Feel free to ignore the recent Google-Sun announcement for the time being
Google and Apple Computer are currently the only two technology companies that can generate global buzz when they simply announce an announcement. And particularly when the announcements are shrouded in mystery, the media, the bloggers, and the individual posters on business and tech sites run rampant with speculation.
Yesterday's Google and Sun Microsystems announcement had all the makings of a seminal moment in the IT industry — what former Intel CEO Andy Grove calls an inflection point. The most prolific and potentially industry-changing speculation was that Google, using its almost magic-like ability to create interactive Web apps where no other organization can, would soon deliver a Web-based version of the OpenOffice.org productivity suite. The theory was that this Google Office would inflict a massive blow to Microsoft and its entrenched Office productivity software — a psychological blow today and a financial blow in the years to come. There is no doubt that Microsoft executives, employees, and investors crossed their collective fingers as Scott McNealy and Eric Schmidt, leaders of Sun and Google, respectively, took the floor.
The announcement turned out to be a non-event from an industry perspective. While the door has been left open for future collaboration — and a Google Office may yet emerge — this particular event was overhyped and underdelivered. The outcome of this announcement boils down to Sun bundling the Google Toolbar with its Java software (Google Toolbar is now available for free from Google, but soon it will be an optional bundle with the Java runtime environment at Java.com), and Google buying some Sun servers.
Should IT care? Not today, and not until something more substantial emerges from this partnership.
While Sun likes to think of itself as a poster child of the late '90s Internet boom, the company made its money in the relative shadow of the more well-known eCommerce ventures like the still-growing Amazon.com and the failed Webvan. While Sun servers were the underlying technology on many Internet ventures, including many initial corporate Web forays, Sun became best known for a technology it has had a very tough time making money off: the Java programming and runtime environment.
Java remains a critical technology for many organizations, but IT has increasingly embraced the concept of XML, Web services, and service-oriented architecture as key technology foundations moving forward; Java and other applications are exposed as services or offer up XML data feeds in this world. While Google is positioned to deliver profitable solutions based on these technologies, Sun continues to struggle making money from software despite its investment in StarOffice and the related open source OpenOffice.org offerings.
From a PR perspective, this announcement doesn't do much for Sun besides momentarily increasing its media clippings file; the Sun home page proudly displayed “Sun and Google Team up” and called the event an “all-star alliance” in its press release while Google’s spartan home page didn't mention the announcement at all.
For Google, the announcement is one of its few PR missteps. The company has gained its reputation by delivering low-key announcements of Web-based products that aren’t new but that look and feel superior to what is out there, such as the Gmail email service and Google Maps. However, this high-profile event adds a bit of tarnish to its reputation. It looks more like a standard business move designed to generate attention, not an event to unveil something special. Like Apple, Google has a “cool" factor in its favor that money can’t buy. However, multiple corporate missteps like this event could diminish this factor, depriving the company of some of its global fan base that helps test and buys its current and future offerings.
While this was certainly a dud of an event from many perspectives, the industry and tech-minded investors will hold out hope for something more to come of it. The potential future unveiling of Google Office just sounds to important to give up on.
Yesterday's Google and Sun Microsystems announcement had all the makings of a seminal moment in the IT industry — what former Intel CEO Andy Grove calls an inflection point. The most prolific and potentially industry-changing speculation was that Google, using its almost magic-like ability to create interactive Web apps where no other organization can, would soon deliver a Web-based version of the OpenOffice.org productivity suite. The theory was that this Google Office would inflict a massive blow to Microsoft and its entrenched Office productivity software — a psychological blow today and a financial blow in the years to come. There is no doubt that Microsoft executives, employees, and investors crossed their collective fingers as Scott McNealy and Eric Schmidt, leaders of Sun and Google, respectively, took the floor.
The announcement turned out to be a non-event from an industry perspective. While the door has been left open for future collaboration — and a Google Office may yet emerge — this particular event was overhyped and underdelivered. The outcome of this announcement boils down to Sun bundling the Google Toolbar with its Java software (Google Toolbar is now available for free from Google, but soon it will be an optional bundle with the Java runtime environment at Java.com), and Google buying some Sun servers.
Should IT care? Not today, and not until something more substantial emerges from this partnership.
While Sun likes to think of itself as a poster child of the late '90s Internet boom, the company made its money in the relative shadow of the more well-known eCommerce ventures like the still-growing Amazon.com and the failed Webvan. While Sun servers were the underlying technology on many Internet ventures, including many initial corporate Web forays, Sun became best known for a technology it has had a very tough time making money off: the Java programming and runtime environment.
Java remains a critical technology for many organizations, but IT has increasingly embraced the concept of XML, Web services, and service-oriented architecture as key technology foundations moving forward; Java and other applications are exposed as services or offer up XML data feeds in this world. While Google is positioned to deliver profitable solutions based on these technologies, Sun continues to struggle making money from software despite its investment in StarOffice and the related open source OpenOffice.org offerings.
From a PR perspective, this announcement doesn't do much for Sun besides momentarily increasing its media clippings file; the Sun home page proudly displayed “Sun and Google Team up” and called the event an “all-star alliance” in its press release while Google’s spartan home page didn't mention the announcement at all.
For Google, the announcement is one of its few PR missteps. The company has gained its reputation by delivering low-key announcements of Web-based products that aren’t new but that look and feel superior to what is out there, such as the Gmail email service and Google Maps. However, this high-profile event adds a bit of tarnish to its reputation. It looks more like a standard business move designed to generate attention, not an event to unveil something special. Like Apple, Google has a “cool" factor in its favor that money can’t buy. However, multiple corporate missteps like this event could diminish this factor, depriving the company of some of its global fan base that helps test and buys its current and future offerings.
While this was certainly a dud of an event from many perspectives, the industry and tech-minded investors will hold out hope for something more to come of it. The potential future unveiling of Google Office just sounds to important to give up on.