Microsoft Faces Challenges From Apple, Google in Cloud
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On the other end of the spectrum, Google has
been marketing Google Apps to enterprises for some time. For a long time,
Google Apps wasnt really ready for prime time, but as the company continues to
get its act together, its also getting closer to providing a real,
enterprise-ready selection of applications for use in the cloud and now offline
as well.
So Microsoft faces some real challenges from
Google, which has been gunning for the Redmond software giant in the cloud
space for some time. But Microsoft currently has a significant advantage over
Google in the office productivity software business.
For one thing, you get a fully featured version of Office when youre working offline. Google Docs will let you do some work offline, but its limited. For a second, Microsoft is letting you have things both ways; you can work in the cloud when you want; you can work offline when you want; and synchronize online and offline data when you want to. You dont have to change your business just to work with Office as you do to work with Google.
But there are a couple of things that stand
in the way of this new Microsoft application blitz on the enterprise. Perhaps
the most significant is that the enterprise version of the Surface wont be
ready until early in 2013. Perhaps thats long enough for Apple to start paying
real attention to the enterprise and realize that the iPhone and iPad are more
than just consumer electronics. It may also be time for Google to make Google
Apps more fully functional, although Google seems to proceed at its own pace,
unaffected by outside events.
Microsofts goal, it seems, is to really nail
down its position in the cloud and more fully in the enterprise. The
cloud-based nature of Office 2013 along with the ability to operate fully
offline is something thats necessary to most enterprises and it's critical to
many of them. Not every organization has real-time access to the cloud, after
all.
Whats more important to the enterprise is
that the Office 2013 versions for the enterprise go far beyond whats needed by
consumers. You get Lync, SharePoint access, a full version of Outlook
(something that doesnt come with the Windows RT version) along with the
ability to work with a mouse and keyboard, a stylus, or just a touch-screen. In
addition, you get full, native support for your Office documentssomething else
that Google doesnt always handle right.
The big question is whether or not giving the
enterprise the cloud access it needs, the tablets it wants and the management
tools enterprises must have will be enough for Microsoft to keep its rivals at
bay. We dont know the answer yet, but it appears to be a push in the right
direction for Microsoft.
For one thing, you get a fully featured version of Office when youre working offline. Google Docs will let you do some work offline, but its limited. For a second, Microsoft is letting you have things both ways; you can work in the cloud when you want; you can work offline when you want; and synchronize online and offline data when you want to. You dont have to change your business just to work with Office as you do to work with Google.
Wayne Rash is a Senior Analyst for eWEEK Labs and runs the magazine's Washington Bureau. Prior to joining eWEEK as a Senior Writer on wireless technology, he was a Senior Contributing Editor and previously a Senior Analyst in the InfoWorld Test Center. He was also a reviewer for Federal Computer Week and Information Security Magazine. Previously, he ran the reviews and events departments at CMP's InternetWeek.He is a retired naval officer, a former principal at American Management Systems and a long-time columnist for Byte Magazine. He is a regular contributor to Plane & Pilot Magazine and The Washington Post.
