Microsoft announced Wednesday the launch of Microsoft Office Web Apps, which offers small businesses, consumers, students and others free access to online versions of Word, Excel, PowerPoint and OneNote via a Windows Live account. Microsoft Office will be in the cloud.
Google which has killed the market since offering Google Docs back in 2006. They expanded their business offerings since offering , in March rolling out its Google Apps Marketplace to encourage other developers to use its platform that is all hosted in the cloud. Cloud hosting has become a huge part of Google’s day to day life.
Will small businesses move to Microsoft’s hosted online applications, otherwise known as a cloud computing? “For small businesses of 100 employees or less, this is all evolutionary,” says Brad Reback, an analyst with Oppenheimer & Co. “While things happen fast in the consumer market, it’s slow with [companies].” This will happen eventually, but how long will it take?
“Google can try to show it can do enterprise [hosted Web applications] but they need to show they can also do support and maintenance,” Thill says. “They also have to address the compliance issue. Some businesses, like financial and regulatory agencies, have to know where the data resides. In some cases, the data can’t reside outside of the U.S.”
