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Google, the GSA and the Competition

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Today, the General
Services Administration made the decision to replace
several different versions of IBM's Lotus Notes and Domino software with Google for its own email.  While we are disappointed we will not have
the opportunity to meet the GSA's internal messaging needs, we will continue to
serve its productivity needs through the familiar experience of Microsoft
Office and we look forward to understanding more about GSA's selection criteria
- especially around security and architecture. 
We are also gratified so many state and local governments continue to
choose Microsoft.   There are clear
reasons behind these choices. 

Adding Random Functionality is not Really Adding Functionality

Recently, Google has
added additional functionality to its productivity applications in
an effort to bolster them.  While
it's not clear to us how useful business customers will find applications such
as Picasa Web Albums, Google Voice and
Adwords, some of our customers don't
seem to be impressed with the value they receive from Google.  Business such as WinWire, Bradshaw
and Weil,  Phaeton
Automotive, Vinci and others
have all been consistent in their message: 
Google cannot meet their
requirements. 

 

You have to meet the Height Requirement to Ride in the Enterprise

There's no doubt that businesses are talking to Google, and hearing
their pitch, but despite all the talk, Google can't avoid the fact that often
times they cannot meet basic requirements. For instance, in California, the
state determined that Google couldn't meet many of their basic requirements
around functionality and security.  Rather than address deficiencies in
their product by developing a more robust set of productivity tools, Google
cried foul instead of
addressing these basic needs.

Constraints such as inadequate product support, failure to provide a
roadmap, poor interoperability with other line of business applications and
limited functionality are all reasons why public sector organizations such the
State of Minnesota and New York City have said "no thanks" to what Google is offering.  In a Wall
Street Journal
story on the NYC implementation, a NYC official reinforced this point:

"We have a relationship with
Google. We certainly explored what they could bring to the table with respect
to offering opportunities for our workforce," said Carole Post, commissioner of
Department of Information Technology & Telecommunications. But
Microsoft's proposed package "both from a cost perspective as well as the suite
of tools and opportunities was a more compelling opportunity," she said.

It's no secret
that large public sector organizations have consistently valued Microsoft's
cloud offerings not only because of our deep understanding of enterprise
organizations, but also for their ease of use, security and privacy
capabilities.  Regardless of how organizations
are thinking about the cloud, Microsoft provides a choice for their
productivity needs; on premises, in the cloud or as a hosted solution.  Google does not offer any such choice. 

 

Clearly, the GSA news underscores how robust competition is today, not
only between Microsoft and Google, but also Cisco, IBM, VMWare and many
others.  Competition is good for our customers, our business, and the
industry.  It drives us to deliver our very best and use every day to
continue earning the trust of the 750M people who use Office today.

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