Google, Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) is upgrading its corporate e-mail offering as of this week, and the search company is adding new security tools as well as doubling the online storage capacity. This move probably comes as a response to Yahoo!, Inc.'s (NASDAQ: YHOO) planned purchase of corporate e-mail provider Zimbra in addition to getting something out the door from the Postini acquisition a few months back.
Now that Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT) is still in the fray with its Exchange corporate e-mail solution and Yahoo! has entered into the dance with the Zimbra buy, Google's timing here is impeccable. But, are the Microsoft and Yahoo! solutions better than Google just beefing up security and adding more storage to its existing online corporate e-mail offering? That's up to each customer to decide, although anytime, anywhere, secure and easy access to e-mail is probably at the forefront of each corporate user's mind these days.
Business software is an area relatively new to Google, but with the company having acquired email security firm Postini for over $600 million recently, it must market and tout that technology to every business customer it can, starting now. A simple explanation of "increased corporate security" is not enough, and if Google is serious about challenging both Microsoft and Yahoo! in the business e-mail space, it has to start making large waves. A doubling of e-mail inbox capacity is a great start, but it's just that -- the start.
Google (GOOG) beefs up corporate email security, storage capacity
Posted Oct 4th 2007 12:39PM by Brian White
Filed under: Products and services, Launches, Competitive strategy, Google (GOOG), Microsoft (MSFT), Yahoo! (YHOO)
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
10-04-2007 @ 2:49PM
Spenser Dolan said...
Security, archiving and compliance are all big gorillas, this couldn't have been something Google acted impulsively about. Zimbra came out with an Archiving and Discovery solution earlier this year, and already its solution providers are offering it both licensed on-premise and hosted, Google has probably had plans to add this functionality for some time, more as a response to its prospective and current customers' demands (or those of its enterprise sales team) then "strategic" thinking, although I suppose listening to your customers and salespeople is pretty strategic.