Microsoft Issues 10 Reasons Why Enterprises Shouldn't Use Google

Up till now, Microsoft has been very quiet about the nascent Web Office threat from Google. But today, in response to the news that IT systems consultancy CapGemini has partnered with Google to sell Google Apps Premier Edition (GAPE) to enterprises, Microsoft issued an email listing 10 "top questions that enterprises should ask when considering the switch to GAPE." The questions read more like reasons why enterprises shouldn't choose Google Apps. This list was first published by Mary Jo Foley, who says it was an unsolicited email from a Microsoft "corporate spokesperson".

The 10 reasons make for fascinating reading - and show just how concerned Microsoft really is about not only Google Apps, but Web Office in general. Here is a copy of the email list:

“1. Google touts having enterprise level customers but how many “USERS��? of their applications truly exist within the enterprise?

“2. Google has a history of releasing incomplete products, calling them beta software, and issuing updates on a “known only to Google��? schedule – this flies in the face of what enterprises want and need in their technology partners – what is Google doing that indicates they are in lock step with customer needs?

“3. Google touts the low cost of their apps –not only price but the absence of need for hardware, storage or maintenance for Google Apps. BUT if GAPE is indeed a complement to MSFT Office, the costs actually become greater for a company as they now have two IT systems to run and manage and maintain. Doesn’t this result in increased complexity and increased costs?

“4. Google’s primary focus is on ad funded search. Their enterprise focus and now apps exist on the very fringe and in combination with other fringe services only account for 1% of the company’s revenue. What happens if Google executes poorly? Do they shut down given it will them in a minimal and short term way? Should customers trust that this won’t happen?

“5. Google’s apps only work if an enterprise has no power users, employees are always online, enterprises haven’t built custom Office apps – doesn’t this equal a very small % of global information workers today? –On a feature comparison basis, it’s not surprising that Microsoft has a huge lead.

“6. Google apps don’t have essential document creation features like support for headers, footers, tables of content, footnotes, etc. Additionally, while customers can collaborate on basic docs without the above noted features, to collaborate on detailed docs, a company must implement a two part process – work together on the basic doc, save it to Word or Excel and then send via email for final edits. Yes they have a $50 price tag, but with the inefficiencies created by just this one cycle, how much do GAPE really cost – and can you afford the fidelity loss?

“7. Enterprise companies have to constantly think about government regulations and standards – while Google can store a lot of data for enterprises on Google servers, there is no easy to use, automated way for enterprises to regularly delete data, issue a legal hold for specific docs or bring copies into the corp. What happens if a company needs to respond to government regulations bodies? Google touts 99.9% uptime for their apps but what few people realize that promise is for Gmail only. Equally alarming is the definition Google has for “downtime��? – ten consecutive minutes of downtime. What happens if throughout the day Google is down 7 minutes each hour? What does 7 minutes each hour for a full work day that cost an enterprise?

“8. In the world of business, it is always on and always connected. As such, having access to technical support 24/7 is essential. If a company deploys Google Apps and there is a technical issue at 8pm PST, Sorry. Google’s tech support is open M-F 1AM-6PM PST – are these the new hours of global business? And if a customer’s “designated administrator��? is not available (a requirement) does business just stop?

“9. Google says that enterprise customers use only 10% of the features in today’s productivity applications which implies that EVERYONE needs the SAME 10% of the feature when in fact it is very clear that in each company there are specific roles people play that demands access to specific information – how does Google’s generic strategy address role specific needs?

“10. With Google apps in perpetual beta and Google controlling when and if they rollout specific features and functionality, customers have minimal if any control over the timing of product rollouts and features – how do 1) I know how to strategically plan and train and 2) get the features and functionality I have specifically requested? How much money does not knowing cost?

“I invite you to speak with customers, partners and analysts who can validate Office’s business model.��?

There's no doubt these are compelling reasons why an enterprise should choose Microsoft Office over Google Apps, at this point. But it's noticeable that the list doesn't mention the word "collaboration", which is probably the key benefit of Google Apps compared to MS Office.

Nor does Microsoft adequately rebut that Google Apps will be a complement to Microsoft Office (as CapsGemini and Google claimed yesterday). Microsoft says in point 3 that "the costs actually become greater for a company as they now have two IT systems to run and manage and maintain." But that doesn't address the features that Google Apps offers and how it might complement an enterprise's office software set-up.

What do you make of Microsoft's response? It certainly brings up some valid criticisms of Google Apps and Web Office, but then Google isn't claiming their product is a replacement of MS Office. Their stance is that it's a complement - and so in that respect this list by a Microsoft spokesperson is probably an over-reaction. It looks like someone in Redmond hit the panic button a bit too early.

微软称企业有十个理由弃用Google工具

微软称企业有十个理由弃用Google工具

直到最近，微软还泰然处之地面对Google在线办公工具——这个尚未成熟的威胁。但是今天，IT系统咨询公司 CapGemini 和Google向企业联合销售Google高级版（GAPE），对此，微软发出了一封电子邮件，列举了十大“企业考虑转向GAPE时应该提出的问题。”这十个问题听起来更像是为什么企业不应该选择Goolge工具。这个列表最初是由Mary Jo Foley发布的，她说这封邮件是一名微软“公司发言人”主动提供的。

这十大理由读起来非常有意思-并且也表明令微软真正担心的不只是Goolge工具，而是所有的在线办公工具。以下是邮件的内容：

“1.Google宣称拥有企业级的用户，但是他们的用户中有多少真正存在于企业之中？

“2.Google有发布不完善产品的传统，称之为beta软件，并且Google发布的更新日程只有Google自己知道——面对企业对科技伙伴的渴望和需求，更新日程却悬而未决——Google所做的哪些事情表明他们紧跟客户的需求呢？

“3.Google宣称自己的产品成本低——不只是成本低而且Google工具不需要硬件，存储和维护。但是如果GAPE真的是微软Office的互补品的话，企业的成本其实是增加了，因为他们要管理维护两套IT系统。难道这不会增加复杂性和成本么？

“4.Google的首要焦点是广告赞助搜索服务。他们对企业的关注及相关工具加上所有其它的服务只占到公司收的1%。万一Google执行得不好怎么办？他们会在很短的时间内关闭他们的服务么？顾客应该相信这不会发生么？

“5.除非一个企业没有超级用户（power users），员工一直在线，企业尚未建立客户办公工具，Google工具才能起作用——这只占全球IT从业者的一小部分，不是么？从功能对比角度来看，微软具有绝对优势就不足为奇了。

“6.Google工具缺乏必要的文档创建功能，比如对页眉，页脚，目录，脚注等功能的支持。此外，客户可以在没有以上功能的情况下在基本文档上合作，但如果想在详细文档上合作，公司就必须执行一个两步过程——在其本文档上合作，保存到Word或者Excel里，然后通过电子邮件进行最终编辑。没错他们标价只有50美元，但是由于存在这个过程带来的低效率，GAPE成本到底是多少呢——你能承受信誉损失么？

“7.企业必须不停地思考政府管制和标准——Google在自己的服务器上为企业存储了大量的数据，但是缺乏简单自动化的办法让公司定期删除数据，给与特定文件法律效力以及公司文件备份。万一公司需要应对政府管制机构怎么办？Goolge承诺99.9%的正常运转时间，但是很少有人意识到这只是针对Gmail的。同样应当引起警觉的是Google对“故障时间”的定义——连续十分钟停工。如果全天Google每小时有七分钟停工怎么办？整个工作日每小时七分钟（停工）带给公司的损失会有多大？

“8.商界需要随时工作随时联系。这样，7天24小时的技术支持很有必要。如果一个公司采用了Google工具并且在太平洋标准时间晚上八点遇到了技术问题，那么对不住了。Google技术支持的工作时间是从星期一到星期五太平洋标准时间早上一点到晚上六点——这是全球工作的开始时间么？并且如果一名客户“指定的管理员”不在（需要有）业务就要马上停止么？

“9.Google宣称企业用户只使用现有效率改进工具的10%的功能，也就是说每个人都需要同样的10%的功能，而事实上每个公司都有扮演不同角色的员工，他们需要不同的信息——Google的大锅饭战略如何满足这些特定需求？

“10.如果Google工具永远停留在beta版本，Google控制何时以及是否推出特定的特色和功能，那么客户很少甚至不能控制产品发布和特色功能时间表——我怎么1）知道如何进行战略计划和培训2）得到为我所需的特色和功能？不知道成本的情况下我要花多少钱呢？

“我邀请你去和顾客，合作伙伴和那些能确认办公工具业务模式的分析家们谈一谈。

毫无疑问，就此来看企业有足够的理由选择微软办公工具而不是Google工具。但是值得注意的是清单没有提到“合作（collaboration）”（译者注：但邮件的确提到了collaborate），这或许是Google工具和微软Office相比最大的优势吧。

微软也没有反驳Google工具是微软Office的互补品（昨天CapsGemini和Google宣称）。微软在第三点提到“企业的成本实际上增加了，应为他们现在要管理维护两套IT系统。”但是没有强调Google工具提供的功能以及这些功能是如何完善企业的办公软件安装问题的。

你怎么认为微软的反应？这的确对Google工具和在线办公提出了很多有力的批评，但是Google并没有说他们的产品是微软Office的替代品。他们的定位是互补品——所以从这点来看由微软发言人提供的这个清单很可能是一种过激反应。貌似Redmond（译者注：微软研发总部所在地）的某些人有点风声鹤唳了。