Google Apps: Googzilla’s Fangs
April 10, 2009
ComputerWorld has an important story here. The url is a Dusie so click quick. I sense a 404 in your future if you delay. The title “Google Working to Add Every Last Service to Apps” is a categorical affirmative. If you recall your college logic class, categorical affirmatives are tough to make stick, particularly when these are applied to the GOOG. The subtitle is the ballpeen hammer: “Exec Offers Up Plans in Colorful Tweet.” Google reveals that it will attack the enterprise with the muscular App Engine, not the kick-sand-in-its-face Google Search Appliance. Instead of a news conference in New York, the GOOG sends out a Twitter message. I think it is safe to say that the GOOG is banking on the demographics of the Twitter generation to get the message. ComputerWorld’s writers quoted various gurus as allegedly saying:
“While this strategy creates a certain ‘shock and awe’ factor in the developer and geek world, this still leaves certain large enterprise requirements unanswered, such as role-based administration and records management capabilities,” he said. “I think this strategy strengthens Google Apps within its core constituency — the [small and midsize business] market. SMBs will love the increasingly Swiss Army knife capabilities of Google Apps.
My thought is that Google’s enterprise search group knew exactly what it was doing. Furthermore, Google’s demographic card is a component of the surround and seep strategy. Traditional marketers are not Googley. In my opinion, Google is content to blaze its own trail to the enterprise and the crown jewels of IBM, Microsoft, and Oracle. Just my opinion.
Stephen Arnold, April 10, 2009