It would appear Google is attempting to deal a heavy (if not fatal) blow to
Microsoft Office Live with its
Google Apps for Your Domain service. Sice February 15, 2006 Microsoft has enjoyed a tenuous root in this niche app market sector.
Microsoft should consider themselves lucky Google did not target this marketing avenue much sooner. They've had plenty of time to tighten things up in their program. I'm not sure why Google left this market untapped for quite some time in the "My App is Bigger than Your App" competition but what they've launched is a heavyweight contender.
Much like Microsoft Office Live, Google Apps will enable businesses, education institutions and even families to offer private-label e-mail, IM and calendar accounts to all of their members. This creates a streamlined collaborative work environment allowing users to share ideas and work more efficiently with one another.
The Standard and Education Google Apps is free as long as you have your own domain name. If you don't have a domain you can pick one up for $10.00 per year with Google with private registration. This is made possible by Goggles recent partnership with
GoDaddy.com and
eNom.com.
The Google Apps Premier Edition will set you (or your organization) back $50.00 per year. However, Google is currently doing a special promotion where you can take it for a test drive until
April 31, 2007 for
FREE. If you interested in checking this out you can review a full side-by-side plan structure
HERE.
So which one is better? I’ll leave that verdict to you. However, Preston Galla from
TechWeb stated recently:
"Which of the sites is better? Overall, Google Apps for Your Domain is a clear winner. It offers superior e-mail, better site management, and has a group calendar, an important component to running a small business and something that Office Live lacks.
If, however, you're mainly looking for a free service that has excellent Web site creation tools, you'll want Office Live.
The truth is, though, you can't beat free, so whichever site you choose, you'll end up being a winner. (
Review the article HERE)"
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eNom http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/TopAf...log?i=2CI4zM5a http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/TopAf...log?i=ZjuFwuFF http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/TopAf...log?i=qQOVDA7o http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/TopAf...log?i=MXzW8nu9 http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/TopAf...log?i=n7oI0set http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/TopAf...log?i=F8Em5FXG http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/TopAf...log?i=LVopj8Wn http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/TopAf...log?i=IFKCyEYq Google Apps For Your Domain or Microsoft Office Live? - Read More...
