I just read an article about Google releasing a version of GMail that includes a client side adapter that lets the user continue to use Microsoft Outlook. This makes it much easier for an organization to replace Microsoft's Exchange product and use Gmail, Google Calendar, and other features for $50 per user per year. In addition to that, the Google Wave (Open Source) product that was unveiled last month seems to be a direct shot at Microsoft's Sharepoint.
Washington Technology Article
The last couple of years have certainly been very exciting in the technology space and personally eye opening for me as well. I was once a "Die-Hard" Microsoft Fan, but through experience, education, and exposure I have been able to see and acknowledge the alternatives that are out there. Microsoft writes good code and has been the market leader for a long time in client desktop operating systems, email products, and even mobile devices for that matter. However, innovation has created strong competition in all of these areas. Apple has made significant progress in the desktop/client environment. First Apple, with the Iphone, and now Google, with Android, have taken over the mobile device market. I thought Microsoft had email locked up, but this announcement by Google seems to change that.
Email services are a standard and somewhat ubiqitous service that lends itself to be easily transfered into the cloud. There are a few potential issues still out there (Email Filtering, Active Directory Authentication, and Virus/Security) but those issues exists in both the internally hosted Exchange Model and the GMail Cloud option.
Bottom line... Innovation has brought significant value to the consumer and the enterprise through unique services and less costly "cloud" solutions. Innovation has also created a lot of competition for Microsoft. I wonder how Microsoft will react. Microsoft... Your Move.
(and don't tell me Bing.com is your first move)
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