05-06-2011, 10:50 AM
The war of words between Microsoft and Google over the use of Google Apps in the enterprise continues.
Sharing his thoughts yesterday in a blog called "The Hidden Google Tax," Microsoft's director of online services, Tom Rizzo, took some swings at Google Apps, proclaiming that it's not a cost-effective solution for the enterprise.
Rizzo, who in the past has offered his no-holds-barred opinion of Google Apps, said that Microsoft interviewed almost 100 small and midsize businesses that use Google Apps.
Among the findings, Rizzo said that 90 percent of the companies use Google Apps in conjunction with Microsoft Office and in fact continue to rely on Office for productivity reasons, security concerns, and the ability to work offline. Further, most of the companies included in Microsoft's survey use only Gmail and Calendar, with only two out of five using Google Docs and two out of three continuing to rely on Office.
Describing what he calls the "Google tax," Rizzo pointed a finger at three potentially taxing and often unanticipated costs that he ascribes to Google Apps.
First, businesses that have already standardized on Microsoft Office face the time and expense of migrating their corporate e-mail, folders, distribution lists, and other data from Microsoft Exchange to Google Apps, according to Rizzo. IT administrators are also called upon to use third-party software to help migrate and synchronize all the data from one system to another.
Read more: http://news.cnet.com/8301-10805_3-200600...z1LXxWPyVc
Sharing his thoughts yesterday in a blog called "The Hidden Google Tax," Microsoft's director of online services, Tom Rizzo, took some swings at Google Apps, proclaiming that it's not a cost-effective solution for the enterprise.
Rizzo, who in the past has offered his no-holds-barred opinion of Google Apps, said that Microsoft interviewed almost 100 small and midsize businesses that use Google Apps.
Among the findings, Rizzo said that 90 percent of the companies use Google Apps in conjunction with Microsoft Office and in fact continue to rely on Office for productivity reasons, security concerns, and the ability to work offline. Further, most of the companies included in Microsoft's survey use only Gmail and Calendar, with only two out of five using Google Docs and two out of three continuing to rely on Office.
Describing what he calls the "Google tax," Rizzo pointed a finger at three potentially taxing and often unanticipated costs that he ascribes to Google Apps.
First, businesses that have already standardized on Microsoft Office face the time and expense of migrating their corporate e-mail, folders, distribution lists, and other data from Microsoft Exchange to Google Apps, according to Rizzo. IT administrators are also called upon to use third-party software to help migrate and synchronize all the data from one system to another.
Read more: http://news.cnet.com/8301-10805_3-200600...z1LXxWPyVc