Microsoft says that Google is failing in the enterprise space and that the search giant is "akin to Microsoft maybe 20 years ago." Google has been trying very hard to lure companies and governments to its cloud-computing options but many, including Microsoft, point out that Gmail and Google Apps are less complete and less reliable than Microsoft's offerings. Microsoft is preparing to launch Office 365, the company's latest cloud productivity package. It looks like the software giant wants to go on the offensive beforehand.
"I would say that they're failing, yes," Tom Rizzo, senior director of Microsoft Online Services, told ComputerWorld. "I would say that the results have not shown that they're successful in the space. We've had customers who've gone to Google and have come back to Microsoft."
Google this week has had some success: the US General Services Administration, which manages the federal government's property and technology, announced it is switching its 15,000 employees to Gmail and Google Apps. It is the first full agency to embrace the cloud.
Rizzo decided to post on his own blog in response to this news. "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," he wrote. "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."
Google recently filed a lawsuit against the US government because it allegedly only considered Microsoft solutions. Apparently only Redmond's offerings met the requirements for consideration, and Mountain View's simply did not.