Microsoft and Google: Another Wal*Mart and Amazon Type Battle Emerges

November 26, 2009

I missed the Information Week story “Microsoft Drops Prices of Cloud Apps”. The link to that Wal*Mart tactic appeared in “Microsoft Lands UK Cloud Deal”. The intriguing comment in the story about Wal*Mart / Amazon-type price competition. How did Microsoft nail the UK postal service contract? As I read the story, Microsoft worked overtime to retain the contract. The write up concludes with this comment:

Meanwhile, Microsoft has recently stepped up efforts to sells its online applications as Google intensifies its efforts to replace Exchange/Outlook and IBM Lotus Notes on desktops. Earlier this month, it dropped its prices by up to 50% on Exchange Online. Companies using or migrating to Exchange Online include GlaxoSmithKline, with 110,000 seats, and Aon, with 36,000 seats.

Great salesmanship? Price cuts? My hunch is that pricing may have a better sales personality than a professional salesperson. Will the same approach take place in enterprise search? I think it has in my opinion.

Stephen Arnold, November 26, 2009

I can’t resist. To the US Postal Service. I was not paid to write this postcard-sized article. Stamp it a freebie.

Written by Stephen E. Arnold · Filed Under Business strategy, Financial, Google, Microsoft, News, Search, SharePoint

Comments

Comments are closed.

Search the site
Subscribe to Beyond Search
Feature archive
News archive

Stephen E. Arnold monitors search, content processing, text mining and related topics from his high-tech nerve center in rural Kentucky. He tries to winnow the goose feathers from the giblets. He works with colleagues worldwide to make this Web log useful to those who want to go "beyond search". Contact him at sa [at] arnoldit.com. His Web site with additional information about search is arnoldit.com.