Objective View of Google vs. Microsoft

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Twinstrata, the company that sells Clarity AP (assessment and planning) software, conducted a comprehensive study of the costs and risks of Google Apps versus Microsoft Exchange. In his Storage Bits blog, Robin Harris provides a good summary of the results.

Robin’s summary explains the stark cost difference — 20x on capital equipment and 5x to 6x on a 3 year total cost of ownership (TCO). Some of the details warrant clarification.

First, the study narrowed the gap based on the risk of unplanned downtime. MS Exchange, however, requires downtime on a monthly basis (or expensive redundancy configurations), for system and operating system patches and updates. Planned downtime adds to the cost and should be counted when comparing availability given that Google is engineered for zero-downtime.

Second, Google is developing a robust and diverse channel to provide the implementation, migration, integration, and support services identified is lacking in the study. While purchasing through a reseller increases the cost over the direct Google pricing, the value of the services improves the quality, and therefore lowers the cost, of using Google.

While these considerations may change the equation slightly, the business case for Google Apps is valid for many small and mid-size businesses.

Things To Like About Firefox

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Those of you that know me, know that I have been using Firefox as my default browser. I still need to use IE for some sites that do not work properly in Firefox. As I use Firefox, there are a few features that seem to make life easier.

  • Tab Use Order: I use tabs … lots of tabs. If I open a new tab, read the content, and close the tab, Firefox returns me to my previous tab. IE defaults to the next tab to the left. Firefox makes it easier to bounce between my inbox and calendar, particularly when other tabs are open.
  • Location Field Lookup: When typing information in the location bar, Firefox searches not only the content of URLs in the cache, but page header and tag information as well. The result, I can reach my inbox entering “mail”, “inbox” or a number of other phrases.
  • Ent.Save and Quit: When closing Firefox, I am prompted to save the open tabs before exiting. When I do, the same tabs are present and connected when I next start Firefox. This feature lets get back to work more quickly.

Do you have favorite features in IE or Firefox? Post a comment and let us know.

Bored by Forms — Themes Can Help

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Google Forms now include the ability to add themes with background images and color selections.

Learn more here …

Manage Permissions by Sheet in Google Spreadsheets

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Google has enhanced Google Spreadsheets, allowing you to manage who may edit sheets within a workbook.

Learn More …

Google Acquisition Improves the Image of Google Docs

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In 2007, Google purchased a startup called Tonic Systems. The technology from this startup provides the basis image features in Google Docs.

The Insert Drawing feature lets you add drawings, using lines, curves, freehand squiggles, and shapes, directly into your Google Docs.

Click here to learn more about this cool feature.

From the Continuous Improvement Files …

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Over the past several weeks, Google has made a set of minor (but very helpful) changes to Google Apps:

  • Arial and Times New Roman fonts are now available in the text editor in Google Docs for users who have these fonts locally installed on their computers
  • In Gmail, you can now view .ppt and .tiff files online, directly in your browser, without a Flash plugin. The viewer can also zoom in and out, select text to copy and paste, and ‘print’ the presentation to a PDF document
  • Speaker notes are included when uploading a PowerPoint presentation into Google Docs

Of Swine and Men …

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The reaction to the Swine Flu may be worse than the flu itself. Our sister firm, Horizon Information Group, has some sound advice on the topic here.

Cloud Computing Reaches Mainstream Media

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Cloud Computing and Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) is gaining coverage in mainstream, non-tech media, such as USA Today. This is an indication of broader acceptance in the market.

A Real Example of Calendar Integration

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Worcester Fitness recently launched their new website. In addition to a great new look and feel, the site boasts new calendars. The daily class list on the home page and the multiple class schedules are both powered by Google Apps Premier Edition.

Using APIs and the calendar publication wizard, the web developers at Cold Spring Design deliver class schedules and information in an attractive, easy to use format for site visitors. At they same time, Worcester Fitness staff can add and modify scheduling information in real time.

The ability to create multiple “event” calendars and link calendar information to web sites, intranets, and online documents is a free feature for Google Apps Premier Edition.

Microsoft Moving Towards a Real Office Cloud? Maybe.

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As reported in IT World, Microsoft announced that its next generation MS Office suite (Office 14) will include Office Web Applications, a suite including lightweight versions of Word, Excel, and Powerpoint.

Signaling a potentially major shift in Microsoft’s view of SaaS, the service will run in Firefox and Safari, as well as Internet Explorer, giving Microsoft office a means to run on Linux servers.

From the article and the announcement, it is still unclear if:

  • Windows users will be able to run Office Web Applications in Firefox, or only IE
  • If the service will require locally installed software
  • If the service will require use of Office Live Workspace

While reports have the new service available in Beta later this year, the service will not launch until the release of Office 14 (which has not been announced).

Microsoft is clearly responding to threats from Google Apps, Zoho, and OpenOffice. Will Microsoft be able to shed many of its current licensing, pricing, and channel policies to effectively compete in an aggressive marketplace?