On July 18th 2014, Google organized an analyst briefing in India. The event conveyed two messages from Google – 1) growing importance of India for their business, and 2) commitment to the enterprise business. Attended by key Google representatives from across the Globe, the event was anchored on three key aspects – Google’s worldwide enterprise business, supplemented by their growth story in India and the company’s product strategy and direction. Below are some key highlights and Greyhound Research analysis from the event:
- Google is serious about the Enterprise, and India. As a showcase of its commitment to India, Google quoted growth of 70% YoY in its India enterprise customer base spread across multiple verticals namely Manufacturing, Real Estate, Pharmaceuticals, eCommerce, Professional Services among others. To augment its existing presence, the company is also investing in regular enterprise customer meetings to gather customer feedback and provide immediate resolutions. To manage complex cases where special apps need to be integrated or scripted for the Google environment, the company is also planning to add to its base of channel partners.
Greyhound Research Standpoint
Greyhound Research believes Google has done well to step up its presence in India. While the company has enjoyed strong adoption for Google Apps with Small and Mid-Market Enterprises, only reasonable success has been achieved with large enterprises that remain unsure given the complex nature of their needs, need for offline access of documents, perceived security threats among other reasons. Greyhound Research recommends IT Decision Makers to use Google Apps for Business in cases when looking for a light-weight, mobile-friendly, low-cost collaboration solution and those with a highly mobile workforce.
- Google is aggressively investing in the Android ecosystem, for the enterprise. While Google Apps for Business continues to be an all-encompassing powerhouse collaboration solution for SMEs, the company is also adding significant muscle to its mobility offerings. A significant change can be expected later this year in its Mobile Device Management strategy that will help solve the current fragmentation of the Android OS market. Other key announcements include Android L, Android One, Google drive for work, updates on Google Docs and improved Developer productivity and data analytics in Google Cloud Platform.
Greyhound Research Standpoint
Albeit Google is significantly adding to its enterprise offerings, focus largely remains Google Apps for Business. Greyhound Research recommends organisations with significant investments in the Microsoft environment to evaluate their decision before migrating to Google apps – this deems the need for assessment on parameters like architecture and management, value for money, mobility readiness among other reasons. In addition, for companies with extensive Content Management needs including creation, indexing and search, Google Apps is not the most preferred choice. Further, despite its efforts to launch simplified MDM solution across all its OEMs, CIOs will need to invest in additional MDM tools to secure other mobile OS platforms. Having said that, organisations with a highly mobile workforce must seriously consider Google apps for reasons including simpler licensing (compared to Microsoft), well integrated APIs and powerful collaboration capabilities.
What’s your Standpoint?
Do you think Google has done enough to earn top of mind recall in enterprises and enterprise mobility initiatives?
If you are a Google user and want to know more about their latest initiatives or are planning to migrate and need more insights, leave a comment or send me an email on sgogia@greyhoundgroup.com.
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