Still Room for Microsoft in Google’s Office Empire
by John Paczkowski
Posted on November 13, 2009 at 3:43 PM PT
“We don’t call it an office suite. It’s not an office suite.”
— In 2006, Google CEO Eric Schmidt denies the company is planning an assault on Microsoft Office.
This is amusing–if only because Google insisted for so long that it doesn’t have designs on Microsoft’s core PC software business. Discussing Google Docs and the company’s other productivity offerings with ZDNet Asia, Dave Girouard, president of Google’s enterprise division, volunteered that most businesses will have the opportunity to “get rid of [Microsoft] Office if they chose to” in a year.
“We wouldn’t ask people to get rid of Microsoft Office and use Google Docs because it is not mature yet,” Girouard said. But once it is and Google’s finishes with the 30+ features and performance updates it has planned for the office suite in the next year, the company will no doubt ask just that.
And when Google (GOOG) does, what will happen to Microsoft (MSFT)? Not to worry, Redmond, there will still be a place for your Office business in Google’s new software-as-a-service empire. Said Girouard: “I don’t think Office will entirely disappear.”
[Image credit: Flickr/FF2D]
Comments
The current Google Docs is built to run in any HTML4 browser, but an HTML5 Docs could be much richer and would also drive adoption of Google Chrome or Chrome Frame.
Posted by Fred Hamranhansenhansen at November 13th, 2009 at 3:55 pm