Google Apps in the Enterprise: A Career-Limiting Move for Enterprise Architects?

Market Wire, August, 2007

Burton Group , an IT research firm focused on enterprise infrastructure technologies, published a report evaluating Google Apps Premier Edition (GAPE) pinpointing major issues enterprise organizations should consider.

In the report , "Google Apps in the Enterprise: A Promotion-Enhancing or Career-Limiting Move for Enterprise Architects?" analyst Guy Creese warns IT organizations to do their homework.

"Don't be seduced by Google's low price point," says Creese. "The product's rudimentary feature set combined with Google's unique company culture could spell disaster if unwisely deployed."

The report recommends organizations must be comfortable with three key areas if considering GAPE: the software as a service (SaaS) delivery model, the capabilities of the solution, and Google as a company.

"Google has helped the industry question long-held beliefs and is contributing largely to the adoption of SaaS solutions," says Creese. "Unfortunately, Google can't capitalize on these market changes because GAPE currently has weaknesses that large enterprises cannot ignore."

He points to the product's lack of user roles, no departmental categories, and minimal records management as examples. Burton Group believes many enterprises will begin investigating SaaS offerings for collaboration and content due to Google's industry influence, but recommends organizations wait for market maturity, or look to more sophisticated offerings.

Burton Group believes this issue represents an important development in the collaboration and content management industry and has made this report available to the public. Click here for complimentary access . ( http://www.burtongroup.com/Guest/Default.aspx )

About Burton Group

Burton Group ( www.burtongroup.com ) helps technologists make smart enterprise architecture decisions in increasingly complex environments. Burton Group's research and advisory services focus infrastructure technologies related to security, identity management, application platforms, service-oriented architecture, collaboration, content management, and network and telecom, and the data center.

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