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Start 2013 Right With These Productivity Tools

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Productivity Tools
Productivity

The second half of December is almost always the worst time for work. Productivity is at its lowest, and you can’t really blame workers if their concentration is just not there. However, as we face the last day of 2012, you might be thinking ahead already. Maybe you want to make sure that you get off to a great start in 2013.

If you want to make sure that your productivity goes nowhere but up in 2013, here’s a list of productivity tools that will help you go in the right direction. [Read more…] about Start 2013 Right With These Productivity Tools

Will Google Apps Steal Microsoft’s Market Share in Enterprise Space?

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Microsoft is a dominant player in the enterprise productivity applications space and there is no doubt that Google docs will not be a major challenger to it for a while. But even a small market share taken away from Microsoft could be a start.

Dennis Howlett from ZDNet presents some compelling reasons why Google Apps may not be the major competitor that it is touted to be. A summary of the points he raised:

  • Email is just one business communication tool and there is more innovation taking place outside the MS/Google world.
  • Google has to make a major shift towards addressing concerns of businesses which is not an ad-driven business and needs definite roadmaps for the products.
  • Google has a lot of convincing to do on the privacy space.

The privacy and control of data seems to be a major factor keeping Google out of the enterprise. From that perspective, the speculation by Garett Rogers on a Google Apps appliance seems to make the Google offering more business-friendly. It would be a device similar to the Google Search Appliance giving more control to organizations over their data.

Perhaps it is to counter such a move from Google that Microsoft is working on a home version of its office productivity suite. Code-named ‘Albany’, the product received attention when it was sent to Microsoft beta testers.

An excerpt from ZDNet:

“’Albany’ targets home PC users, and includes Microsoft software and services that meet the most common needs of PC consumers, plus new features that create an easy, clean experience. Because ‘Albany’ is designed for consumers, not enterprise customers, we recommend that you install the Beta on a home PC, though this would not be a requirement.”

It does seem that Google has caused Microsoft to make some perspective shifts in the office tools space.