Los Angeles: As Google and Microsoft battle for dominance in technology, a skirmish in Los Angeles City Hall is offering a rare public glimpse into a rivalry that could help determine the fortunes of both companies - and, quite possibly, how workers in the future will communicate.
The two tech giants are clashing over a $7.25 million (Dh26.6 million) contract to replace Los Angeles' outdated e-mail system. The stakes are high enough that both companies have fielded teams of lobbyists and executives to press their case in City Hall.
City officials have also been told that Microsoft Chief Executive Steve Ballmer and Google CEO Eric Schmidt "would be more than happy to come and visit with you," said City Councilman Tony Cardenas, who chairs the council's information and technology committee.
Google is widely believed to have the most to gain from a victory, as it seeks to challenge Microsoft's dominance in office e-mail and document software.
"It would be a flagship contract that they can market to the rest of the country," said Councilman Bernard C. Parks. "When you buy it and they put on their masthead that you're one of their customers, you find a trail of cities that say 'I'll follow suit.'"
Microsoft's Office program has been the engine driving business documents and e-mail for more than a decade, accounting for 70 per cent of an estimated $20 billion annual market.
But Google is posing a threat with its Google Apps office software, which is anchored by its popular Gmail service. Thousands of colleges and nearly 2 million businesses have adopted Google Apps, the company says.
Most schools and small businesses get Google Apps for free, but the company has converted some heavy corporate hitters into paying customers, including biotech company Genentech, electronics maker Motorola and chipmaker Fairchild Semiconductor.
As the battle plays out in executive suites and information technology departments around the country, the outcome could determine whether businesses continue to store software and data directly on their own computers, as most do now, or allow companies such as Google to store it all online - in the so-called digital "cloud".
"This is a story of two very large companies going head to head in a battle for the future of the heart and soul of the technology world," said David B. Yoffie, a dean and professor of business strategy at the Harvard Business School. "If Google wins, the way that we look at our day-to-day computing will be 100 per cent focused on the cloud."
Google's main selling points are the cost and convenience of its web-based approach. Because all data and programs are stored on the company's global network of servers, organisations can jettison their large data centres and the staff to look after them.
"If there's anything that's making it happen in 2009 it's budgetary problems," said Dave Girouard, the president of Google's Enterprise division. "It's a good time to have a dram-atically lower cost solution."
Many users like it too: Those capacious Gmail accounts don't clog up the way old-school e-mail inboxes do. What's more, documents and spreadsheets can be accessed and edited through any Web browser, at the office or otherwise, instead of being saved on a single computer's hard drive.
And because Google's software is "versionless" - that is, features are added as they are developed rather than piled on in major releases every year or two - there are no problems opening new documents on old computers.
But Microsoft has sought to take some of the shine off Google's vision of computing.
In an interview, Microsoft executive Ron Markezich contended that Google's cloud model is still something of an experiment for business customers. Google lacks Microsoft's long experience with companies in highly regulated industries such as pharmaceuticals and financial services, he said, where security and the smooth flow of data are paramount.
That argument may have been bolstered by a pair of Gmail glitches last month that shut down the service for hours, leaving tens of millions of users unable to access their e-mail. That could be particularly troublesome for a big city such as Los Angeles, said Markezich, who is vice president of Microsoft's Online division.
"My genuine concern is using a service built for consumers as a complex, public sector service," he said.
In response to doubts about its experience, Google notes that it has replaced mail systems at dozens of large corporations and has provided search and other services to an array of federal and municipal organisations.
Fed up with Novell e-mail software first installed in 1995 and dubbed "the slowest, most inefficient, crash-prone e-mail system in the history of mankind," by the Mayor's office, Los Angeles city officials last year solicited bids for a modern replacement.
The two tech giants are clashing over a $7.25 million (Dh26.6 million) contract to replace Los Angeles' outdated e-mail system. The stakes are high enough that both companies have fielded teams of lobbyists and executives to press their case in City Hall.
City officials have also been told that Microsoft Chief Executive Steve Ballmer and Google CEO Eric Schmidt "would be more than happy to come and visit with you," said City Councilman Tony Cardenas, who chairs the council's information and technology committee.
Google is widely believed to have the most to gain from a victory, as it seeks to challenge Microsoft's dominance in office e-mail and document software.
"It would be a flagship contract that they can market to the rest of the country," said Councilman Bernard C. Parks. "When you buy it and they put on their masthead that you're one of their customers, you find a trail of cities that say 'I'll follow suit.'"
Microsoft's Office program has been the engine driving business documents and e-mail for more than a decade, accounting for 70 per cent of an estimated $20 billion annual market.
But Google is posing a threat with its Google Apps office software, which is anchored by its popular Gmail service. Thousands of colleges and nearly 2 million businesses have adopted Google Apps, the company says.
Most schools and small businesses get Google Apps for free, but the company has converted some heavy corporate hitters into paying customers, including biotech company Genentech, electronics maker Motorola and chipmaker Fairchild Semiconductor.
As the battle plays out in executive suites and information technology departments around the country, the outcome could determine whether businesses continue to store software and data directly on their own computers, as most do now, or allow companies such as Google to store it all online - in the so-called digital "cloud".
"This is a story of two very large companies going head to head in a battle for the future of the heart and soul of the technology world," said David B. Yoffie, a dean and professor of business strategy at the Harvard Business School. "If Google wins, the way that we look at our day-to-day computing will be 100 per cent focused on the cloud."
Google's main selling points are the cost and convenience of its web-based approach. Because all data and programs are stored on the company's global network of servers, organisations can jettison their large data centres and the staff to look after them.
"If there's anything that's making it happen in 2009 it's budgetary problems," said Dave Girouard, the president of Google's Enterprise division. "It's a good time to have a dram-atically lower cost solution."
Many users like it too: Those capacious Gmail accounts don't clog up the way old-school e-mail inboxes do. What's more, documents and spreadsheets can be accessed and edited through any Web browser, at the office or otherwise, instead of being saved on a single computer's hard drive.
And because Google's software is "versionless" - that is, features are added as they are developed rather than piled on in major releases every year or two - there are no problems opening new documents on old computers.
But Microsoft has sought to take some of the shine off Google's vision of computing.
In an interview, Microsoft executive Ron Markezich contended that Google's cloud model is still something of an experiment for business customers. Google lacks Microsoft's long experience with companies in highly regulated industries such as pharmaceuticals and financial services, he said, where security and the smooth flow of data are paramount.
That argument may have been bolstered by a pair of Gmail glitches last month that shut down the service for hours, leaving tens of millions of users unable to access their e-mail. That could be particularly troublesome for a big city such as Los Angeles, said Markezich, who is vice president of Microsoft's Online division.
"My genuine concern is using a service built for consumers as a complex, public sector service," he said.
In response to doubts about its experience, Google notes that it has replaced mail systems at dozens of large corporations and has provided search and other services to an array of federal and municipal organisations.
Fed up with Novell e-mail software first installed in 1995 and dubbed "the slowest, most inefficient, crash-prone e-mail system in the history of mankind," by the Mayor's office, Los Angeles city officials last year solicited bids for a modern replacement.