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Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) has taken note of Google's (NASDAQ: GOOG) new advertising campaign, "Gone Google."
The Redmond, Washington software giant has lowered the prices of its corporate services to better compete with Google's offerings. Google charges $50 per user per year for corporate Google Apps access. Microsoft had offered Exchange Online email hosting for $10 per user per month, or $120 per year; now it has slashed that price in half to $60 per year.
And its suite of business software, Business Productivity Online Services, now costs $10 per seat per month, down from $15. There is a five-seat minimum on a BPOS subscription.
Microsoft's announcement comes just a few days after the City of Los Angeles announced a switch to Google-hosted email. The city had been using Novell's (NASDAQ: NOVL) email service, GroupWise.
Microsoft and Google compete with IBM, Cisco (NASDAQ: CSCO) and Novell in the hosted email space. Google is by far the largest provider of email services; in "Gone Google" it claims a user base of 2 million companies and 20 million individuals. But Google's numbers may be inflated: it provides Google Apps free to non-corporate users, and some companies may be using its services without paying.
By Steve Monfort
Microsoft repositions corporate email in response to Google's dominance
Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) has taken note of Google's (NASDAQ: GOOG) new advertising campaign, "Gone Google."The Redmond, Washington software giant has lowered the prices of its corporate services to better compete with Google's offerings. Google charges $50 per user per year for corporate Google Apps access. Microsoft had offered Exchange Online email hosting for $10 per user per month, or $120 per year; now it has slashed that price in half to $60 per year.
And its suite of business software, Business Productivity Online Services, now costs $10 per seat per month, down from $15. There is a five-seat minimum on a BPOS subscription.
Microsoft's announcement comes just a few days after the City of Los Angeles announced a switch to Google-hosted email. The city had been using Novell's (NASDAQ: NOVL) email service, GroupWise.
Microsoft and Google compete with IBM, Cisco (NASDAQ: CSCO) and Novell in the hosted email space. Google is by far the largest provider of email services; in "Gone Google" it claims a user base of 2 million companies and 20 million individuals. But Google's numbers may be inflated: it provides Google Apps free to non-corporate users, and some companies may be using its services without paying.
By Steve Monfort
