Close
  • Latest News
  • Big Data and Analytics
  • Cloud
  • Networking
  • Cybersecurity
  • Applications
  • IT Management
  • Storage
  • Sponsored
  • Mobile
  • Small Business
  • Development
  • Database
  • Servers
  • Android
  • Apple
  • Innovation
  • Blogs
  • PC Hardware
  • Reviews
  • Search Engines
  • Virtualization
Read Down
Sign in
Close
Welcome!Log into your account
Forgot your password?
Read Down
Password recovery
Recover your password
Close
Search
Logo
Logo
  • Latest News
  • Big Data and Analytics
  • Cloud
  • Networking
  • Cybersecurity
  • Applications
  • IT Management
  • Storage
  • Sponsored
  • Mobile
  • Small Business
  • Development
  • Database
  • Servers
  • Android
  • Apple
  • Innovation
  • Blogs
  • PC Hardware
  • Reviews
  • Search Engines
  • Virtualization
More
    Home Blogs Google Watch
    • Blogs
    • Google Watch
    • Search Engines

    Why Google Apps Need to Get Better

    By
    Clint Boulton
    -
    January 4, 2012
    Share
    Facebook
    Twitter
    Linkedin

      Using his Business Insider blog operations as an example, Henry Blodget made a compelling argument as to why Google should pump more money into improving Google Apps.

      Blodget’s predicament goes like this:

      “Of course, because we are occasionally e-mailed Microsoft Office files and need to be able to open them, and because we occasionally need to do things that Microsoft Office apps do well and Google Apps don’t, we still keep copies of Microsoft Office on most of our machines. Thus, we still pay Microsoft fat license fees for Office applications, even though we rarely use them. Hopefully, someday, we’ll stop getting emailed Office files and Google Apps will get better, and we’ll just be able to drop Office altogether.“

      Specifically, Blodget’s beef is with Google Spreadsheets, or rather the lack of quality charting functionality, which he requires for his company’s new research business. He and his team had to use Microsoft Excel for charts such as this.

      Of course, one of the major knocks on Google Apps has always been weaker spreadsheet and presentation functionality than Microsoft Office’s Excel and PowerPoint apps. It certainly hasn’t been Gmail or Docs, which are full-bodied enough for most folks.

      Interestingly, Google overhauled the editors in Google Apps in April 2010, but Blodget and others still find them wanting. Perhaps another rewrite, with full HTML5, will solve this issue?

      Why it might be tempting to think Blodget’s scenario is an edge case — that shops should either go all Microsoft Office (or Office 365) or Google Apps — it doesn’t work like that and likely won’t for a long time.

      Consider that Google jsut lost 13,000 out of the 30,000 seats for its Los Angeles contract because the Los Angeles Police Department chose to remain on Novell GroupWise, citing security issues with Google’s cloud computing model.

      Also, while Google Apps for Education just secured University of California at Berkeley for 2012, the school still uses Microsoft Office, Windows, Projects and Visio.

      It’s hard to not only be all things to all people but even just to duplicate functionality baked into a productivity suite that goes back nearly two decades. You can’t just do that overnight.

      Google Apps will be 5 next month, and while it’s gotten more advanced faster than Microsoft advanced Office, it’s still not the complete

      Google has argued that most end users, even power users, don’t want the 300-something features in the Office suite that Microsoft touts.

      Maybe not, but many power users who want to move to the cloud certainly want better spreadsheet and presentation functionality than Google Apps has to offer at present.

      I asked Google, which rarely misses an opportunity to defend Google Apps, for comment. The company declined, which makes me think that Apps might be getting some fine-tuning we don’t yet know about beyond the well-publicized integration with Google+.

      It’s been two years since the last major Apps overhaul, so keep an eye out this year.

      Clint Boulton

      MOST POPULAR ARTICLES

      Big Data and Analytics

      Alteryx’s Suresh Vittal on the Democratization of...

      James Maguire - May 31, 2022 0
      I spoke with Suresh Vittal, Chief Product Officer at Alteryx, about the industry mega-shift toward making data analytics tools accessible to a company’s complete...
      Read more
      Cybersecurity

      Visa’s Michael Jabbara on Cybersecurity and Digital...

      James Maguire - May 17, 2022 0
      I spoke with Michael Jabbara, VP and Global Head of Fraud Services at Visa, about the cybersecurity technology used to ensure the safe transfer...
      Read more
      Applications

      Cisco’s Thimaya Subaiya on Customer Experience in...

      James Maguire - May 10, 2022 0
      I spoke with Thimaya Subaiya, SVP and GM of Global Customer Experience at Cisco, about the factors that create good customer experience – and...
      Read more
      Cloud

      IGEL CEO Jed Ayres on Edge and...

      James Maguire - June 14, 2022 0
      I spoke with Jed Ayres, CEO of IGEL, about the endpoint sector, and an open source OS for the cloud; we also spoke about...
      Read more
      Big Data and Analytics

      GoodData CEO Roman Stanek on Business Intelligence...

      James Maguire - May 4, 2022 0
      I spoke with Roman Stanek, CEO of GoodData, about business intelligence, data as a service, and the frustration that many executives have with data...
      Read more
      Logo

      eWeek has the latest technology news and analysis, buying guides, and product reviews for IT professionals and technology buyers. The site’s focus is on innovative solutions and covering in-depth technical content. eWeek stays on the cutting edge of technology news and IT trends through interviews and expert analysis. Gain insight from top innovators and thought leaders in the fields of IT, business, enterprise software, startups, and more.

      Facebook
      Linkedin
      RSS
      Twitter
      Youtube

      Advertisers

      Advertise with TechnologyAdvice on eWeek and our other IT-focused platforms.

      Advertise with Us

      Menu

      • About eWeek
      • Subscribe to our Newsletter
      • Latest News

      Our Brands

      • Privacy Policy
      • Terms
      • About
      • Contact
      • Advertise
      • Sitemap
      • California – Do Not Sell My Information

      Property of TechnologyAdvice.
      © 2022 TechnologyAdvice. All Rights Reserved

      Advertiser Disclosure: Some of the products that appear on this site are from companies from which TechnologyAdvice receives compensation. This compensation may impact how and where products appear on this site including, for example, the order in which they appear. TechnologyAdvice does not include all companies or all types of products available in the marketplace.

      ×