Recently, Google announced the acquisition of DocVerse allowing for online collaboration on Microsoft Word, Excel and Powerpoint. A tremendous step because Google Apps and Office, “don’t play well together.”
Cloud computing is simply a way of computing on the internet that shares resources instead of using software. Clearly this was not in Microsoft’s business plan a couple year’s ago. Charging way too much for software has always been in the model. However, a section of Microsoft 2010 will have a free cloud based platform. Both Microsoft and Google both recognize that cloud computing will directly influence their new products and services.
Cloud computing is here to stay. In an increasingly globalized world the power to collaborate and edit in real time, cost effectively will be an invaluable business tool. This issue is at the heart of differences between Microsoft and Google. Google views the web as an application platform versus PC software and operating systems. One is the future. One was the future. We’ve all seen how heavily they marketed bing taking square aim at google. What we haven’t seen is very many people running to convert. In 2009 these companies faced off heavily. But the battle hasn’t even begun.
