Google Apps… Google’s Microsoft Office killer?
With the recent announcement of Google Sites, which is the result of the integration of JotSpot into the Google Apps ecosystem, the Google solution is becoming an even more enticing replacement for Microsoft Office. Besides the regular concerns around hosted apps, (many are discussed in this article), I would break down the pros and cons of Google Apps like this:
Pros:
- Cross-platform - As long as the user has a browser, or even a browser on a mobile device, Google Apps is accessible. The operating system becomes irrelevant.
- No server hardware required - It’s all hosted on Google’s servers. While there is plenty of speculation about Google’s data centers, it would be tough to argue that they do not have the infrastructure to host this service reliably.
- No client install - It’s all contained in the browser.
- Lower licensing cost - Free, or $50 a year for the premier edition.
- Simplified functionality - Reduces training costs and adoption risk.
Cons:
- IT knowledge still required - An arguable point, but for the initial setup and for any data migration, the advice of an IT professional will likely be necessary.
- Unproven support model - Microsoft has an extensive network of global partners, as well as their own professional services and support organizations. Google offers phone support for paying customers, but the list of partners who can support the solution locally is still quite limited.
- Exporting to other formats - Microsoft Word is the de facto document format in many organizations. How well can Google docs export to the current Word format? Or pdf, another standard document format? This becomes critical when dealing with other companies or the government, who expect their standards to be adhered to.
- Printing and page layout - It is improving, but printing remains problematic. While the greener, web 2.0 world can do without paper, the corporate world still relies heavily on it.
- Integration - How can documents and spreadsheets on one of Google’s servers become part of a work-flow that is inside the firewall? What about integration with existing legacy systems and Office automation?
With a growing list of partners and some interesting future functionality, some of these cons will become irrelevant for enterprise customers. Google has a very strong brand, which has already attracted some high profile partners, and anything Google does receives a fair amount of business press coverage. Certainly for the SMB market, where the cost and risk of migrating away from Microsoft Office is much lower, Google has a very attractive solution.
Start with business process modeling
Despite the plethora of tools, modeling languages and buzzwords, business process modeling is often misunderstood. It can be a great way to start a business intelligence project, if for no other reason than it brings together the techies from IT, the outside consultants, and the business users. Even if it ends there (not that it should), the exercise can pave the way for smoother requirements gathering, and more importantly, IT has a better understanding of the business context of the requirements.
Kalido has just announced that it will be distributing a business modeling tool for free, as an entry point into their other solutions. This might be worth considering as a fresh approach to bridging the gap between the users that need the BI solution and those who are tasked with designing it.
The 10 Enterprise Elements of Web 2.0
Like all buzzwords, the phrase “Web 2.0″ has taken on a life of its own and it might even soon be supplanted by Web 3.0. But before dismissing it all as pure hype, it is worth making note of the 10 following web 2.0 technologies that were recently highlighted by Information Week magazine. All of these technologies are all quickly finding there way into the latest enterprise software solutions, whether they are BI, CRM, ERP or home grown applications.
- Blogs - A communication and publishing tool, blogs work well for individuals or groups, for both internal or external audiences.
- RSS (Really Simple Syndication) - RSS delivers content independent of format, allowing simultaneous delivery of information to a multitude of platforms and applications.
- Wikis - The new way to collaborate and to capture knowledge, made widely known by Wikipedia.
- SQL - There is nothing much new about SQL, but it has taken on greater importance in the web 2.0 world. To quote Hal Varian, “SQL is the new HTML.“
- Open APIs - The plethora of available APIs have paved the way for diverse combinations of applications and data, now known as mash-ups.
- Widgets - These are small and lightweight applications that reside on the desktop or inside a portal.
- Social networks - This is ripe ground for marketers looking to start a “conversation” with their customers. Facebook has prominence in this space, but social networks are popping up all over the web.
- Web analytics - As the the corporate web site moves out of Web 1.0, the only way to be sure that things are moving into the right direction is to invest in the new tools that exist for gaining insight into what users are doing (or not doing) when they visit.
- Search - Now that Google is a household name, users expect search to be pervasive and accurate: on the web, on the desktop, and from inside any application.
- Open source - This is another theme that has taken on renewed importance. The high profile projects, such as Linux and Apache proved the value of open source software. Now, an array of open and mixed source products are available in almost every niche.
Does adoption equal project success?
It seems trite to state that user adoption drives success of an IT project. For example, imagine that some OLAP cubes or a series of reports are made available to a group of business users. If the majority of them make use of them, then a reasonable ROI can be calculated and the project declared a success. However, when an IT project is first proposed, does the business case assume a realistic rate of adoption? Is adoption even considered? Does the adoption rate have to be anywhere near 100% in order to make the project viable? Failing to give serious thought to these questions can lead to a negative ROI, even if the technology implementation is flawless.In his book, Common Approach, Uncommon Results, Ian Gotts of Nimbus, proposes a formula to be applied to all technology projects: Results = Initiatives x Adoption squared. Though the book itself can be light on the details, it does outline a framework for driving wide scale user adoption, and not just user acceptance. The adoption rate of technology in the enterprise may seem like a squishy metric, but ignoring it introduces additional risk to any project.