Office还是企业最爱，谷歌仍需追赶微软

    数年前，许多人会质疑谷歌公司（Google）是否有能力销售企业信得过的应用软件。而如今，我们完全可以说，谷歌企业应用套件（Google Apps for Business）已成为替代依托于服务器的电子邮件和其他应用程序的可行选择。正如同苹果公司（Apple）的iPhone手机已经成为黑莓手机（Blackberries）及其他商务智能手机的可行替代品。

    问问正在参加Atmosphere大会的数百名IT经理就能明白这一点。这次大会在谷歌总部召开，为期两天，主要针对企业客户。自从2007年启动谷歌企业应用套件业务以来，为了赢得首席信息官（CIO）们的青睐，搜索引擎谷歌公司便加大工作力度，吸引客户向谷歌邮箱（Gmail）、谷歌Docs和谷歌Calendar转移，增添新特性，并为企业客户提供更多的支持。（周一，谷歌在Atmosphere云计算大会上宣布，其企业应用套件新增功能包括更强的移动设备管理能力，以及为企业客户提供全天候电话支持。）

    这些只是谷歌公司在获得更大企业客户市场份额道路上进行的初步尝试，但是谷歌确实取得了不小的进展。谷歌表示，通过其自身的一系列努力，加之行业内更廉价的、基于云技术的产品已是大势所趋，近年来，成上千万的企业已经不再使用微软Exchange电子邮件系统，转而选择谷歌企业应用套件。

    当然，转投谷歌的大部分客户仍是小企业客户。要想让大企业客户“选择谷歌”绝非易事——即使专门为他们举办类似Atmosphere大会这样为期两天的展示会，外加免费点心，也很难奏效。

    为什么吸引大企业客户如此困难呢？诚然，微软电子邮件系统价格高昂，但是它们却已在大企业站稳脚跟。时尚品牌BCBG Max Azria集团首席信息官内德•卡利米在大会上向笔者透露，他们公司的员工习惯微软电子邮件客户端Outlook的外观和感觉。就连谷歌企业应用套件副总裁戴夫•吉鲁亚德在与Atmosphere云计算大会记者会成员共进午餐时也坦言，向云技术进军是一个重大的变迁。然而，这只说明向云技术转变的压力在日益增加，而不是说云技术适用于每个人（或每个应用程序）。更重要的是，微软公司——以及其他竞争对手——也在提供基于云技术的产品，它们不仅在吞噬微软电子邮件系统的领地，同样也在挑战谷歌的企业应用套件。

    尽管如此，谷歌对微软公司构成的威胁与日俱增，这一点不言而喻。【一位参加Atmosphere云计算大会的CIO称，2009年，他选择了谷歌企业应用套件并将此事告知了微软，之后，他就接到了来自微软“谷歌对抗”团队（“Google Compete” team）的电话。】至于微软公司自行研发的基于云技术的企业软件Office 365，要谈它的未来发展，现在还为时尚早。

    与此同时，谷歌还在不断为其企业应用套件增添更多新功能。此前，谷歌曾宣布方案，旨在使Gmail更具社交性，并开发新产品社会网络工具Google+的企业版，增加更多的安全性能。与谷歌的很多业务相同，企业市场的开拓依然任重而道远。

    译者：乔树静/汪皓

    A few years back, many doubted Google's ability to sell enterprise-worthy applications. Today, it's safe to say that Google Apps for Business has become a viable alternative to server-based email and other applications, much like Apple's (AAPL) iPhone is now a viable alternative to BlackBerries (RIM) and other enterprise-grade smartphones.

    Just ask the several hundred IT managers currently attending Atmosphere, a two-day gathering for Google's (GOOG) business customers, held at the Googleplex. Since launching Google Apps for Business in 2007, the search company has put a lot of effort into wooing CIOs by making the migration to Gmail, Docs and Calendar as effortless as possible and adding new features and increased support for enterprises. (The latest additions to Google Apps for Business, announced at Atmosphere on Monday, include more mobile device management capabilities and 24/7 phone support for business customers).

    These are all just baby steps along the path of getting significant enterprise market share, but Google has made a lot of progress. According to the company, the result of these efforts and the general trend towards cheaper cloud-based offerings, thousands of businesses have switched from Microsoft (MSFT) Exchange to Google Apps in recent years.

    Of course, the majority of those customers are still small businesses, not large companies. Getting bigger corporate customers to "go Google" isn't easy -- even when you treat them to a two-day event complete with yurt-like demo booths and free snacks.

    Why it proving so difficult? Microsoft's Exchange servers are pricey, but they're also well-entrenched in big businesses. And as Nader Karimi, CIO of fashion house BCBG Max Azria Group, told me at the conference, his company's employees are used to the look and feel of Microsoft's email client, Outlook. In lunch with members of the press at Atmosphere, even Dave Girouard, VP of Google Apps, admitted that moving to the cloud is a big change. And just because there's mounting pressure to move to the cloud doesn't mean it's for everyone (or every application). What's more, Microsoft -- along with other competitors -- has its own cloud-based offering, which could end up not just cannibalizing Exchange but also taking on Google Apps for Business.

    Still, it's clear Google is increasingly becoming a bigger threat to Microsoft (one CIO at Atmosphere said he got a call from a Microsoft "Google Compete" team after he notified them he was switching to Google Apps in 2009). As for Microsoft's own cloud-based business software, Office 365, it's still too early to tell how it will fare.

    In the meantime, Google is adding more and more functionality to its Google Apps for Business. The company has been talking up its plans to make Gmail more social and to develop an enterprise version of its newish social networking tool, Google+, with more security features. Like many things at Google, the enterprise market is still a work in progress.