradley
January 15, 2009

SAN FRANCISCO - Google has unveiled plans today to allow Google Docs to store any type of files, and revealed a new tool from Memeo to enable users to access, migrate, and synchronize files between their desktop and Google Docs. These announcements signify a broader strategy by Google to help business customers bridge the gap between the desktop and the cloud.
Google has been aggressively vying for business customers to adopt its various cloud-based products and services as alternatives to the traditional Microsoft culture: Gmail instead of Exchange and Outlook, Google Docs instead of Microsoft Office, Chrome instead of Internet Explorer, etc.

Even Google, though, as dominant and powerful as they are in many areas of technology, can not ignore the fact that Microsoft occupies a comfortably dominant share of the enterprise messaging and business productivity software segments. As compelling as its products are, Google’s customers still have to operate in and interact with a Microsoft world.

Many customers see appeal in what cloud-based applications and services have to offer, but they are reluctant to trust the cloud. Businesses rely on the availability of messaging and business productivity applications and there have been enough outage stories to give potential customers reason for concern. Trusting all data to the cloud with no local or alternate backups is also like playing Russian roulette.

As much as Google might wish for a mass exodus away from Microsoft, it has recognized that customers can not simply turn off or walk away from Microsoft entirely, and that customers are tentative about putting too much trust in the cloud too soon.

To address those issues, Google has shifted its strategy some and embraced third-party partners to enable customers to take advantage of what Google has to offer in the cloud without giving up the tools and software they use on their desktops.

I interviewed Spencer Chen, director of corporate communications for Memeo, who explained “There have been more than one proofpoint and market research study surrounding how businesses intend on deploying Google Apps. The overwhelming feedback points to a hybrid-model–where [customers] need to continue their investment in office productivity suites like Microsoft Office (since it is such a prevalent standard), but intended on taking advantage of unique online collaboration capabilities that only Google Apps can offer. It really was the best of both worlds for SMBs and enterprises.”

Chen added “Believe me, Google knows this intimately and are leveraging it with customers to gain beachheads into some big customers!”

Allowing users to upload files of any type into Google Docs, and expanding the maximum file size as high as 250Mb for most file types provides users with a means of sharing and collaborating on files that are far too large to be sent via email. The default storage space is only 1Gb, though, so users that plan on heavy use of Google Docs as a file storage or collaboration solution will have to pay Google for additional space.

Memeo Connect for Google Apps lets users migrate and sync data between desktop-based applications like Microsoft Office and Google Docs. Manymoon provides users with an online project management solution. Syncplicity gives users the tools they need to manage files and automate backups.

Each of these partners fills a unique gap in the services provided by Google, and makes it easier for potential business customers to leverage the benefits of what Google has to offer without abandoning the investment in, and familiarity with, existing products and applications.

Chen described the interaction dealing with Google “In our 10-plus months working with Google on this particular initiative, one thing was evident: These are really smart people. Even though their world revolves around being on-demand and online, they were extremely conscious of the complete user experience–online and desktop. They clearly understood that the user experience didn’t merely end when someone closed their browser. We–as a software application company–were surprised…pleasantly surprised.”

The day may eventually come when customers can cut the proverbial cord and sever themselves completely from Microsoft Office if they choose. Until that day arrives, though, Google is taking steps in the right direction to give potential customers the latitude to embrace the cloud without surrendering the desktop.

Memeo Connects Google Docs to the Desktop

By Fei on January 14, 2010

By Tony Bradley
January 14, 2009

SAN FRANCISCO - Memeo, a privately-held company focused on helping users share, manage, and protect their data, announced the launch of Memeo Connect for Google Apps. The new tool enables Google Apps Premier customers to access, migrate, and synchronize files between their desktop and Google Docs.

Google has been courting business customers with its products and services, but most enterprises, and even small and medium businesses, rely on the applications in the Microsoft Office suite for business productivity software. While Google Apps is a robust solution on its own merits, customers need tools that help them leverage Google Apps in a world dominated by Microsoft Office.

In a press release announcing the new tool, Matthew Glotzbach, product management director for Google, said “More than 3,000 businesses sign up for Google Apps every day, and many of them are interested in a tool that effectively assists in the import and management of their existing files and documents between Google Docs and the desktop environment.”
Glotzbach added “Memeo Connect for Google Apps presents our customers with an attractive option to integrate or migrate all of their files into Google Docs.”

I interviewed Spencer Chen, director of corporate communications for Memeo. He explained that “Google has always been oriented around the cloud, but most enterprises possess a legacy of coming from an on-premise environment.”

Chen continued “Memeo has a great track record in providing rich, desktop applications with leading technology partners, so it was a natural fit for Memeo to jointly develop a solution that integrates that divide between the cloud and the desktop environment. Memeo Connect for Google Apps will enable customers to switch back and forth and manage any file type without limitations between these two environments.”

Alternative software like Google Docs, StarOffice, or OpenOffice offer options for businesses looking for cost effective business productivity software. The success of these products, though, relies on being compatible with Microsoft Office formats and conventions.

Even if a business is willing and able to sever itself completely from Microsoft Office, it can’t ignore the fact that Microsoft Office is the dominant software used by partners, vendors, and customers. These businesses need tools that help them straddle the line and transition seamlessly from desktop to cloud, and from Microsoft Office to Google Docs.

The addition of Memeo Connect for Google Apps, which will cost $9 per user per year, makes it easier for business customers to seriously consider transitioning to Google Apps without having to factor in the headache of trying to convert or migrate all existing Microsoft Office data to do so.

The Memeo announcement is indicative of a shift in strategy by Google to recognize that business customers aren’t ready to simply abandon the desktop or ditch Microsoft Office entirely, and to embrace third-party partners to help it fill in the gaps and deliver the functionality customers need.

Make Your PC Hassle-Free, Part 5: Gear Up for Backups

By Fei on January 10, 2010

By Rick Broida
January 10, 2010

SAN FRANCISCO - Good news! Having burned that system-repair disc, banished the crapware, bolstered your security, and imaged your hard drive, there’s only big step left in hassle-proofing your new PC.

You guessed it (probably from the headline): backups. Once again I’m going to lecture you on the computing equivalent of flossing your teeth. Bottom line: Do it now or regret it later.

Actually, I’m not going to lecture you at all, but rather steer you to a PC World feature I wrote last year: How to Prevent a Data Disaster. It has all the information you need about creating a diversified backup plan, which for my money is the only way to ensure total safety.

The one item that needs updating is the now-defunct DocSyncer, which made it possible to sync your local documents with your Google Docs account. Fortunately, a free tool called OffiSync can take its place.

Now go forth and enjoy that new PC! And let me know if you run into any other hassles that need solving.

Eleven Years of Google: A Look Back

By Jon on October 4, 2009

By Chris Brandrick
October 3, 2009

Google has come a long way in its eleven-year history, from its humble beginning as a Stanford University research project in 1998, to the global, multi-billion dollar online presence Google enjoys today.

Earlier this week, the company celebrated its 11th birthday and choose to mark the occasion with an all new Google Doodle, a fun take on their colorful identity. The unique logo illustrated Google’s eleven years in operation by adding an extra L to the company’s name to form a number eleven.

Google’s actual founding date is subject to debate. There are those who think that Google should bring out the cake on the September 4, the day in 1998 that Google filed its incorporation papers and officially became Google, Inc. Still others think that Google should recognize September 15, 1997 as its founding date, as that is when Google registered the google.com domain. But despite the debate, Google has celebrated its anniversary on September 27 for the past few years now, making the date somewhat official.

Any birthday offers the perfect opportunity to reflect on the past, so just what has Google been up to in the last eleven years?

Early Days: 1998
With 1997 behind them, founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin dropped the original BackRub moniker in favor of Google, a play on the mathematical term “googol.” With the Google.com domain registered and a healthy $100,000 investment from Sun co-founder Andy Bechtolsheim, the two Stanford students rented out a $1,700 a month garage space in California’s Menlo Park.

With a makeshift office in place, Google made it official and filed for incorporation as “Google Technology Inc” on September 4, 1998. As the rest of year played out, Google began to receive positive support in the press, and the company also hired their first employee, Craig Silverstein.

Money And Moving: 1999
Thanks to its growing workforce, the fledgling company moved twice in 1999. Google outgrew its modest garage and relocated briefly to a more suitable location in Palo Alto. In June, the company released its very first press release, detailing how the firm had secured $25 million of funding.

During the second half of the year, as the company reached forty employees, Google moved once again to offices in Mountain View, with an in-house chef included. This year also saw Google drop the exclamation mark from their logo and settling with its now world-famous branding.

Growth & Expansion: 2000
2000 was a year of growth, as along with the search engine reaching a milestone of one billion pages indexed, the website also expanded to support over fifteen languages including Chinese, French, German, Japanese and more.

How things change. This year (2000) also saw Yahoo! reveal that they will be using Google as their default search provider. At the time this was a big deal, as Yahoo! was once one of the darlings of search, which Google had originally set their eyes on to compete with; mission accomplished? Of course today paints a very different picture as now both Yahoo! and Microsoft are collectively attempting to compete with the search giant that Google has become.

Before the year was out Google also found time to launch the immensely successful AdWords program, and their Toolbar browser plug-in. With the year drawing to a close it was pretty clear that the search engine was on a meteoric rise, as Google was now handling nearly 100 million search queries a day.

Going Global: 2001
With the search engine now available in over twenty-five languages, it only seemed right that the company would expand on a global level with the opening of its first international office in Tokyo. 2001 also saw Google hire ex-Novell chief executive Eric Schmidt, who started at Google as the Chairman of the Board, before quickly moving on to become the CEO.

With the Google search index approaching three billion webpages, it seemed the perfect time to tackle a new type of search: Images. Google launched its Image Search service in July, and initially had an index of over 250 million images.

Getting Geeky: 2002
The year 2002 saw Google launch a range of new products, including the shopping tool Froogle, the experimental Google Labs, and the popular Google News service, a product of the company’s so-called “twenty percent time“. Geeky Google also decided to offer a Klingon translation of the site for all those Star Trek fans out there, bringing the total number of supports languages to over seventy. Spiderman, Warcraft 3 and pop star Shakira were amongst the most common search terms of the year.

The Written Word: 2003
2003 was one verbose year for the search-engine giant. It began in February when Google acquired Pyra Labs, creators of the Blogger service, which allowed the masses to publish their thoughts online with ease. Soon after the acquisition, Google’s company name was announced as a recognized verb, to “google it” had become synonymous with search, however Google strived to steer clear of dictonaries and protect their strong brand.

In December the controversial Google Print was launched: Now known as Google Book Search, the service allows users to view excerpts from thousands of books in digital form. Classic books and their film adaptations, such as Lord Of The Rings and Harry Potter, were some of the most searched for terms on Google in 2003.

Email, Google Style: 2004
Without a doubt 2004 biggest Google news was the introduction of Gmail. The beta launched on April Fools Day, but Google made sure that Gmails was no joke, offering a then-unheard-of 1GB of storage along with a speedy user experience and the beauty of Google’s search technology built right in to your inbox. The service launched as a strictly invite-only affair, which resulted in an online gold rush of those hoping to land an invitation. After five years, Gmail finally disposed of its beta status early in June of 2009.

2004 also saw Google move to its Mountain View, California “Googleplex” headquarters, where the company still resides today. In addition, Google opened a research and development center in Tokyo and a European headquarters in Dublin, Ireland. With over three thousand employees, a range or products under its belt and over eight billion items in its search index Google’s growth continued to amaze.

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Eleven Years of Google: A Look Back

By Jon on October 4, 2009

By Chris Brandrick
October 3, 2009

Mapping The World: 2005
In 2005, Google’s ongoing effort to organize the world’s information continued as they released Google Maps. Since then, Google has continually improved the mapping service, adding new features such as satellite views and directions, as well as increasing the number of new searchable locations. Google Earth, a 3D satellite photography-based mapping application, soon followed, further complimenting Google’s range of location services.

2005 also saw the release of the iGoogle customizable home page, Google Reader RSS feed manager and Google Analytics. Optimized mobile versions of Gmail, Blogger, and Search were also released.

Oh, and could you imagine naming your newborn baby “Google”? It happened.

A Message From Chad & Steve: 2006

Ending months of speculation, in late 2006 Google finally revealed that they had bought online video site YouTube in a massive $1.65 billion stock transaction.

The Growth Continues: 2007
The year started with Google expanding into new territories once again, with Google Maps making its way to Australia and the Google Docs suite of tools being made available in several additional languages. Gmail was also made available to all, no longer requiring an invitation.

The biggest innovation from Google in 2007 was the addition of street level photography to Google Maps. Dubbed Street View, the service lets you view and explore a number of US locations at street level. Naturally, Street View’s introduction caused some controversy as it raised quite a few privacy concerns.

Popular search terms in 2007 included the iPhone, Facebook and Second Life. Since Google acquired YouTube in 2006, the popular video site has grown into an outright juggernaut: Even the Queen of England has her own YouTube channel.

Going Full Circle: 2008
Last year Google celebrated their tenth year in operation, and showed no signs of slowing down. The company released its first iPhone application, expanded Street View’s coverage to include a number of additional countries, revealed a new version of its Picasa photo management app, and launched Knol, a Wikipedia-type service.

In its biggest move of the year, Google announced that it would enter the browser wars with its own take on the humble Web browser. The open source Google Chrome appeared in September of last year, and featured a minimalist interface and home page with shortcuts to frequently visited pages–features that have made their way into other browsers since then.

Later in the year, Google’s foray into software continued as the first ever cell phone to use Android, Google’s open-source mobile OS, hit the scene.

Google At Present: 2009

2009 has been a busy year so far for Google, and it isn’t over yet. So far Google has added offline access to Gmail, introduced its Latitude location service, taken you to Mars with a new version of Google Earth, and re-launched the GrandCentral phone service as Google Voice in the US, to name but a few things.

Google also unveiled its Wave service in May of this year. Wave combines a range of communication and social networking activities into a single web application and is expected to be available to the masses later this year.

The biggest news from Google this year came when the firm announced that it plans to release an operating system. Google Chrome OS is expected to land next year, and will initially be aimed at low end devices such as netbooks. Several hints at what the OS could look like have leaked online, but Google have yet to comment on any supposed screenshots.

A rumored screenshot of Google’s Chrome operating system.

What Does The Future Hold?
With eleven years behind them, Google is still innovating and tweaking. What we can expect next from the search giant is anyone’s guess, but in the immediate future we can look forward to taking Chrome OS for a spin, trying out new versions of Android, and watching countless videos on YouTube.

Just be sure to remember this, Google: Don’t be evil. Please.

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Microsoft Office vs.Google Docs: A Web Apps Showdown

By Jon on July 15, 2009

By Ian Paul

The future may be the cloud, but it also may be Microsoft that ushers us into that realm of possibility and imagination. Today, Redmond unveiled as a part of Office 2010 a suite of Microsoft Office Web apps that will compete directly with Google Docs. While Microsoft isn’t letting anyone play around with the apps just yet, on paper, Microsoft’s Web apps look like they could blow Google’s online services out of the water – beta or no beta.

Forget about the half measures of Office Live Workspace; Microsoft’s new Web apps will let you create, edit, and save documents right online. Here’s a quick head-to-head between Google and Microsoft Web apps.

Price

For personal users, Microsoft’s Web apps will cost the same as Google Docs: nothing. All you’ll need is a Window Live ID, and you’ll be able to use Excel, OneNote, PowerPoint, and Word online for free.

Winner :
Tie

Look and Feel

Google Docs has a very nice basic feel to it, in keeping with the simplicity and ease of use that Google brings to its products. Microsoft, however, has no qualms about complicating things, and this time that attitude may yield good results. Microsoft says its Web apps will have a similar look and feel as their desktop counterparts, including the Ribbon feature. Microsoft also promises the Web versions of your formatted documents will render properly in most browsers, including Internet Explorer, Safari, and Firefox. There’s no word on Microsoft’s plans for the Chrome or Opera browsers.

Winner :
Microsoft. You may have to switch browsers if you’re a Chrome head of Opera freak, but that’s a small price to pay for the look and feel of Microsoft Office in your Web browser.

Collaboration

One of the strong suits of Google Docs is real-time collaboration in the Web browser. Microsoft is bringing similar functionality and calling it co-authoring. What’s not clear, however, is how exactly co-authoring works. Microsoft says you must save a document to a SharePoint server or a Windows Live site before you can collaborate, but the company doesn’t say whether you can work together on a document right from the Web browser or if you need to use the desktop version. It’s also not clear whether co-authoring works only on a private network, or if you can collaborate via the World Wide Web. I’ve asked Microsoft to clarify.

Winner :
Google. Real-time collaboration right from the Web browser is a winning feature for ease of use and Google Docs will work from almost any computer with connectivity. Until Microsoft explains itself more clearly, we’ll assume co-authoring will be limited.

Presentation

Both Google and Microsoft will let you create presentations and do limited editing online. Microsoft says PowerPoint’s Web app will let you pick a theme, edit slide layout, add or remove slides, edit text, and add animations. PowerPoint online will also give you the choice of full-screen presentations, while Google has a near full-screen view.

Both Google and Microsoft give you the capability to instantly share your presentation online. Google lets you share through the browser and connect to anyone with a Google account. Microsoft, on the other hand, is keeping it in the family, since instant PowerPoint sharing will be dependent on the Microsoft Office add-on Communicator 2007 R2.

New desktop features included in PowerPoint include basic video and image editing.

Winner :
Google. Both presentation apps are almost equal in terms of functionality, and depend on desktop versions for deeper editing power. But Google’s capability to share with anyone in the world right through the Web browser gives it a slight lead over the extra features of Microsoft’s Web app.

Spreadsheets

What can I say about spreadsheets to get you excited? Not much; you’re still going tobe stuck in a world of macros, formulas, cells, and rows. Microsoft Excel’s Web app will allow co-authoring and you can use the same Excel formulas you know from the desktop version. But Excel online will be a reduced version of its desktop counterpart. Microsoft also says it will simplify online sharing for Excel documents allowing you to easily publish a spreadsheet to blogs, wikis or other Web sites.

Winner:
Microsoft. The familiarity of Excel, plus the claim of easy Web publishing may push Excel over top of Google spreadsheets.

Word Processing

The world’s most popular word processor should have Google running scared. If Microsoft comes through on its promise to deliver a desktop look and feel to the online version of Word, it could be all over for Google. Both Google and Microsoft will allow you to create tables, bullets and styles and have spell checkers, but Word online will also give you auto-correct.

Winner :
Microsoft (for now). Auto-correct is a nice feature, but I will also give Microsoft the benefit of the doubt and assume its editing features are going to be deeper than Google’s since it can port more features online from Word. I may be proven wrong.

According to my calculations, Microsoft just barely comes out on top with a score of three to two and one tie. However, Microsoft is making some big promises with its Web apps, and since no one has seen them yet it’s hard to know for sure how well they’ll work. Google may also stage an even bigger challenge to Microsoft later this year since the company is promising that Google Docs will undergo “dramatic changes in the next 12 months.”

Microsoft’s Web apps will be available to technical preview users later this year, although with limited functionality. The rest of us will get our hands on Microsoft Office Web apps during the first half of 2010.

Check out Web Apps on YouTube:

Google removes ‘Beta’ labels from Gmail, Calendar, other services

By Jon on July 7, 2009

By Tom Spring

Google is removing the “beta” label from many of its key services, including Gmail, Google Calendar, Google Docs, Google Talk, and Google Video for Business. The move is seen as a way to attract large businesses to Google Apps, its suite of messaging and productivity applications.

For most users of Gmail and Google Calendar, today’s news is little more than a lifting of the “beta” label for these already-reliable Google services. But Google says removing the “beta” label is a big deal for the businesses that it hopes will switch to Web-based Google services — and away from software-based services offered by Microsoft and IBM.

Bye Bye Beta, Hello New Features
Google says it has beefed up the Google Apps suite by adding offline access to e-mail and calendars and streamlinging access to Google Apps for BlackBerry users. Google also says that its Web-based messaging platform is now more compatible with Microsoft Outlook and it has improved contact management for Google Apps.

Google hopes large businesses will now feel more comfortable about entrusting Google with its core communications services. A Google Apps Premier Edition account, which includes Gmail, instant messaging, documents, and spreadsheets (among other apps) cost businesses $50 per user per year.

“We’ve come to appreciate that the beta tag just doesn’t fit for large enterprises that aren’t keen to run their business on software that sounds like it’s still in the trial phase,” wrote Rajen Sheth, senior product manager, Google Apps, in a blog post announcing the changes.

Google: The Little Guy
“No business is going to rely on a ‘beta’ service for something as important as e-mail,” says Matt Cain, lead e-mail analyst with market research firm Gartner. But, he adds, just by lifting the beta label does not guarantee Google success.

Google may be a giant in the search engine space, but the company is only a bit player when it comes to providing e-mail to businesses. Microsoft owns about 70 percent of the e-mail market, followed by IBM with 17 percent, according to Gartner. Cain says Microsoft and IBM don’t have any serious competition yet, but can expect nipping at their heels from Web-based services such as Google and a new offering from Cisco expected as a result of the company’s purchase of PostPath. These services are cloud based, meaning companies don’t have to host servers on site and any heavy infrastructural lifting is done by the provider offsite. Google’s pitch for its communications suite also includes a claim that Google Apps can save companies 50 to 70 percent compared to “other e-mail solutions.”

In recent months Google has stepped up its battle against Microsoft to win over the enterprise business market. Last month Google released a new plug-in that allows businesses to switch to Google Apps. The utility can migrate a company’s e-mail, calendar, and contacts to Google’s cloud while retaining the interface of Outlook.

“Google has listened to what enterprises want, and it has delivered much of that,” Cain says. Google says it manage 15 million business inboxes and “tens of millions” more consumer Gmail inboxes.

Cain doesn’t anticipate cloud-based e-mail management to pose a threat to offerings provided by Microsoft and IBM for another two to four years.

Bring Back the Beta!
Google representatives say by no means does the removal of the beta label mean Google will stop innovating and experimenting with new features offered through Google Labs for Gmail, Google Calendar, and other Google App services. It says existing Google Labs users can re-enable the beta label for Gmail from the Labs tab under Settings.